Upgrade Z68 system now or wait and replace?

E

Edwe

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Hi forum. I'm looking for some advice, as I have not been paying attention to advances in hardware over the last couple of years. I'm suddenly finding the time to play games again for the first time in ages. My needs: I want to be able to play pretty much anything which comes out in the next 2 years on medium to slightly-highish quality at an acceptable framerate.

My current rig:
Asus P8Z68-V LX LGA1155 mb; intel Z68 chipset
Intel Sandybridge LGA1155 i5-2500K - Quad core / 4 threads , 3.3ghz box cpu / 3.7ghz turbo boost with stock heat sink
4Gb x 2 kit Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 DDR3-1333
Sapphire HD6970 2Gb 256bit 4 channel DDR5
Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty (PCI)
Coolermaster RS550-ACAAE3 GX 550w PSU
2x 500GB really old (~5 years) SATA 7200RPM HDD which are starting to sound unhealthy

Option 1: Get a new primary HDD (256GB SSD) and upgrade my GPU (to what?) now and wait ~2-3 years before I do a new build.
Option 2: Forget about upgrading, live with what I have for now, and rather do a completely new build in early 2017.

Your suggestions, please? TIA!
 
Upgrade GPU. For gaming: To a Nvidia 970 or so. Can move it to your new rig a year or 2 down the line.

Add a after cooler, and overclock your CPU to 4.0 gHz+. Nevertheless, it's still a great CPU that will handle 99% of games on high/ultra.

Add a SSD. Won't help with gaming, but it will feel like a new machine.

TL;DR:

Upgrade GPU
Upgrade SSD
Overclock CPU later on.
 
Edwe said:
Hi forum. I'm looking for some advice, as I have not been paying attention to advances in hardware over the last couple of years. I'm suddenly finding the time to play games again for the first time in ages. My needs: I want to be able to play pretty much anything which comes out in the next 2 years on medium to slightly-highish quality at an acceptable framerate.

My current rig:
Asus P8Z68-V LX LGA1155 mb; intel Z68 chipset
Intel Sandybridge LGA1155 i5-2500K - Quad core / 4 threads , 3.3ghz box cpu / 3.7ghz turbo boost with stock heat sink
4Gb x 2 kit Corsair CMX8GX3M2A1333C9 DDR3-1333
Sapphire HD6970 2Gb 256bit 4 channel DDR5
Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty (PCI)
Coolermaster RS550-ACAAE3 GX 550w PSU
2x 500GB really old (~5 years) SATA 7200RPM HDD which are starting to sound unhealthy

Option 1: Get a new primary HDD (256GB SSD) and upgrade my GPU (to what?) now and wait ~2-3 years before I do a new build.
Option 2: Forget about upgrading, live with what I have for now, and rather do a completely new build in early 2017.

Your suggestions, please? TIA!
Click to expand...

Your CPU is fine. Upgrade your graphics card. Get something like a Radeon R9 380 and you're a for away.

Edited:
Oh I didn't see that you don't have an SSD. Make sure to add it to the list. An SSD will make your PC feel much faster than any other upgrade.
 
Thanks, everyone. I think I will then get an SSD this week and an R9 380 (or something similar, depending on prices at the time) in December. Any recommendations on what SSD to prefer and what to avoid? Any current specials?
 
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