New Build Or Would upgrades do the job

[downsy]

Hey guys want to grab a bit more from my PC and unsure as to new build or upgrade, current specs are

Core I7 860 at 3ghz socket 1156 (old)
Asus Maximus iii formula
4 gb Kingston hyper x
Asus radeon HD5870 volatge tweak
2 x Velocoraptors
2 tb secondary storage
Seasonic power supply 850 from memory

I know im on an old platform and was looking for advice, my system seems pretty solid but i like to game and wondered if i drop a 290x or 780TI and some more memory in there would this save the expense of a full new build.

I like to build my own but if the upgrades would still play the new games at good fps i would just upgrade.

Your thoughts

[herulach]

More ram and a decent OC on the i7 (google suggest 4ghz should be doable) should be able to keep up with a decent GPU. If That would be my starting point, if you're still not satisfied you can always upgrade without losing any money.

[DanceswithUnix]

I think you can get away with the CPU for a while longer yet.

I would first upgrade the GPU. Your suggested 290X would get you:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1062?vs=1056

From the Crysis 3 result on there it looks like about another 90W power draw, well within what your PSU should cope with.

If you want to do more, the RAM is probably next.

The velociraptors could be replaced with an SSD which would make the machine faster and quieter.

Upgrading the CPU and motherboard is very expensive for comparatively marginal gains, and then there is the aggro that you might have to re-install Windows after a motherboard change. I would put that off for as long as possible, what you have is still good.

Edit to add: The 780Ti would be good too, I just instinctively selected the AMD option because you already have AMD drivers on your system so potentially the upgrade is easier, but if you can get the Nvidia part for a good price then the benchmarks seem fairly level.

[downsy]

thanks guys appreciate your input, i was hoping to put off a new build for a while

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The GTX780 and R9 290 can be had for decent prices too:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-044-KF
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...56&subcat=1752

Postage is another £10 but the games should net you around £20 to £25 at least.

Edit!!

Ebuyer would be cheaper to get the R9 290 from if you use slower postage:

http://www.ebuyer.com/614483-msi-r9-...-290-gaming-4g

Second Edit!!

This is probably the best R9 290 model and also comes with a game bundle too:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...27-00-40g.html

Having said that the first two cards for potentially under £200 after selling the games look decent deals IMHO.

If you intend to really spend £300 to £400 now though I would be inclined to wait until the rumoured R9 390X is released in the next few months(and probably the Nvidia equivalent).

[dfour]

I agree a little overclocking of the CPU and a new 290/780 and 4 more gig of ram and you will be fine. The ssd would be nice but isnt essential (yes I know it will be faster than the raptors i raid and quieter but they are still quite fast in there own right).

[jag272]

Ye as the others have said you really shouldn't need a full new build yet, that cpu should last fine for now. In your current state just RAM and GPU is good, as far as CPU upgrades I would wait until Skylake atleast at this point, your current one should still handle everything fairly well.