Should I keep my Old GPU for my build?

Llucas001 on 26/02/2014 - 11:19

Hi Guys,

I've been on the website for a while and I'm thankful for all the tips and deals, I have a tech question to ask as we all seem to have like minded when it comes to saving money :)

I have the following rig:

Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3
I5 750
Radeon 6950 1gb
8gb Ram (2gbx4)
3tb HD in total (non SSD)
my PSU is Antec 500W if I'm not wrong (I'm not home to confirm sorry)

now I just bought a SSD Sandisk 256gb (deal expiring today, thanks guys) and I'm thinking of buying the following:

Asus Z87-Plus
i5-4670K

The question is, should I keep my GPU for now as I still can play the games I have atm (Skyrim, Xcom, CS, some COD, Warthunder and soon Titanfall - not in high quality) and upgrade it later (GPU and memory)? I'm also preparing it to deal with 4K in the future assuming some monitors will come cheap in the next few years..

I'm fairly happy with the rig - speed wise, but it has been giving me some issues like random reboots and freezes as it was built 3 years ago… thoughts?

Also I'm not considering OC as I've tried in this setup before but my memories won't do well with it (some are good patriot and the other is a sh$%ty kit)

Thanks guys

Computing

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 26/02/2014 - 13:03

    I use 3D Mark Advanced Search function to do a comparison, make sure you change results to 1 GPU and Valid Results only.

    As you can see, a CPU upgrade will not assist with DirectX 11 gaming much at all. Where as a new graphics card would - depending on your budget of course.

    i5-750 and AMD 6950. Top Score: 6181

    i5 4670k and AMD 6950 Top Score: 6678

    i5 4670k and AMD 270x Top Score: 9700

    i5 4670k and Nvidia 760 Top Score: 13000

    Obviously this takes into account best case scenario overclocking but still gives a reasonable comparison.

    I would try and diagnose the random freezing first; update BIOS, RAM/Memory Test, clean install windows etc.

  • _Bruce_ on 26/02/2014 - 13:06

    should I keep my GPU for now

    Entirely subjective, if you are happy enough is it worth the money?

    upgrade it later (GPU and memory)?

    Your memory is fine, you won't need to add more for a long time.

    I'm also preparing it to deal with 4K in the future

    Might be better off to wait until newer GPUs better handle this.

    giving me some issues like random reboots and freezes as it was built 3 years ago

    Nothing to do with age. Either a faulty component or (more likely) software(malware) issue.

  • scrimshaw on 26/02/2014 - 13:14

    but it has been giving me some issues like random reboots and freezes as it was built 3 years ago… thoughts?

    Have you done any hardware diagnostics?

    HDD SMART checking
    Memtest 86
    GPU burn in test

    etc.

  • lucas001 on 26/02/2014 - 13:31

    hey guys thanks for the input… the thing with the random freezes is that some games won't run or freezes no matter what I do.. and others won't.. I do believe its some problems with the mobo or GPU, and I will run the rests.. I will install windows 8.1 on the SSD and see what happens… I could overclock it if I get a better MEM kit as when I run at higher clock it will also affect the mem speed and cause it to crash (when I'm using 8 gb, but when using only the good kit -4g only it won't crash… so maybe for now I should buy a faster set of memory that I could use with my new rig and overclock it?

    • _Bruce_ on 26/02/2014 - 14:09

      Nope, just stick with what you have until you work out what the problem is.

  • ankor on 27/02/2014 - 00:31

    Have you checked your temps? If for some reason your cpu or gpu are overheating under load, this might be causing the bluescreens.

    Get some compressed air, unplug your computer from the wall socket and make sure that you get dust out of everything. Just make sure you observe anti-static protocol while doing this.

  • lucas001 on 27/02/2014 - 10:14

    Temp is good, I have one of those NZXT Sentry 2 fan controllers with Temperature sensors, I also use CPU-Z and other temperature monitoring software to monitor it every now and then so I doubt its temperature that is affecting or causing the freezes…in some games I just lose the signal to the monitor but the computer still works in the background.. just weird.. but just in some games…

    What I'm going to do is:

    • First I will run Sisoft Sandra/3d mark to do some benchmarks..
    • Install the SSD
      -Reinstall Windows 8.1
      -Buy new memories that will accept overclock of my current CPU (16Gb kit 1866)
      -Overclock to 3.2 Ghz (or more if stable)
      -Flash my Radeon 6950 to 6970 (which might not work as my model is a 1gb not 2gb reference model, if it works I get a bit more life out of that but I risk wrecking it)
      -Run Sandra/3d mark again…

    wish me luck :) I will post the results here

  • lucas001 on 06/03/2014 - 09:14
    +1

    Thanks guys for all the help, I decided to spend a little more money and I built a partially new system:

    -i5-4670K
    -Gigabyte Z87-D3HP
    -8Gb RAM 2133 G.skill Sniper
    -Nvidia GTX 770 OC Gigabyte

    I kept my case/PSU/monitor/mouse/keyboard/HDS and I had previously bought a SSD Sandisk Ultra Plus 256Gb

    Spent around $1100 but now I have something capable to play even Crysis in Ultra specs at 1920x1080.

    3dmark11 is showing almost 11K points. I think it will keep me going for 3 or 4 more years…

    Thanks Guys

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