Giving my PC a facelift. Please help with spec

xpluttx

Member
Good day,
I am looking to see if there is a relatively cheap way of giving my PC a facelift.
It's 7 years old now, an is starting to breathe a little heavy.
My goal is to play ASC-Valhalla, and the specs are now borderline good enough to do so.
I was thinking maybe upgrading the processor, but then i dont want to go in a trap where i then have to upgrade motherboard to support the ned processor and so on and so on.

So could i for example gain some performance by upgrading to an intel i7 processor or something like that?

Below is my current specs.


CasePCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
MotherboardASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE + **FREE GAME**
Memory (RAM)8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics CardNONE
3rd Graphics CardNONE
1st Storage Drive1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Storage DriveNONE
1st M.2 SSD DriveNONE
RAIDNONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY DriveNONE
External Hard DriveNONE
Memory Card ReaderINTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power SupplyCORSAIR 750W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ MODULAR TXM-750 V2-80 PLUS®
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Change to: CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable1 x 2 Metre European Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor CoolingSuper Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Fan ControllerNONE
Sound CardONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired NetworkingDUAL-BAND WIRELESS 802.11N 450Mbps PCI-E CARD
Wireless Router/HomePlugsNONE
USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
4G ModuleNONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
FirewireNONE
TV CardNONE
Operating SystemGenuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office SoftwareNO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-VirusNORTON ANTI-VIRUS 2014 - 1 Year Licence for 1 PC *SPECIAL*
MonitorNONE
2nd MonitorNONE
Monitor CablesNONE
Eyefinity AdapterNONE
Keyboard & MouseLOGITECH® MK270 WIRELESS KEYBOARD & MOUSE COMBO
MouseNONE
HeadsetsNONE
Mouse PadNONE
SpeakersNONE
WebcamNONE
Surge ProtectionNONE
Cable ManagementNONE
PrinterNONE
Warranty3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Data RecoveryNONE
Delivery4 - 6 DAY DELIVERY TO NORWAY (92 €)
Build TimeStandard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
MiscellaneousFREE BATTLEFIELD 4 GAME with Z87-A MOTHERBOARD!












 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
For upgrading you would be looking at the following to have an impact:

i7 4790k CPU - ITRO £100
Coolermaster 240 Lite - £50
2x8GB DDR3 RAM (Fastest you can get your hands on, 2400mhz) - ITRO £100
1660 Super (I'm guessing you're on a 1080p monitor? What Frequency?) - ITRO £200

If you want Raytracing you would want the 2060 Super. - ITRO £300 (Keep in mind the 3060 is coming soon)

£450 to £550 for an upgrade.

I don't know if it's worthwhile personally. The 4790 is a decent CPU and you can OC it to a decent level. With the RAM proping up your FPS you could happily play for another few years I imagine.

Depends on what route you want to go down :)
 

xpluttx

Member
So Valhalla just realeased and of course my system is just barely NOT able to play the game.

I am wondering if it's possible to find a GPU that is pretty much plug&play replacement of my 780Ti and supports DX12.
I am hoping that i wont need to by a brand new settup, as i don't need to run the game on 1237 FPS and in 4K.
Low settings are absolutely fine for now as long as i can run the game.

These are my current specs:

Operating system Windows 10 64 bit
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
MotherboardASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE + **FREE GAME**
Memory (RAM)8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
So Valhalla just realeased and of course my system is just barely NOT able to play the game.

I am wondering if it's possible to find a GPU that is pretty much plug&play replacement of my 780Ti and supports DX12.
I am hoping that i wont need to by a brand new settup, as i don't need to run the game on 1237 FPS and in 4K.
Low settings are absolutely fine for now as long as i can run the game.

These are my current specs:

Operating system Windows 10 64 bit
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-4670 (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache
MotherboardASUS® Z87-A: ATX, USB3.0, SATA6GB/S, SLi, XFIRE + **FREE GAME**
Memory (RAM)8GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 Ti - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
What monitor are you pairing it with, what resolution and refresh rate?

What's your maximum budget for the upgrades?
 

xpluttx

Member
I just want to play this game. I dont want to plan for games that comes out in 2025- I dont need support for 4K or VR. I am happy to by an old GPU that can run valhalla, as long as it is pretty much plug and play and will cooperate with my CPU and motherboard.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
?

Sorry, that doesn't answer the question? Need to know what your budget is for the upgrades.

If you only have £100 to spend, then it may not be possible to get it worthy.
 

xpluttx

Member
?

Sorry, that doesn't answer the question? Need to know what your budget is for the upgrades.

If you only have £100 to spend, then it may not be possible to get it worthy.
The problem is that i no longer have any insight in whats on the market. So lets say my budget is 200£, where will that get me?
I cant imagine there being THAT many GPU's that will fit nicely into my old motherboard?
 

xpluttx

Member
The problem is that i no longer have any insight in whats on the market. So lets say my budget is 200£, where will that get me?
I cant imagine there being THAT many GPU's that will fit nicely into my old motherboard?
Do you know if any of these GPS's will be an easy replacer for my 780Ti?
- AMD R9 380 - 4GB/ GTX 960-4GB
- AMD RX 570 - 8GB/ GTX 1060-6GB

And NOT fry my motherboard/CPU?
I would be so very glad for help on this. :D
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
The problem is that i no longer have any insight in whats on the market. So lets say my budget is 200£, where will that get me?
I cant imagine there being THAT many GPU's that will fit nicely into my old motherboard?
Your motherboard is standard PCIe 3 which current GPU's are still on.

I wouldn't suggest any of the AMD cards as they've got issues with drivers.

I would suggest a GTX1650 Super, BUT I would also STRONGLY suggest in upgrading that monitor, it's just wasting an awful lot of the games potential and will be holding your experience right back. You won't appreciate by how much until you experience a better resolution and refresh rate.

 

xpluttx

Member
Your motherboard is standard PCIe 3 which current GPU's are still on.

I wouldn't suggest any of the AMD cards as they've got issues with drivers.

I would suggest a GTX1650 Super, BUT I would also STRONGLY suggest in upgrading that monitor, it's just wasting an awful lot of the games potential and will be holding your experience right back. You won't appreciate by how much until you experience a better resolution and refresh rate.

That sounds good and all. Will this plug neatly into my motherboard, and not cause problems with my CPU you think?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
That sounds good and all. Will this plug neatly into my motherboard, and not cause problems with my CPU you think?
It's same generation as your motherboard with regards to PCIe 3, that hasn't changed yet.

The only other consideration is the PSU and case, your PSU has plenty of headroom, and the card is a small form factor so there shouldn't be any issues inside the case at all.

CPU isn't a factor. Any GPU will work with any CPU. It's weather or not the CPU will bottleneck the GPU and vice versa.
 

xpluttx

Member
It's same generation as your motherboard with regards to PCIe 3, that hasn't changed yet.

The only other consideration is the PSU and case, your PSU has plenty of headroom, and the card is a small form factor so there shouldn't be any issues inside the case at all.

CPU isn't a factor. Any GPU will work with any CPU. It's weather or not the CPU will bottleneck the GPU and vice versYes
i upgraded to windows 10 yesterday, as that supposedly was a system requirement, and that got me a little closer to launching the game.

But then i got a warning saying "GPU does not support DX12", which i thought 780Ti did, but apparently not.

But isn't there any in-between solution here?
There are so many GPU's between 780Ti and 1650 SUPER.
Like for example:
GTX TITAN X
GTX 980
GTX 980TI
GTX 970
GTX 960

Will none of these do the trick?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
i upgraded to windows 10 yesterday, as that supposedly was a system requirement, and that got me a little closer to launching the game.

But then i got a warning saying "GPU does not support DX12", which i thought 780Ti did, but apparently not.

But isn't there any in-between solution here?
There are so many GPU's between 780Ti and 1650 SUPER.
Like for example:
GTX TITAN X
GTX 980
GTX 980TI
GTX 970
GTX 960

Will none of these do the trick?
You would only be able to find those second hand (they haven't been made for some time) and they're very old now. As such they'll be hard to find and probably a lot more expensive by performance than the 1650 Super.

I personally would never buy second hand, I've had some really bad experiences with second hand tech. Just never worth it IMHO.
 

xpluttx

Member
I see. So you believe that the 1650 super will plug nicely into my motherboard without causing any major problems?
What i am afraid of is somekind of dominoeffect, where replacing the GPU will result in having to replacce CPU, and then having to replace the motherboard and so on and so on. I would be lying if i said that i am any good at IT.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I see. So you believe that the 1650 super will plug nicely into my motherboard without causing any major problems?
What i am afraid of is somekind of dominoeffect, where replacing the GPU will result in having to replacce CPU, and then having to replace the motherboard and so on and so on. I would be lying if i said that i am any good at IT.
Like i said the gpu is no different form factor wise to your current GPU, it's exactly the same. And the motherboard supports it fine.

So long as you don't damage anything in the process, it's just plug and play.
 

xpluttx

Member
Strange...everything I have read says that the 780Ti support DX12 yet the NVIDIA site doesn't list it as a supported GPU (only the 730) :unsure:
i thought so too. But apparently you need a maxwell-based 780Ti to have DX12 support. And i guess mine isnt.
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
i thought so too. But apparently you need a maxwell-based 780Ti to have DX12 support. And i guess mine isnt.

Maxwell is the 900 series.

The 780ti will support DX12, the issue is likely DX12.1 or above which is where Maxwell cards are required.
 
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