PC - upgrade or start afresh?

[VR46]

Want to pick the brains of the PC Guru's amongst us please.

My PC is only two or three years old, wondering if it's worth upgrading the 1155 socket CPU and H67 motherboard or start afresh to be honest. Just done a fresh install on Windows 7 and all runs perfectly but am looking ahead to the next 18 months or so....

Want to get in to PC gaming more, talking pretty much new releases at a decent detail level and am 50/50 over ordering an Oculus Rift 2.

Current specs - i3-2100 CPU, HD 7770 GPU, 8GB 1333mhz RAM (motherboard type doesn't recognise higher I believe). Monitor/SSD/HDD/Power/Case are all pretty decent and could be moved in to a new unit no problem, no need to upgrade those really.

Really thought the higher speed 1155 CPU's would have been lower in price by now but they're not and GPU could always be looking for the next big bang for the buck release.

Don't really have a budget in mind but it would only be say ?250 to ?300 roughly.

Would you upgrade or bite the bullet and build a new system on latest CPU etc?

Thoughts appreciated, I'm really on the fence.

[speedlolita]

Get a 3570K and a GeForce 770, after selling the i3 and 7770.

Those components are weak and those I mentioned would be a fantastic upgrade. No reason to get more RAM or a new motherboard chipset currently IMO.

[VR46]

You mean a GTX 770 speedy? that and the CPU seem to come in about ?400 (?230 + ?170 roughly). Bit more than I was hoping but guess my CPU & GPU would be worth ?120ish.

Thanks for the reply but the way.

[Brad]

Upgrade! Figure out what's holding you back (GPU usually) and upgrade that first.

[VR46]

Think it's pretty equal that's it's the GPU & CPU on my front. Kerching.

Thanks for the replies.

[Baseley09]

Would agree with above responses, there's life left in the bulk of what you have, new CPU & GPU would see you right

[speedlolita]

If ?400 is a tad much look at the GTX 760 or R9 270X.

Personally I picked up a used GTX 670 (on par with 760) for ?120 off eBay a few month back. It flies. 7770 wasnt a great gaming card to begin with.

I stand firm with the 3570K though - 2500K is also worth an upgrade too. Had my 3570K since Jan last year - hasn't missed a beat since I got it and OCs itself to 3.8GHz when only 2 cores are being used. Easily the best CPU I have ever owned, runs cooler than my old i3-2100T too!

[Pulstar]

I still game on much lower specs, but I guess I'm due for a new laptop as well.

[VR46]

Went for a new R9 280 for ?140 from Amazon

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sapphire-dual-x-amd-radeon-r9-280-3gb-139-99-amazon-1979615

And a used i5-3470 for ?65 in the end, got ?80 for my bits (i3-2100 and 7770), so nice upgrade for a net outlay of ?125.

Thanks again for the tips gents.

[speedlolita]

Very nice!

[VR46]

Bump. Rather than start a new thread, currently have a 24" 1080p monitor which is great, but thinking about jumping to a 27" 1440p one, and probably a new GPU - don't think the R9 280 will do too well at Ultra like levels in games. Just don't want to splash out money now and find that 4k stuff will be achieveable/affordable in say twelve months time.

Any thoughts/input from your crystal ball please gents.

[Brad]

Personally I'd do the minimal upgrade necessary at this point and wait to see what happens in the world of VR. I'm not upgrading anything on my PC til I make a VR decision.

[VR46]

You're probably right, by the end of the year all will be a lot clearer re VR/4K etc.

Didn't realise until I searched for this thread that it was only 10 months ago I upgraded the CPU and GPU.

[Brad]

Lol, I'm currently trawling this forum to see when I built my PC (I'm sure I would have been all excited and told you all about it) as I have no idea.

EDIT: Mid 2011. 4 Years old then. With a 1080p Monitor I feel no need to upgrade yet though.

[eastyy]

Only thing i would be tempted monitor wise would be a ips 144hz with g-sync or free sync in 1080p or 1440. I think running 4k at high frame rates with mid range graphics cards are a long way off yet