Should I upgrade soon or wait

Howdy all,

I haven't been following up on hardware for sometime. I mostly use my desktop now. There isn't anything wrong with it now but I have noticed recently in Dota 2 when the map has a ton of stuff, there is some lag. My setup is functional, though my MSI mobo main PCI-E x16 slot was kinda flaky so it's on the 2nd x16 slot.

My specs:

AMD FX6300 @ 3.4 GHz
16 GB DDR3 Crucial Ballistix
EVGA GTX 950 ACX 2.0 SC+ 2 GB graphics card
MSI 970A-G46 motherboard
Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD
Corsair CX600 modular power supply
NZXT Source 210 case
Windows 10 Professional

I was thinking about Ryzen build as Intel's prices have been stagnant for the past 2 years (Haswell, Broadwell, Skylake). But my friend did say that a Ryzen refresh is imminent in the next few months and that DDR4 prices should be a bit relaxed too (I refuse to get anything under 16 GB, right now it's almost 200 bucks for that much RAM). Or is it worth overclocking my current CPU? I'm still on the stock AMD cooler. I just don't want to drop that much money on a pretty dated setup. I don't do any super hardcore gaming, mostly Dota 2, Hearthstone, Team Fortress 2. Should I also consider getting a new video card? I've also seen that Nvidia cards have been pretty stagnant in terms of pricing.

 

I think you should wait for the Ryzen refresh - potentially it will overclock much better than Ryzen does. Not to mention the absurd RAM and GPU prices at the moment. If you wait a few months its likely you'll end up with a more powerful system, for a lower price.

nVidia can charge pretty much whatever they want since regardless of how good AMD's cards are, they will not sell as well as nVidia. That said their prices at the moment aren't *that* absurd since miners don't usually buy them. If you don't mind waiting, wait for nVidia to announce Tesla and then buy a 6GB 1060 or even a 1070/1080 at a rock bottom price. If you want an AMD card specifically then go for a 580 8GB if you can get a good price - its pretty much identical in performance to the 1060 +/- a few percent depending on the game. Vega 56 prices are still retarded, but if you can find one at its MSRP then go for it.

 

That's what I figured. I think the Ryzen refresh is in February, but likely won't be mass shipping out til March/April. I like to wait for reviews and manufacturers to get their stuff straightened out before I commit to buy. I honestly don't need a 1070/1080 performance. I don't think the 1050 would be worth it, maybe a 1060. But I won't buy it at its current prices.

 

I don't know how much you want to spend but I bought an MSI Codex desktop at Microcenter that came with the i7-8700k and GTX 1080ti. Best price I could find with those 2 options inside it. Now I've seen better cases but really it's not all that bad. At stock clocks, the i7 runs pretty cool but overclocking will heat it up. I bought an EVGA closed cooling system and im overclocking at 5.0-5.1 and only getting high 70c on fire strike etc etc, haven't tried long for long periods. The GPU doesn't even get warm. Highest I've seen on it was around 68c over clocked to 1975/5999. Plus I bought a corsair 850 watt PSU because I believe that the 550 watt they put in there isn't going to cut it now or definitely down the road with any upgrades I do.

Here is the link if you want to check it out.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/488862/CodexXE069US_Desktop_Computer

 

I was going to day say lags are a big indication of a GPU not failing but unable to hand the new gaming specs when push comes to shove. But alot will also depend are you running Ult or just HD for the game but if this happens on medium setting then your due for a GPU upgrade. I also as mention in other areas here got a MSI GTX 1060 6G when they were only 260 but since have gone up either by artificial means or limited supply demand not sure but prices have jump up as well as RAM DDR4 when I lost got them have gone up as well as I wanted to go 32G RAM but now have to settle with 16G RAM.

1. Go for a AMD Rzyen system it will not break your bank.
2. Your going to have to go DDR4 if you get a new system DDR3 is past.
4. I got a MSI GTX1060 6G when they were 260$ but that isn't the same price anymore they are going for close to $300 now...ugh...
5. If you want NVMe drive make sure your board supports it but a SSD is still a good investment. Check on the prices to see if it works in your budget for NVMe.
6. Get at least 750W brand name and higher if you want reliable PS warranty.
7. Check to see your case can future expand if you decide to but if that is a Mid Two then it should be fine unless you go NAS or SLI then check the clearance and space
8. Make sure this is Windows 10x64 Pro so you can take adavantage of all extra memory.
9. Check to see what Monitory you have - I got a 27" 2560x1440 and it looks great but as it gets bigger so does the price and any IPS feature will raise it more.

Beyond this others custom addons will be limited to space and what your budget allows.

Actually before all this rush they were pretty low on price but no more. Outstripped supplies caused the spike and it will be there for some time. I got my setup before this rush.

I got lucky my GTX 1060 6G and my 1500X is running just fine haven't loaded Witcher Series but I think it will handle it just fine.

 

Well Dota 2 is turned up to best looking settings. Again this is only when the game is totally chaotic. I should enable the frame rate counter, I used to be super hardcore into games like that. And that was another consideration of mine, I didn't really want to buy another power supply. Honestly I think 600 watts is more than enough, esp when I move off the Vishera core and move to Ryzen 1.0/2.0. I only wanted this to be a decent mid range box. I used to only buy high end components when I was going 24/7. But now I just casually game. I think I originally built this machine for like ~500 dollars for all the components. I just have a 1080p monitor, I don't really want 2k nor does my desk have room for a second monitor. I know I will have to go to DDR4, the rumors were that DDR4 should drop in the next coming months once supplies have eased. I remember pricing out a new rig a few months ago and a single 8 GB stick was in the 60-65 range, now it is absolutely ridiculous. I'll look at another Nvidia card once the prices aren't totally insane (which they still are). But I'm pretty happy with the GTX 950 for now, until it dies or has issues.

 

I don't know but from where I am looking prices haven't drop much actually they went up the last time I bought DDR4 in 2016. I was shocked to find the same DDR4 costly more then when I bought it if I had known then I would've bought more to go 32g RAM and so has my GPU 1060 that has spiked in price since I last bought it at 270 - you can't find it for that anymore. So I think someone is driving up the market for their gains when if produce was stable prices wouldn't spike like that.

 

Bought 2X8gb Gskill Ripjaws on sale yesterday at Microcenter DDR4 3200mhz for 199.00.

Not too bad.

Charlie

 

Ugh I don't think that is a good price at all. When Skylake first dropped, 16 GB of RAM was around like 120-130 for a 2 x 8 GB.

 

I should say compared to what Corsair vengeance @3200mhz was. I believe it was 249.00 for 2 sticks.

 

I'm waiting, everything right now seems to be going up in price for one reason or another.