Computer doesn't Support Directx 11 - Time to Upgrade

Hey everyone. It is time for an upgrade. I last upgraded my cpu/gpu/mb like 6 years ago. Didn't have a reason to upgrade as it could play all my games, but I just bought Fallout 4 and my video card doesn't support directx 11. I haven't been keeping up to date information wise, but I did just read through Tomshardware cpu and gpu guides. Problem is I don't know the ratio of money I should spend between cpu and gpu. Or if I could go for the skylake cpus.

My current hardware is old: i5-750 and amd hd 4850. I need a cpu/gpu/mb/memory for $500-$600. I would like to make this computer last as long as possible, so if another $50 would provide a big bang for the buck to step up to the next grade of component, I could do it. Also, I am probably not going to overclock.

Additionally, I tend to lean towards quad cores (i5) as I use the computer for a little modeling & encoding and feel quad cores are more future proof. But the new i3s are probably better than my old i5. And due to the reading I did, NVidia seems to be the way to go due to their proprietary software not available to AMD. So if I can't afford these, or you think there is something better please let me know.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Can you post a list of all your current parts?
Be sure to include PSU model and age as well as monitor resolution.

$500 for all that? Well.... are you averse to buying used?

Since you are not overclocking...

i5 4670 ($222)
ASRock H97 Pro4 ($84)
2x4GB DDR3 1866 (GSkill Sniper CL9 = $35)
Zotac GTX 970 ($280)

= $621

At present , AMD has the edge in DX12 over NVidia , and a slight edge at higher resolutions on their top cards (which would be your entire budget) Having said that , the Radeon driver lottery can be a pain to play. With a quick search I hit $670 for RAM , mobo , and a decent graphics card (AMD) , add $50 for a GTX 970. This is by no means a definitive list. Not the cheapest , and not the "best". The links will give you an idea , but there are folks with more Intel and graphics card knowledge here who will probably be along shortly. Also , you will more than likely want to upgrade your power supply as well. We have a thread with much better recommendations than I can give here on that subject. These parts are based on your stated goal of gaming at a decent level with current titles. I'm sure there is more comprehensive/knowledgeable input on the way.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117561

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130886

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231892

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150761

edit: And two of the best sources beat me to it! LOL

I like that build! The only things I would do is get a locked CPU since he isn't overclocking, and go down to 2x4GB DDR4. With the money saved there, I would put it towards the GPU.

EDIT: I almost forgot... if you go Skylake, I can give you a great deal on the board that Alaric posted. I reviewed it and it is for sale in the Classifieds section.

With that, you should also use DDR4 2133 MHz ram as you cannot overclock anything on that board/B150 series boards.

If all your needing is an upgrade for just fallout 4 at the moment. I would vote just upgrading video card. This also depends on your current RAM and PSU.

I am having great success with my old q6600 OCed and mated to a 7950 3GB. Bottleneck yes! Does it work and work well, Yes. I also don't play battlefield 4 and other CPU intensive games. What I can comment on is that I get great frame rates on Evolve on high settings at 1080.


Depending on what games you play and what games you plan to play is also key.


From your original post it sounds like you want to go for "best bang for buck" and "just play fallout 4 well"

Keeping just those two key points in mind and guessing you have 8GB of Memory, mobo that is not crap, and a PSU capable of 550 watts or so. You can pick up a new/used direct X 11/12 GPU for anywhere between $80 to 200 that would be twice as good as your current one.


Any savings can go into a SSD that would make your computer feel faster than any other purchase in my opinion.

food for thought.


-Pinky

It may perform fine, but, would you want a glass ceiling? Something else to consider as well.

http://www.techspot.com/review/1089-fallout-4-benchmarks/page5.html

EDIT: But, you already mentioned that point (and brought up other good ones)... I digress.

Looks like it's scaling up to 4 compute threads with a nice bit of help from IPC.
Definitely want a faster CPU than the i5-750.

Thanks for everyone's input!

I game at 1920x1080, as for parts, I can get the specifics when I get home: ~250GB Samsung SSD for OS, 1TB WDD HDD for files, 600 watt 6 year old PSU, BD-ROM, full tower case, stock cooler for i5.

Alaric. thank you for providing those links. You build is similar to what I was thinking: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/GbXNdC
i5-6600, H170 mb, Ripjaws 2x4GB, Asus GTX 970 for $619 ($660 after cyber Monday).

As for expectations, I was thinking of a full upgrade vs just a GPU because the rest of the system is getting tired compared to todays tech. The way I see it, is I want something that will perform better than the PS4 and XBone otherwise I should just buy one of those. I was disappointed in their selection of hardware and decided to skip this round of consoles and so it strengthened my reason to upgrade now.

The reason I ask here is that on Tom's their builds also seem to go with an i3 or similar lower grade CPU and the best GPU possible, I wanted a second opinion of that approach. Everyone here seemed to go with the i5, which unless people picked that because I mentioned it, shows me that the i5 it a worthwhile upgrade. The alternative is an i3 and gtx 980(or AMD equivalent) which is more expensive. But I can't seem to find a comparison between and i5 and 970 vs i3 and 980. It make it harder to say the 980 is the way to go. As for overclocking, I have overclocked on water in the past, but that was before K-cpus and Z-mbs. It looks like overclocking will cost an extra ~$100 for hardware and I will need a new water block, so I am not sure OC is the way to go. Even though I enjoyed OCing in the pass.

The other comments was that $500-$600 might be too low. If that is the case, I can increase it if needed. It is more a comfort budget number than a hard and fast number, but I like to see an specific benefit if I am going to spend more than I like.

So I guess the options are:
1) i5 & 970 or equivalent ~$680ish
2) i3 & 980 or equivalent ~$760ish
4) i5 & 980 or equivalent ~$810ish
3) spend more and get better?? (cpu or gpu)

I am assuming any of the above are better than PS4 and XBone.

Add $200 (K , Z, and water block) to overclock the above options.

Prices could be lower due to Holiday sales.

Which one would you guys go with?

i5

"Additionally, I tend to lean towards quad cores (i5) as I use the computer for a little modeling & encoding and feel quad cores are more future proof."

quoted for truth

You mentioned Skylake and that seemed a good balance between money and performance. Thanks , ED! I took a shot at it , figuring you would be along soon. LOL Other than maybe a more OC friendly mobo , I actually like that build as a potential build for myself. It's all stuff I would own and feel good with.