Build help Update my PC

[grandmasterub]

Hi All. First post here. Tried searching a bit, but didn't see anything already mirroring my situation.

With the release of alpha 3.0 I've gotten back into SC a bit, but my gaming rig (built in 2010) is definitely showing its age. I'm not sure if its my RAM or CPU thats really holding it back. I suppose its also possible that with the game being unoptimized, the performance I'm getting is just how it is. Anyway, I'm looking for upgrade advice for my current PC. I'd like to keep the upgrade cost around $500-$700 (I'm not trying to build a whole new PC if possible).

Current Rig:

Intel i7 950 | ASUS RAMPAGE III GENE X58 Exp | MSI GTX 1060 6GB | 12GB DDR3-1333 OCZ Gold (triple channel)

Corsair H60 | Antec mini P180b | 850W Corsair TX850W  | 2x Acer 24"

Looking for advice on what parts to upgrade. I also currently have 1 sata3 SSD and a couple of standard 1TB HDDs. I'm basically thinking I need to look at RAM or CPU, but that means a whole motherboard swap as well, so I'm really not sure what I can get for ~$500. I've been out of the PC building loop for awhile now. (like I said I last build in 2010). Looking forward to your help!

-grandmasterub

[Gallitin]

Welcome to the boards!

The new memory limit I've heard is 16GB so you might be a little limited there.  Not sure if you can expand it any further to 16 or if even worth doing that on DDR3 vs waiting and getting DDR4.  I'm sure others will reply that are more knowledgable on the matter soon.

What's the speed on your SSD? Just posted this today, talks about the different drives and how the perform in game: 

 

 

 

[grandmasterub]

Thats a great video. Looks my SSD could also be a culprit as well as the ram. I have an old seagate SATA SSD from 2014 (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820248016) My board definitely won't support the new M.2 drives, so I'd have to go with a PCI-e to get better speeds without a full motherboard upgrade.

I had the same worry about investing in old DDR3 triple channel ram. I'd hate to invest in RAM and a drive and still be CPU limited.

14 minutes ago, Gallitin said:

Welcome to the boards!

The new memory limit I've heard is 16GB so you might be a little limited there.  Not sure if you can expand it any further to 16 or if even worth doing that on DDR3 vs waiting and getting DDR4.  I'm sure others will reply that are more knowledgable on the matter soon.

What's the speed on your SSD? Just posted this today, talks about the different drives and how the perform in game: 

 

 

 

[Gallitin]

Ah I’m lost on m2 vs PCI-E. When I was looking at it appeared PCI-E was more expensive so assumed better, sounds like I’m mistaken. 

[rimmer59]

M.2 is the interface and can mean that the drive will run in SATA mode or PCI-E mode.  The Intel Optane 900p comes in two models; U.2 and PCI-e x4.  You can get an M.2 -> U.2 adapter and then both drives will run (depending on motherboard model), at the same speeds of PCI-e Gen3x4.

I would personally look into AMD Ryzen at that price-point.  Their 1600/1700 chips would work well for you.  B350 motherboards are cheap and can run $60-$90 for a great make/model.  16GB DDR4 2800-3200MHz RAM is ideal for that setup.  They should come with stock coolers because your liquid cooler may not work with AM4; but I would contact Corsair about getting an adapter (possibly).

[grandmasterub]

45 minutes ago, rimmer59 said:

M.2 is the interface and can mean that the drive will run in SATA mode or PCI-E mode.  The Intel Optane 900p comes in two models; U.2 and PCI-e x4.  You can get an M.2 -> U.2 adapter and then both drives will run (depending on motherboard model), at the same speeds of PCI-e Gen3x4.

I would personally look into AMD Ryzen at that price-point.  Their 1600/1700 chips would work well for you.  B350 motherboards are cheap and can run $60-$90 for a great make/model.  16GB DDR4 2800-3200MHz RAM is ideal for that setup.  They should come with stock coolers because your liquid cooler may not work with AM4; but I would contact Corsair about getting an adapter (possibly).

So you DO think an i7 950 would CPU limit the game if I purchased some addition DDR3 and a pcie ssd? Just want to confirm. I realized I could probably pick up some used DDR3 tc for $60 ish. 

Also with regard to pcie drives, what are the thoughts on the 280gb pcie optane vs the Corsair neutron nx500 400gb pcie drive.

[rimmer59]

I think that the OG Sandy/Bloomfield chips are starting to show their age and are finally reaching true EOL.  I was running a 3930k and saw improvements going to CoffeeLake and DDR4.   I'd say that now would be an ideal time to stick in a few hundred, especially with AMD Ryzen being so affordable.  The quantity of RAM was not an issue for me.  I had 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz and was running into performance problems in SC, even on an SSD. 

I would say if you want the Raven (or plan to sell it), get the Optane drive: otherwise stick with Samsung/Corsair/Adata.  Just remember that the price difference could go right into the purchase of a beefier chip.

[Stimula]

I usually use https://www.kingston.com/us for ram and storage upgrades. It keeps me from having to rack my brain about compatibility and timing. Your i7 - 950 is toward the end of its supported lifespan so I would look there first. That being said, LGA 1150 ATX boards are not to costly but your gonna have to look backwards hardware wise before going high end.

[grandmasterub]

So I was able to find 24gb of DDR3 (3x8) for pretty cheap so I'm going to try just a RAM upgrade and maybe a minor cpu overclock, and see how that does. I'll report out my results. If that doesn't work it looks like a cheap Ryzen 5 1600/1600X build is in order. Doing an NVME SSD upgrade on my x58 board is essentially pointless because its limited to PCIe 2.0 and can't be used as a boot drive without significant finagling.

[Gremlich]

Before you upgrade, wait until CIG makes some optimizations. THEN you'll know what you need to upgrade anything else. Check the hardware thread for deals on cpu/mobo combos. I'm not upgrading until 2019. (go to the end, I update this one regularly)