Worth upgrading SB i3 gaming machine?

[kommisar]

My gaming machine has an i3-2120 (3.3 Ghz), 8gb ddr3, h61 mb and a radeon 6950 vc running windows 7. I am thinking about upgrading it. What would be most bang for the buck upgrade? Right now I am considering:

Used i5 3570 ($160) (not going to overclock because of h61 mb)

or

New i3 4170 + B85 motherboard ($170)

or

New video card (?)



I normally play multiplayer fps games like Battlefield and I am eyeing SW Battlefront. I game on 768p 60Hz screen, but would like to move up to gaming on my 46" 1080p 60Hz tv. I am willing to sacrifice visual quality for the best frame rate and smoothest gameplay experience. What do you knowledgeable people suggest?

 

[frozentundra123456]

I would definitely go with the i5 cpu vs another i3. Not too informed about those older video cards, but for 1080 I would think you need to upgrade that as well.

 

[crashtech]

The 3570 sounds right to me.

Didn't read the OP carefully enough, if only one part can be purchased, it probably should be the video card, though a quad AND a GPU would yield the largest and most predictable performance increase.

 

[moonbogg]

If it has to be only 1 of those options, I guess it should be the video card. For the multiplayer games you mentioned, you'd be much better off with an i5 and new video card.

 

[Yuriman]

I'll repeat what others have said: video card first, CPU second. I think something in the R370/R270/HD79xx range would be appropriate for your needs. A GTX 960 or 970 would also be a reasonable purchase.

 

[SPBHM]

if you are going to keep the i3 it's best to buy an nvidia card, even for the $100 VGAs the Nvidia's lower CPU bottleneck can shine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nlMJ7Ysdzk

 

[kommisar]

Thanks for the quick replies. You guys rock. I'll take this over to video card thread and see if it is worthwhile to upgrade the 6950 on a $160 budget for my intended games.

 

[AtenRa]

How much can you sell the entire system ??

 

[tential]

Woah op, now that I've read your post here what TV? Because as a person who did exactly what you explained it was the most horrendous experience possible for an fps. Playing on just any TV sucks for pc fps..

The difference between my projector setup (low latency) and HDTV setup is night and day. Even better when I get my 65 inch monitor.

I do not recommend using your TV for online fps (or any serious online gaming) unless you purchased that TV specifically for low input lag.

Given your budget, it makes me believe you really have a horrible TV for fps gaming online and I would avoid that like the plague

 

[AtenRa]

Woah op, now that I've read your post here what TV? Because as a person who did exactly what you explained it was the most horrendous experience possible for an fps. Playing on just any TV sucks for pc fps..

The difference between my projector setup (low latency) and HDTV setup is night and day. Even better when I get my 65 inch monitor.

I do not recommend using your TV for online fps (or any serious online gaming) unless you purchased that TV specifically for low input lag.

Given your budget, it makes me believe you really have a horrible TV for fps gaming online and I would avoid that like the plague

Yea most TVs have high input lag and they are not good for Online fps like BF4 and SW Battlefront.

But i would like someone to tell me how much he can sell his system, i assume he is in the US.

 

[kommisar]

Woah op, now that I've read your post here what TV?

TV is Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD. It has a dsub input labeled "PC" so I assumed it would bypass the scaler and the associated delays. How do I find out if this is going to be a decent gaming screen?

 

[tential]

TV is Samsung LN46C630 46-Inch 1080p 120 Hz LCD. It has a dsub input labeled "PC" so I assumed it would bypass the scaler and the associated delays. How do I find out if this is going to be a decent gaming screen?

A search shows from the avsforum.com input lag wars megathread that this TV is horrible for input lag. Like stupid bad supposedly.
No hard numbers though.
There are very few tvs with good input lag like I said.

Unless you're a flagship purchaser forget it.

I mean I could tell from your budget without even looking at the model but the model search shows nothing good. So I'd either give up TV pc gaming for fps, or be willing to spend. The cheapest way for me was the w1070 projector. But I still plan on going further and getting an actual 65 inch monitor

 

[ShintaiDK]

Input lag database:
http://www.displaylag.com/display-database/

 

[tential]

Input lag database:
http://www.displaylag.com/display-database/

His TV isn't listed.

 

[desura]

I bet that a core2duo plus a maxwell class gfx card would be sufficient.

 

[sxr7171]

Woah op, now that I've read your post here what TV? Because as a person who did exactly what you explained it was the most horrendous experience possible for an fps. Playing on just any TV sucks for pc fps..

The difference between my projector setup (low latency) and HDTV setup is night and day. Even better when I get my 65 inch monitor.

I do not recommend using your TV for online fps (or any serious online gaming) unless you purchased that TV specifically for low input lag.

Given your budget, it makes me believe you really have a horrible TV for fps gaming online and I would avoid that like the plague

Online gaming with a PC is very tough if you use a controller. You cannot compete with mouse and KB players at all.