Main PC upgrades + HTPC upgrade

[hookyboysb]

So I currently have the following specs:

CPU: Intel i5 Ivy Bridge 3570K (clocked at 3.4 GHz)
RAM: G.SKILL Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 RAM
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4
Video Card: HIS H687F1G2M Radeon HD 6870
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB
HDD: Maxtor 320GB, Seagate Barracuda 1 TB
OS: Windows 7
PSU: 650 W Corsair (I forget the exact model number)

I plan on replacing my stock CPU cooler with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo and overclocking. After that, I think I would like to get a new video card. I assume my video card is currently perfectly fine for Dolphin and that my CPU is the bottleneck, but I was thinking about getting a GTX 770. I would consider one of the new AMD options, but their prices have inflated so much because of all of the demand. :\

Also, my family has a HTPC that I would like to use Dolphin on. Currently, it has an Athlon II dual-core clocked at 2.9 GHz (I believe the model number is 245?) and a Radeon HD 5770 that was just put in. The CPU definitely needs to be upgraded, but I'm going to guess that the video card is actually fine. So, any suggestions for upgrading this PC?

[DJBarry004]

Your PC: Yes, upgrade the CPU. Preferably the i5-4670K.

Your family´s PC: same thing.

Both cards should be enough.

Anyway, you have to specify the games.

[hookyboysb]

(01-23-2014, 09:44 AM)DJBarry004 Wrote: Your PC: Yes, upgrade the CPU. Preferably the i5-4670K.

Your family´s PC: same thing.

Both cards should be enough.

Anyway, you have to specify the games.

I don't understand why I need to upgrade from a 3570k to a 4670k... Pretty sure Haswell is just a marginal upgrade.

I'd like to play mostly main-series Mario and Zelda games, and some MKWii, SSBB, and Wii DDR.

[DJBarry004]

Haswell is pretty fast. It´s -hell- faster than you are thinking. And precisely for those games you mentioned, is the most recommended.

If those Mario and Zelda games include Twilight princess and the Galaxy series, you´ve just found another reason to upgrade to that thing since you can achieve full speed if you overclock (note the final K).

[NaturalViolence]

hookyboysb Wrote:I don't understand why I need to upgrade from a 3570k to a 4670k... Pretty sure Haswell is just a marginal upgrade.

You don't NEED to upgrade but it would be beneficial. Which system would you prefer to play dolphin on? I personally think it's too expensive to be worth it to make multiple systems "dolphin ready".

In most applications haswell is around 9% faster than ivy bridge on average. In dolphin that number is closer to 30%.

[pauldacheez]

Ignore everyone else, just overclock the 3570K until you feel like you can't or don't need to push it any further. You don't need a 4670K just yet.

As for the HTPC? Feel free to replace THAT with a 4670K, or whatever CPU you find fitting for it that's in the same ballpark. The GPU's a little less than I'd prefer, but it's fine for your purposes if you're fine without 81x SSAA.

[LordVador]

I second pauldacheez.

3570K is just fine for most games (if you overclock of course). And yes it includes Zelda TP and SMG 1/2 :p.

Btw your 6870 is enough too

[NaturalViolence]

I can't run either of those at fullspeed on my 3570K even with a mild overclock.

[pauldacheez]

>mild overclock

Who are you and what have you done with NaturalViolence?

[NaturalViolence]

But I don't talk much about personal overclocking endeavors.....even in this community. Also you can't really do anything more than a mild OC on ivy bridge thanks to the TIM.