The Decision to Upgrade: A Closer Look at Upgrading a 4-5 Year Old Gaming PC

As you approach the midpoint of your gaming PC's lifespan, you may be wondering whether it's time to upgrade. One option is to add a new video card to an existing system, while another is to replace the entire platform with a new build. But do you really need to replace your entire system, or can you simply drop in a new video card and be good to go? In this article, we'll take a closer look at both options and explore the pros and cons of each.

First, let's examine the first option: adding a new video card to an existing system. As it turns out, this is often the easier route. For example, if you're running an NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti in your system, adding a newer model like the GeForce GTX 1080 can give you a significant boost in graphical horsepower. In fact, as we've seen in our benchmarks, the GTX 1080 even when paired with a 3,570 K CPU has so much more graphical horsepower than the Rison 5,1600 system.

However, it's not always this simple. The frame times in Battlefield 1, for example, show that the 3,570 K was bottlenecking the GTX 1080 so badly that the game was virtually unplayable. Frame times were all over the place, with constant stuttering throughout the entire gameplay experience. In contrast, the Rison system was smooth and consistent, even if it wasn't as powerful as the GTX 1080 in terms of raw frame rates.

Another factor to consider is how much performance you're actually wasting due to a CPU bottleneck. To test this out, we paired the GTX 1080 with a Core i9 7900 X CPU running stock, and found that we were losing about 60 frames per second on average per game when playing at the same settings of resolution.

So what does this mean for you? If you're considering adding a new video card to your existing system, it's worth keeping in mind that you may not be getting as much performance out of it as you think. For example, if you spend $600 on a GTX 1080, but only get about 65-75% of the performance you'd get with a newer model at full price, is it really worth it? Perhaps a more optimal approach would be to cut down your graphics card to something like an NVIDIA GTX 1070 or Gigabyte variant, and use that as a stepping stone to upgrade your CPU.

The Rise in PC: A Closer Look

When we talk about upgrading a gaming PC, one of the things that comes up is how much the system has improved since its initial build. In this case, let's take a closer look at the rise in PC and whether it's worth upgrading to something newer.

One thing that stands out when comparing older systems to newer ones is the difference in graphical horsepower. The GTX 1080, for example, has so much more power under the hood than the Rison 5,1600 system, even when paired with a 3,570 K CPU. This is evident in our benchmarks, where the frame rates are consistently higher on the newer system.

However, it's also worth noting that the rise in PC can sometimes be slower than its competitor, simply because of the graphics card difference. However, as we've seen with this specific build, parts from different systems can work together really well which makes it a more reliable system overall.

Conclusion

Upgrading an existing gaming PC can seem daunting, but by considering both options and doing your research, you can make an informed decision that works best for you. Whether you choose to add a new video card or replace the entire system with a new build, there are pros and cons to each approach that you should consider before making a final decision.

As always, we'd love to hear from you in the comments below. If you've upgraded your PC recently and have some advice to share, be sure to let us know. And if you're considering upgrading soon, maybe our article will help guide you in the right direction.

Additional Resources:

If you're interested in learning more about building a gaming PC or upgrading an existing system, we recommend checking out our other articles on the subject. We've got everything from beginner's guides to advanced build tutorials, so no matter what level of expertise you have, we've got you covered.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe age 500 I from NZXT carries a small footprint without compromising on features like flexible hardware configurations a removable radiator bracket for easy installation and stellar cable management for a tidier system Gaiman style with a tempered glass side panel integrated RGB lighting and a built-in cam powered smart device to manage your lighting and fans do more with less in the H 500 I click the link below to learn more so the other week I gave myself about a $600 budget to upgrade the old Craigslist PC that I purchased months ago and what I ended up doing was pretty much overhauling the entire system replacing and gutting the platform swapping out the z77 platform with a core i5 35 70k with this lovely new be 350 board and a risin 5 1600 i also swapped out the original radeon HD 7850 for this EVGA gtx 1050 Ti needless to say this thing runs circles around its predecessor in terms of gaming performance and CPU GPU everything across the board has pretty much been massively improved that being said that $600 could have been spent a hundred maybe even a thousand different ways so what I want to do today is sort of explore one other possible Avenue that we could have taken weeks ago so for today's scenario just imagine if we spent that $600 on just two components a new power supply and a modern high-end graphics card like this EVGA GTX 1080 for the win this is about five hundred and fifty dollars you can find a power supply similar to this one that's 600 650 watt semi modular 80 plus bronze for about 50 bucks so and then obviously we could have used the existing power supply in the Craigslist PC but it's an old thermaltake one it's probably not even 80 plus and judging from the reviews I saw a new egg yeah I'm definitely not pairing that with my gtx 1080 now it seems kind of silly to pair a gtx 1080 with a five-year-old quad core 4 thread cpu like 35 70 k but at the same time a lot of you guys probably have maybe a four or five year old gaming pc and you're at a fork in the road in terms of how the heck am I supposed to upgrade this do you really need to replace your entire platform or can you simply drop in a new video and be good to go I guess we're gonna take a closer look at it right now as I've already run the tests on both of these setups so let's just dive right into the benchmarks and we'll circle back and talk about it a little bit before we close things up roll tape all right show us is really interesting man really really interesting stuff so clearly the GTX 1080 even when paired with a 35 70 K just has so much more graphical horsepower than the risin 5 1600 system you know with it slowly GTX 1050 Ti as indicated from those fire strike numbers rather the gate holy smokes some impressive numbers right there and we even saw this you know evidently in battlefield 1 and doom the GTX 1080 rig just swept the floor with its competitor I mean absolutely like the average frame rates were through the roof come in comparison however if you take a closer look at the frame times in battlefield 1 you'll see that the risin 5 1600 system actually fared a lot better those those frame rates were tightly grouped together whereas they're kind of just all over the place and stretched out with that 35 70 K obviously being a pretty bad bottleneck here and I think you know I didn't really notice any problems when I was playing on that system however I think someone with maybe a more keen eye could probably pick up on the fact that hey this game is dropping from 100 frames per second to 60 frames per second and then back up you know at a moment's notice someone with a more keen eye than me might be affected by that level of performance and of course we can't ignore GTA 5 where the 35 70 K was bottlenecking the GTX 1080 so badly that the game was virtually unplayable I mean frame times were so jumpy they were all over the place that we were seeing constant stuttering really bad stuttering to throughout the entire gameplay so it was really bad I had to like just stop halfway through I was like now this is giving me a headache and stuff and obviously the average frame rates were much higher than the Rison system but at least the Rison system was was smooth it was constant we were able to play it just fine so it's really kind of interesting when you think about it the rise in PC is typically slower than its competitor because of the graphics card difference but its parts are better suited for each other as a whole which i think makes it a more reliable system overall another thing to consider if you're gonna pop in something like a GTX 1080 into your five-year-old system is how much performance you're actually wasting due to the CPU bottleneck and to find out exactly I actually paired that GTX 10 80 with a core I nine 7900 X running stock tested the same three games of the same settings of resolution and found that we were losing about 60 frames per second on average per game if you factor it out and average it out which is incredible and presumably you're paying 100% of the price for your GTX 1080 but you're maybe only getting 65 to 75% of the performance so definitely something to keep in mind and I guess this is all to say that perhaps neither of these upgrade paths that we explore today are the absolute ideal or optimal choice maybe something in the middle of the road is for the best for example maybe cutting down your graphics card to say a gtx 1070 or even a gtx 1066 gigabyte variant and having a little bit more spending power to upgrade your cpu which in this case you can really only go to a core i7 3770k that would get you four more threats but without further testing in another video it's really kind of hard to say how that pairing would perform but very interesting data all things considered that's pretty much all I got for now guys so let me know what you think of the results down below and also if you have any opinions on how you would have spent the $600 upgrade blow that up but I'm gonna get the hell out of here guys thank you so much for watching this video toss a like on it if you enjoyed it and get subscribed so you don't miss any more tech videos coming really soon you can also check me out on floatplane if you'd like to watch my content a week early without ads for three bucks a month I'll put a link for that in the video description till next time guys thanks for tuning in have yourselves a good one and I'll see you all in the next videothe age 500 I from NZXT carries a small footprint without compromising on features like flexible hardware configurations a removable radiator bracket for easy installation and stellar cable management for a tidier system Gaiman style with a tempered glass side panel integrated RGB lighting and a built-in cam powered smart device to manage your lighting and fans do more with less in the H 500 I click the link below to learn more so the other week I gave myself about a $600 budget to upgrade the old Craigslist PC that I purchased months ago and what I ended up doing was pretty much overhauling the entire system replacing and gutting the platform swapping out the z77 platform with a core i5 35 70k with this lovely new be 350 board and a risin 5 1600 i also swapped out the original radeon HD 7850 for this EVGA gtx 1050 Ti needless to say this thing runs circles around its predecessor in terms of gaming performance and CPU GPU everything across the board has pretty much been massively improved that being said that $600 could have been spent a hundred maybe even a thousand different ways so what I want to do today is sort of explore one other possible Avenue that we could have taken weeks ago so for today's scenario just imagine if we spent that $600 on just two components a new power supply and a modern high-end graphics card like this EVGA GTX 1080 for the win this is about five hundred and fifty dollars you can find a power supply similar to this one that's 600 650 watt semi modular 80 plus bronze for about 50 bucks so and then obviously we could have used the existing power supply in the Craigslist PC but it's an old thermaltake one it's probably not even 80 plus and judging from the reviews I saw a new egg yeah I'm definitely not pairing that with my gtx 1080 now it seems kind of silly to pair a gtx 1080 with a five-year-old quad core 4 thread cpu like 35 70 k but at the same time a lot of you guys probably have maybe a four or five year old gaming pc and you're at a fork in the road in terms of how the heck am I supposed to upgrade this do you really need to replace your entire platform or can you simply drop in a new video and be good to go I guess we're gonna take a closer look at it right now as I've already run the tests on both of these setups so let's just dive right into the benchmarks and we'll circle back and talk about it a little bit before we close things up roll tape all right show us is really interesting man really really interesting stuff so clearly the GTX 1080 even when paired with a 35 70 K just has so much more graphical horsepower than the risin 5 1600 system you know with it slowly GTX 1050 Ti as indicated from those fire strike numbers rather the gate holy smokes some impressive numbers right there and we even saw this you know evidently in battlefield 1 and doom the GTX 1080 rig just swept the floor with its competitor I mean absolutely like the average frame rates were through the roof come in comparison however if you take a closer look at the frame times in battlefield 1 you'll see that the risin 5 1600 system actually fared a lot better those those frame rates were tightly grouped together whereas they're kind of just all over the place and stretched out with that 35 70 K obviously being a pretty bad bottleneck here and I think you know I didn't really notice any problems when I was playing on that system however I think someone with maybe a more keen eye could probably pick up on the fact that hey this game is dropping from 100 frames per second to 60 frames per second and then back up you know at a moment's notice someone with a more keen eye than me might be affected by that level of performance and of course we can't ignore GTA 5 where the 35 70 K was bottlenecking the GTX 1080 so badly that the game was virtually unplayable I mean frame times were so jumpy they were all over the place that we were seeing constant stuttering really bad stuttering to throughout the entire gameplay so it was really bad I had to like just stop halfway through I was like now this is giving me a headache and stuff and obviously the average frame rates were much higher than the Rison system but at least the Rison system was was smooth it was constant we were able to play it just fine so it's really kind of interesting when you think about it the rise in PC is typically slower than its competitor because of the graphics card difference but its parts are better suited for each other as a whole which i think makes it a more reliable system overall another thing to consider if you're gonna pop in something like a GTX 1080 into your five-year-old system is how much performance you're actually wasting due to the CPU bottleneck and to find out exactly I actually paired that GTX 10 80 with a core I nine 7900 X running stock tested the same three games of the same settings of resolution and found that we were losing about 60 frames per second on average per game if you factor it out and average it out which is incredible and presumably you're paying 100% of the price for your GTX 1080 but you're maybe only getting 65 to 75% of the performance so definitely something to keep in mind and I guess this is all to say that perhaps neither of these upgrade paths that we explore today are the absolute ideal or optimal choice maybe something in the middle of the road is for the best for example maybe cutting down your graphics card to say a gtx 1070 or even a gtx 1066 gigabyte variant and having a little bit more spending power to upgrade your cpu which in this case you can really only go to a core i7 3770k that would get you four more threats but without further testing in another video it's really kind of hard to say how that pairing would perform but very interesting data all things considered that's pretty much all I got for now guys so let me know what you think of the results down below and also if you have any opinions on how you would have spent the $600 upgrade blow that up but I'm gonna get the hell out of here guys thank you so much for watching this video toss a like on it if you enjoyed it and get subscribed so you don't miss any more tech videos coming really soon you can also check me out on floatplane if you'd like to watch my content a week early without ads for three bucks a month I'll put a link for that in the video description till next time guys thanks for tuning in have yourselves a good one and I'll see you all in the next video\n"