Hey guys, Its my first post here so my sincere apologies if I’ve violated any rules. Let me know and i’ll remember it for next time
So, I’m currently running a FX 8350 along with a Asus 7970 TOP card. They were the best thing on AMD’s side I could buy when I built my first PC about 4-5 years ago. I would like to spend about £600 upgrading something. So essentially my question is… should I upgrade GPU and get VEGA or should I upgrade my CPU and get the Ryzen 1700 along with new motherboard, ram and case?
Which one do you guys think would yield in better overall gaming performance. I play PUBG, Division, Terraria & Flight Simulator X mainly. I also do a fair bit of programming.
What resolution are you playing at? If your playing at higher than 1080p, I would upgrade the 7970 first, and then the cpu+mobo.
I would very strongly recommend against vega. The 56 and 64 have increased in price to $500 and $600 respectively, and both are completely non-competitive for gamers. The 56 is priced as a Gtx 1080 (keep in mind, custom versions of the card will cost more than the $500 current price), but Vega 56 is only slightly faster than a Gtx 1070. Vega 64 is priced at $100 more than Gtx 1080, and at best trades-blows with a Gtx 1080, while consuming 1.5x or more power and while costing $100 more than a Gtx 1080.
Quite frankly both RX Vega cards are Fanboy only cards.
If you can get a vega56 at the launch price from one of the launch partners (OCUK or Scan in your case), it’s a really compelling option. If not, less so.
7970 is still a champ, my brother loves the one in his machine… when I told him how old the card was he was blown away
should still be good for medium settings at 1080p (30fps+) in most new titles.
I would say go with the 1700 / motherboard / ram and then only upgrade the gpu when it can no longer game adequately at the settings / resolutions you require.
Yeah you can’t get launch price anywhere and it looks like you definitely will not be getting launch price from AIC partners, and you will definitely not want that reference cooler in your system LOL
In a similar situation myself, have a 290, which was the next line after the 7970, and an FX-6100. Still serving me well but I really want a CPU upgrade. The 290 is still holding its own in newer games at higher that 1080p but not quite 1440p for me. It is the CPU definitely holding me back now.
Slightly out of odds with you, you have a second gen FX and 2 more cores, while I have the 290 to you 7970, so the CPU is more pressing for me. I also game mostly on my PC, not a production or work machine of any sort, so again the CPI is my hold back now.
Considering that GPU prices are only inflated in the sub-$500 range, and he is considering a Vega tier card, that is not applicable. Literally no Vega card can be had for less than $500, and in the greater-than $500 range there has been no inflation. Gtx 1080’s and Gtx 1080 Ti’s are still at $500 and $700 respectively, right as they were prior to the mining craze. Vega is $500 or more, and that is where Vega’s post-launch MSRP looks to stay for the moment.
There’s a chance to get a vega56 on its launch day, though – no harm in trying, imo.
As for launch prices from partners – ofc not, they will have to earn back their investment + material costs for the heatsink, etc., which has to be stupidly beefy because of the stock overvolting, etc.
Having said that, if that doesn’t work out, I’d probably go for an upgrade to the CPU first, in the hope that GPU prices come down.
If its anything like V64 launch day, the non-bundled cards will sell out almost instantly, and even then your stuck with the vacuum cleaner cooler.
AMD is allocating way more cards to bundles than to stand-alone, so the odds of successfully buying a stand-alone card are probably slim. Some retailers got like 500 V64’s without bundles, and some got as little as 50… (according to gamersnexus’s video, if I remember correctly)
Uhhhh, well in my opinion an 8350 is still a good chip for pretty much everything. I’ve seen 4K capable machines built with them… Though a 7970 is also a REALLY good card. If you can find a 570 or 580 on the cheap give it a shot (relative cheap) or a 1060 3GB. The problem with doing this /now/ is coin miners are ruining the market. You might be able to get better performance on an OpenGL platform like Linux but thats on you booboo.
If you really want the jump, Ryzen 1600 is the best CPU price to perf. Theres also some Asrock boards that you can get that are X370 and with rebates and timing on sales you can get them for as low as 45 bucks. At that, if you time it right you might be able to get vega for cheaper too since its just come out. IDK maybe a full jump is worth it then…
inb4 lounge screams and ree’s at me but would suggest a Q6600
I don’t see this changing any time soon. My advice would be to check local used markets to see if a 1080 (non-reference) shows up for ~450-500 (USD, not sure how pricing translates to OP’s local markets)
Thank you all soo much for all your replies. I really appreciate all the suggestions and advice.
Yeah, I have allocated about £600 into upgrading my currently 5 year PC. I don’t have to upgrade anything as my system is fine, it’s just that - fine. Nothing spectacular! I have begun to notice dipping frame rates in the games I play regularly even while at medium/high settings.
I managed to pre-order the reference VEGA 64 for £599 which is the retail price and they are not expecting to ship it until the 28th so I have ample time to cancel and decide what to do… hence this post.
I have two 1080p monitors. I would usually be playing on one while watching some video or reading random stuff on the other. So multitasking pretty much all the time.
Mainly MatLab and Embedded C.
After reading all your responses, I feel there is a general consensus that upgrading the CPU to a Ryzen 7 seems like a more reasonable choice, but having said that I have managed to reserve VEGA 64 for £599, does that change on any of your opinion?
I guess rephrasing my initial question, after spending about £600 on either CPU or GPU, which one do you guys think will result in the biggest return on my investment.
Thanks again for also your comments and advice. I really appreciate it
Well maybe the Vega if you hold it for a week or so till they fully disappear and then sell to a desperate miner and then buy a new CPU and have some extra cash, that actually might work.
Definitely upgrade the CPU to a ryzen. The 8350 is really showing its age now, especially with games that properly use more cores. That 7970 is still going strong in games. And what’s up with people forgetting the fact that amd cards have open source drivers? That’s one of the main reasons I’d get a Vega GPU, easily over nvidia proprietary crap.
