Upgrade CPU or GPU for VR

usexsoap

Prominent
Jan 19, 2018
4
0
510
Hi guys, I'll try to make this short. I have a hand me down computer from a couple years ago, it was and is still nice spec wise. It's an I7 2600K, 16gb DDR3. I stuck a 1060 6GB in it. I'm gaming on a 1080p Samsung 27" at 60hz, the 1060 is perfect for this. Now, this thing was filled with dust. I cleaned it best I could. It occasionally would get blue screen issues and my games would freeze (Destiny 2, PUBG specifically) and was generally slow. I built my wife a PC and hers doesn't freeze. I was getting tired of restarting my computer when we were playing together. I got so many headaches trying to figure out the problems. But hey, it was free! I clean installed windows 10 and it was a little faster but still had issues. I'm wondering if deep cleaning each component would help. This thing is dirty. Anyways, flash forward to now. I got an Oculus Rift and for Christmas, not expecting to get anything really as I'm 32, my father got me a new PC. Hey, no complaints there, I'll take a new PC! Now here is where I'm stuck. The processor is an I5-7400 (definitely a downgrade here). It also came with an RX 580 Armor 4GB GPU, I swapped this out and put my 1060 6GB in there. It has 8gb of DDR4 2400. Some cheap, no name 500w ATNG or something PSU. So, I game 1080p 60hz, ONE day I would like to do 1440p 144hz but for now I'm not in a hurry as I bought this monitor a couple years ago and my 1060 not long after. The games in VR on my RIFT are acceptable and for the most part play well on the mid/higher settings with no super sampling. Robo Recall gets sluggish at parts but I have the settings on high. Also, Dirt Rally really struggles. I find that somehow launching it with the Geforce Experience settings "optimized" on medium, high, some low and some ultra it runs "decent". It's actually better than if I put everything on low which makes absolutely zero sense. I realize now a 1080 or 1080 ti would help me out a lot with VR performance and allow me to also super sample. The thing is I'm also stuck with this i5 7400. So, I have two options for the most part that I'm thinking. The first and tricky part as these GPU prices are absolutely and completely insane. Do I hold onto this $500 while I have it, sell this RX 580, eventually sell the i7-2600K etc. and wait until hopefully these GPU prices drop and buy a 1080 ti (go big or go home). Then eventually I can work a couple days of overtime to get around $300 for a i7 7700 or 7700k even though I can't overclock it because my MOBO is a 250, which I'm fine with because stock 4.2 is still well beyond the 3.6 of the non K. Then I would need an aftermarket cooler and a new PSU which I'm going to get regardless (PSU). OPTION NUMBER 2: Right now with the $500 do I get an i7 7700 or possibly K, an EVGA Supernova 650W Gold, another matching 8gb RAM to match what I have (ADATA XPG) for a total of 16gb? I want a new cpu and a gpu and I just don't know what to get first. Obviously the GPU is going to be dramatic but will I also benefit from the CPU in VR games like Dirt? I feel like down the road it will be harder to save up for a 1080 than to just buy it now when the price drops and save for the cpu later, but honestly I don't know. So, I'm looking for some outside perspective as to what I should do first for VR and FUTURE 1440p 144hz and also what I should do with this i7-2600k, MSI RX 580 Armor 4gb, and the Z80 something MOBO? I don't want to keep it because I have no use to stream or anything and it takes up room. I want to have the DDR4 support and a fresh clean PC, etc. I'm tired of dealing with the blue screen and random problems. Also it is worth mentioning I added a 500gb SSD Samsung 850evo in my current build, which is a Cyber Power BTW not like that really matters. So any guidance as the what to do in what order would be appreciated as I am currently undecided and holding onto this money. Thanks!
 

usexsoap

Prominent
Jan 19, 2018
4
0
510

Ah sorry, didn't think of using paragraphs lol. Sorry about that! Thanks for the reply!
 

usexsoap

Prominent
Jan 19, 2018
4
0
510

Awesome that's what I was thinking. Thank you.
 

jgustin7b

Prominent
Nov 17, 2017
93
0
660
1 thing I forgot. U may need a new mobo. Your current cpu socket is lga 1150 and newer processors need 1151. You can only go so far in processor choice, but I think the Haswell series (gen 4) is ok on ur mobo and is minimum for vr
 

usexsoap

Prominent
Jan 19, 2018
4
0
510


I don't blame you because my post was super confusing but currently I have the i5 7400 on an Asus B250m-a Prime mobo which is 1151. My older cpu has the i7 2600k and is the z80 something. So I would be upgrading from an i5 7400 to an i7 7700 or 7700k which is the max my mobo can take. I hear the 7700k runs hot though even with a cooler. I'm grateful I got this computer for free but the processor is a downgrade aside from the generation of the cpu.