What should I upgrade?

SoloFlyer

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I recently upgraded my computer a little bit, here's where I stand now:

win 10 64 bit
i5 6500 quad-core 3.2GHz
32GBs of ram
GeForce GTX 960 2gb
SSD drive for SC
MSI z270 sli plus

I've been in game briefly and had a major jump in fps from 5-15 to 45-60. what would be the next best investment?
 
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Michael

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Depending on money i would try to get a well used or new gtx 1080 Ti which has enough power for 4k gaming (at ~60FPS). Afaik there are still no games out which use RTX features., So i can't really suggest that.
CPU should run okay i guess for most games and SC too.
 
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Bambooza

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I recently upgraded my computer a little bit, here's where I stand now:

win 10 64 bit
i5 6500 quad-core 3.2GHz
32GBs of ram
GeForce GTX 960 2gb
SSD drive for SC
MSI z270 sli plus

I've been in game briefly and had a major jump in fps from 5-15 to 45-60. what would be the next best investment?
Is there a game you want to play currently released that your not able to get the frames per second you would like. If its SC i'd recommend holding off upgrading as your system should be able to get a good steady 30 fps in the latest ptu. And with the back end servers still having all their issues keeping up with the data and updates I wouldn't worry about getting any faster as its not really going to improve the game play. Right now CIG back end servers seem to have a tick rate that mostly matches 30 fps when its stable.
 

SoloFlyer

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When I was in the 3.3 I was getting 45-60 fps but my SC telemetry score is GPU: 52 and CPU: 42. It puts me down and to the left of minimum requirements. That's what's making me think at some point I'm going to have to upgrade. My motherboard can only take up to a 7th generation LGA 1151 chip, I think the best one is supposed to be the i7-7700 which I'm seeing for around $300. that's pretty much the limit as to improving the cpu without upgrading the motherboard to a z370 and getting a next generation chip. I have an OEM copy of windows 10 though. If I upgrade the motherboard and cpu do I need to get a new license? Upgrading the gpu to a 1080 is a little more straightforward if it comes to that.
 

Michael

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When I was in the 3.3 I was getting 45-60 fps but my SC telemetry score is GPU: 52 and CPU: 42. It puts me down and to the left of minimum requirements. That's what's making me think at some point I'm going to have to upgrade. My motherboard can only take up to a 7th generation LGA 1151 chip, I think the best one is supposed to be the i7-7700 which I'm seeing for around $300. that's pretty much the limit as to improving the cpu without upgrading the motherboard to a z370 and getting a next generation chip. I have an OEM copy of windows 10 though. If I upgrade the motherboard and cpu do I need to get a new license? Upgrading the gpu to a 1080 is a little more straightforward if it comes to that.
No you don't need a license. I think you can bind your Win 10 license to your login account and everything should be fine. In a worst case scenario you might need to call someone from MS and tell them that you installed hardware and your licence key.

Afaik the 7700k (K! for overclocking) performs pretty well. Still i don't know your budget so can't make further recommendations. I personally currently would wait and see how the new ryzen cpu turns out. (i would be upgrading from 4690k). First rumors sounds promising and the 2700x right now isn't that bad, so if rumors are right the "3700x" will be pretty decent with higher IPC and clock speed. AGAIN RUMORS. If i decide against AMD i would probably go for the 9000 series.

So my current recommendation is still new gpu if it has to be right now.
 

SoloFlyer

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Well the only real "right now" aspect is me kicking myself if I miss out on a good black friday or cyber monday deal that would be a step in the right direction. I don't see many 1080s coming down in price, but would be nice to get a new video card and save my gtx 960 for when/if my gf ever lets me put one together for her. I've only had it for 2 years and its held up well with most of the kinds of gaming we do. As for the cpu I guess I'll wait and see. I would primarily be upgrading for SC. I play LOTRO on occasion but that runs on a 32 bit engine and I think only uses one core of the cpu. The only other games I have that I haven't actually opened yet cause I haven't made time are GTA V and Skyrim, but I think my current specs should be fine for those two
 
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NaffNaffBobFace

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The advice in 3.2 was a GPU with a minimum of 4gb of memory was highly recommended so that's where i'd go next, but don't expect it to suddenly give you a lot more FPS - remember even with OCS in now, the game has still yet to be optimized so $$$ on gear now may not result in actual improvements yet.

With that said, with the overstock of GPU's following the Mining decline, this could be the year to pick up a total bargain - there are still 1070's out there but 1080's seem to be selling out even before the sales.

To be frank, i'm surprised and delighted you are getting 45-60fps off a 2gb graphics card. I've got a 4gb RX570 which is just about between a 960 and 1060 and i'm getting between 25 and 60 depending on where I am in the 'verse so there is a lot of work for them still to do. When i'm playing my graphics card's RAM is maxed out so if I could i'd look for an 8gb to see me safely through Alpha. They will lower the amount of video card memory the game uses when they optimize but until that point it might just make a difference...?
 

Bambooza

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If you have the money then a graphics card would get you the biggest improvement but as @NaffNaffBobFace said even with 1080's the graphics flexes between 20 and 60 fps and the back end server responsiveness still has a large impact on it. The one wild card is how close SQ42 is to being released and we should know more in December but I have a feeling its still over a year away.
 

SoloFlyer

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It may have just been luck i got the fps i did. There weren't too many people in Olisar and all I did was fly to an asteroid field with no one else around, mine a couple asteroids, sell and then log off. I guess the next thing I'll look for is a gpu upgrade in the near future
 

SoloFlyer

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So I'm more than likely gonna get a new GPU in the next couple days to take advantage of the black friday deals. I definitely can't afford a 2080 if I want to have some money to buy ships with next week. Is the 1080 worth the extra 100+ dollars over the 1070, both with 8 gb?
 
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SoloFlyer

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1920x1080. I don't have a 4k monitor or have a vr headset and hadn't really thought about getting either one in the near future (as in, maybe by the time SC releases)
 
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August

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If you’re sticking with 1080p then I really don’t see the reason to move beyond a GTX 1070.

You will get more frames but you will hit CPU bottlenecks before you max out a GTX 1080 at 1080p

Value for money is a thing. 1070 is a great card at your resolution.
 
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