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Sabertooth Z77 System Rejuvenation, RAM Dilemma & OC - HELP!

Vaietzi
Level 7
Hi All,
I've built the PC below a while ago now. It's a 7 year old system which I intend to try and keep alive even after such long time. The reason is that I'm on a budget and cannot afford a completely new build. Although I know these components are very much capable of overclocking, I've never attempted it a single time ever since it was first turned on back in 2012.

Here's what I have:
- PSU: Corsair VX550
- MTB: ASUS Sabertooth Z77
- CPU: Intel i5-3570K (@stock clock values)
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8) 2x4GB DDR3 @1600MHz (timing: 8-8-8-24)
- GPU: Gainward GTX 670 Phantom 2GB
- storage: Kingston UV400 240GB SSD & Maxtor 320GB SATA II HDD

Aim:
My main project for this elderly lady would be a new graphics card for which I know she'll need the following:
- at least a decent CPU-overclocking w/ a new cooler
- switching out / increasing the amount of RAM I currently have
- new PSU (possibly)

I'm aware of the ongoing debates over this, but in case the following GPU's truly won't be bottlenecked by the 3570K (even when overclocked), I'm looking into getting a version of an RTX 2060 (maybe a 2070), in a worse case a GTX 1660 Ti or equivalent to make her last a bit longer. Not really interested in ray tracing, but I'm open-minded to what the future holds.

I play @1080p. The games I'm shooting for are Post Scriptum (hopefully they'll optimize it finally), maybe Hell Let Loose & CoD: Modern Warfare, etc.

Dilemmas:
- keep current 1600MHz CL8 RAM modules & look for additional used ones to reach 16GB? (??and maybe overclock them??)
- buy new modules @higher speed? (mtb handles up to 2400Mhz according to ASUS's supported RAM lists, up to 3200MHz according to pcpartpicker.com)

I desperately need help and guidance on this journey as I'm thoroughly inexperienced especially w/ overclocking. I know this post is long, but I wanted to provide as much technical info as I could.

Thanks for reading all of the above. Your help & advice is much appreciated!
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xeromist
Moderator
If you are not in a hurry I would take it a step at a time. No sense replacing something that isn't holding you back. The GPU is definitely the bottleneck right now so start with that. Your list of candidates seems appropriate to me. You could certainly buy something new and top of the line if you were thinking of replacing the rest of the machine within a few years but if you want to hold onto what you have a mid-range upgrade is a good choice. Also, keeping the GPU reasonable means you don't have to replace the PSU.

If I was you I would also check whatever used markets you have available. As long as you know what you want and what it is worth you can sometimes get more value. For example, the 1070 is marginally slower than the 1660ti but you may be able to find one used for cheaper. It's just a matter of knowing what the going prices are so you know a deal when you see it.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…

Yes, I think the 1070 is a good call! So far I actually found 2 good deals near me. So thx for the advice I'm almost certain I found my pick, my only current obstacle is money. Would you also say that it's better to buy an 8GB 1070 than a 6GB 1660 Ti? The point of the question is for it to be a bit more future-proof. I.e. I recently played some games on my 2GB GTX 670 Phantom where I could feel that it had more juice in it to make CoD:WWII even more beautiful, but it was noticeably limited by its RAM quantity (even according to the numbers in settings) causing tearing and stutter at times.

What do you think about the system RAM? Is 2400MHz 11-13-13-31 any better than 1600MHz 8-8-8-24 (my current)? Perhaps w/ tighter timings? The reason I'm looking into this is more consistent FPS numbers (to avoid big FPS drops at high loads). It's noticeable in comparison videos (where usually only the frequency is indicated), but idk about the above mentioned latency values.

Thanks a lot!

xeromist
Moderator
I don't know that the extra memory would help unless you are running higher resolutions. A newer card is likely to perform better overall but the gap is relatively small so if you can get a good deal either way you shouldn't feel bad.

Higher memory speeds can help make up for other deficits but compared to other changes it's one of the smaller ones. Start with the GPU and then look at HWmonitor to see where the bottleneck is.
A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…