Upgrading my G1-710 (P) - 2016 Model

DiveGamer
DiveGamer Member Posts: 3 New User
edited February 15 in 2020 Archives
Up until about 6 months ago my G1-710 has been running almost everything perfectly, excluding maybe one or two extremely high spec games. As of recently however I've had to lower my graphics settings on the majority of games I have been playing. Cyberpunk is coming out in less than two weeks, which I have been dying to play since it was originally announced in 2012. Unfortunately it seem that with the current CPU and GPU I'd have to play it on the very lowest settings, and that's assuming it even runs it smoothly then.

Can anyone give me suggestions on CPUs and GPU upgrades that might be compatible with the case and motherboard?

I've been trying to do my own research for the last few months, but I've been coming up with nothing, and just end up more confused. I have done PC builds myself in the past, but I can't seem to find the motherboard model or info on it anywhere, and therefore haven't been able to set my target on a specific GPU or CPU.

Best Answer

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    No, that's enough to get started on. You have already done the obvious with your SSD and that update is the biggest performance boost you'll be able to get. You can upgrade the 6th gen i5 to a 6th gen i7, such as the i7-6700 and as long as you keep the power budget the same you won't need to also upgrade the cooling. The i7-6700K is also possible, but the jump from 65W to 91W TDP means a corresponding upgrade for the cooling is needed. Your big boost between the i5 and i7 is number of simultaneous threads, 4 on the i5, 8 on the i7. You can't move to a 7th gen CPU or later without a different chipset, which would mean a new motherboard. The memory has quite a bit of room, maximum supported is 64GB with four 16GB sticks. DDR4-2133  is the speed the chipset supports, so buying faster memory doesn't do anything except cost more. The GPU is an obvious upgrade, gated mostly by your pocket book though watch for power requirements, you have those two funky 230W external power supplies and I don't know how feasible it would be to bump that to much higher... Some of the newest GPUs ask for quite a bit more than that...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer
    So give us more info on how your G1-710 is setup. What processor, how much memory and what speed, HDD or SSD, size? Which OS version, etc...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • DiveGamer
    DiveGamer Member Posts: 3 New User
    Hi @billsey, current specs are:

    CPU: I5-6400
    GPU: GTX 970
    RAM: 16GB (2X8GB)
    HDD 1 (OS): 256 GB M2 SSD
    HDD2: 1TB
    OS: Windows 10 64bit Home Edition

    I can't get more info right now since we've had no power all morning, but if you need more specifics, please let me know.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,246 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    No, that's enough to get started on. You have already done the obvious with your SSD and that update is the biggest performance boost you'll be able to get. You can upgrade the 6th gen i5 to a 6th gen i7, such as the i7-6700 and as long as you keep the power budget the same you won't need to also upgrade the cooling. The i7-6700K is also possible, but the jump from 65W to 91W TDP means a corresponding upgrade for the cooling is needed. Your big boost between the i5 and i7 is number of simultaneous threads, 4 on the i5, 8 on the i7. You can't move to a 7th gen CPU or later without a different chipset, which would mean a new motherboard. The memory has quite a bit of room, maximum supported is 64GB with four 16GB sticks. DDR4-2133  is the speed the chipset supports, so buying faster memory doesn't do anything except cost more. The GPU is an obvious upgrade, gated mostly by your pocket book though watch for power requirements, you have those two funky 230W external power supplies and I don't know how feasible it would be to bump that to much higher... Some of the newest GPUs ask for quite a bit more than that...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • DiveGamer
    DiveGamer Member Posts: 3 New User
    @billsey Sorry for my late reply, it's been a bit hectic over here.

    Thank you so much for your insight. I had been thinking along the same lines so it was good to get your confirmation.

    Unfortunately you are absolutely right about the External Power Supplies. In all my researching to upgrade the system I had completely forgotten about that. I think that it will definitely complicate things.

    Thank you again. I'll see how I decide to move forward. I may just have to bite down and save up for a new rig. This one was originally a rushed and urgent purchase, but it has more than served me well. While it bums me out to think about replacing it, I am kind of excited about building one myself again.

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