Should I Upgrade My Gaming PC or Buy a Nintendo Switch? (Fall/Winter 2018)

So after 2 years of just PC gaming I caved and bough a Ps4 a couple of weeks ago. I'm really enjoying Persona V and Horizon Zero Dawn at the moment.

Im planning to get one other thing this year, sometime in the fall. I've basically narrowed it down to either buying a Nintendo Switch OR upgrading my gaming PC.

I've heard rumors that the new series of NVIDIA cards will be released this fall, if the "1180" (or whatever strongest or 2nd strongest card they release) is under $1000 USD after tax , i could get one. My current PC is i7 6700K but only a GTX 950 (even though thats more than enough to run most games if I fiddle with the settings).

I guess its the whole power vs portability argument. I could play games in really great quality on PC but with the switch I'd be able to play on the go (I actually spend a lot of time on weekdays taking public transit so that could be huge for me).

In general I've been on the fence about getting a Switch all year so far. It has a lot of indies but not that many first party games im super interested in (mainly just Mario Oddesey , Xenoblade 2 , Mario Kart 8 , DK Tropical Freeze, and Bayonetta 1 + 2, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate ) .

I think the costs for either would be close to comparable. With the switch id get 2 good controllers, a big SD card , and a few games (guessing around 800 bucks) . The new GPU should be around the same price if not a little cheaper.

With the Graphics card ive already got a library of about 30 steam games , so I might not buy anything else with it and just wait for winter sale to buy more games.

I do have a bit of a crappy laptop but I dont care too much about it as long as it does web browsing and word processing.

That 950 will need an upgrade soon, but if it were me I'd get the Switch now and upgrade the GPU next year. The 1100-series cards are going to cost way too much and if you wait a year you should be able to get either an 11-series for cheaper or an older radeon or 10-series for even cheaper still.

Rule of thumb for gaming PCs is

1, New PC every 3-4 years

2. new video card every 1 1/2-2 years if you want to play the most graphically intense games and higher settings.

3. dont upgrade or buy a new computer unless there is a specific game that will not work on your current system

so do you have problem number 3 often?

That's utter rubbish.

1. A good CPU can last you damn near a decade.

2. If you're an enthusiast who absolutely wants to play the latest games at the highest settings sure, for the common gamer that's unnecessary. A graphics card can easily last 5 years and do good in its twilight years. The GTX 680 came out 6 years ago and can still play the latest games very well at 1080p and fairly high settings.

@tryit:

I built my computer in 2016 with all brand new parts at the time. That would put my PC at about 2 years old

The only game ive had serious trouble running lately was Kingdom Come Deliverance, which I wasnt really that into anyway.

if you say so, but the average lifespan of a PC is documented at 3 years. They know people get a new PC about once every 3 years on average.

now to be fair, the data I am quoting there is also 10 years old so it might be different now.

what I illustrated I would agree is a worst case need

Yea I'm def not a hardcore PC gamer, I mainly play overwatch and obscure japanese games. Sometimes I play modern AAA like Nier Automata, the Witcher games, and AAA games from years past. Mostly depends on whats available during steam sales.

to be fair to @Juub1990 I get what he is saying and its likely true now more so then 10 years ago.

@riverboatron: It's actually a better time now than it has been for a while. The GPU market is slowing recovering from the price hike, waiting is still best, but it's not a terrible time to upgrade now while you can but however, you don't want to be in a position where all the new cards sell out day one either.

Bottom line: Waiting for new GPU such as the 11 series, The new cards will be more expensive than the last generation, but Nvidia is still going to have to discount the last-generation GPU's if they expect to sell enough to really matter. The GTX 1080/1070Ti is still good by today's standards and it all falls down as to what you're personal resolution setting you are targeting.

Edit: As for Nintendo Switch, if I were you, I hold off buying a Switch until Nintendo announces Super Smash Bros. Ultimate+Nintendo Switch bundle cause Ultimate is gonna be the biggest Nintendo Switch game of 2018!

Based on your interest and my intuition : buy switch now and play with your pc as it is for now. Maybe upgrade it next year when some 11xx card drop in price and if you want to play some more demanding game . I'd put also splatoon 2 and zelda in that switch list, and many indie title that usually we play on pc but are fantastic on switch in my opinion (binding of isaac darest dungeon hollow knight and so on). Meanwhile you play also on ps4 if you have only played two games on that :)

Upgrade pc next year when price drop for Volta nvidia card (11xx series)

ps: rumors say that 1180 will be out end of August

The Switch is pretty clutch so I would go with that.

PC gaming can **** right off.

Upgrade. Nintendo sucks

@tryit: ive had my system since 2014 and dont need to upgrade yet.

It still nearer enough max gsmes out, or at least mostly high settings on very intense games at 60fps.

I cant see my self needing to upgrade for a while.

Switch, LOL, don't be stupid. It's 2018 for **** sake.

I know! It's laughable that he would actually doubt buying a Switch. The Switch is fantastic!

@Sam3231: Wise words. :)

It depends what you want in games I guess?

Upgrade your PC to have the biggest library at excellent performance.

Switch for a few nintendo games and portability.

Which is more important to you?

And as a Switch fan, I will say.... Mario Odysee is a bog standard Mario game, far from one of the better ones... don't buy the hype. Zelda is Emulatable. Hell the whole Switch will be before long as its barely a jump from the Wii U.

But, the device itself is great to use.

Mario Odyssey is worth the price of admission alone. Since you named Xenoblade 2, I'm assuming you have an appreciation for RPGs so there's also Octopath Traveler. Not to mention a bunch of other RPGs that are available on other systems, but the advantage of playing them on the Switch is that if you're running out of time playing them at home because you need to leave somewhere, you can sleep the Switch, take it with you, and then continue to playing. The portability alone makes the Switch the perfect platform for playing RPGs.

@kali-b1rd: So you're suggesting he does something illegal?

Ni No Ni No here come the Emu police.

You probably watch copyrighted material from non-official sources on Youtube like anyone else, nobody cares.

@kali-b1rd: Nintendo just brought a lawsuit against a couple websites over it. So someome does care. I'm actually pretty lenient when it comes to emulators, but what you're suggesting is just scumbag stuff. The console and the game is easily obtainable, buy it or dont play.

And no, I dont really even use youtube.

Right-o

Buy the 1170 AND a Switch. If Nvidia is continuing their recent pattern, the 1170 will be 5%-10% faster than the Titan XP and 1080Ti. You’re coming from a GTX 950 ffs. That will be a HUGE upgrade.

You’re welcome

Dont go by the likely faked image of the 1170 nor rumored benchmarks. 12nm will not allow 1170 to come close to 1080ti/TitanXP without a hefty price tag. Nvidia wont give you a 50%+ boost from going from 16nm to 12nm(its basically a revised 16nm) with same price tier as 70 series. Its nothing like Maxwell to Pascal going from 28nm to 16nm. Now if the next set is 7nm then its totally possible. 1170 will most likely be ~10-15% faster than a GTX 1080 if its based on 12nm.

But back to the thread ,coming from a GTX 950 to any 10 series 1060+ will be a massive upgrade.

PC, by a mile. You get far more multiplats, console exclusive from XB and PS4, and nearly 2x the library (8s and 9s). Oh and insanely better online, gfx, fps, etc.

Switch is a port machine.

If you like ports than go for it !

Do you like Nintendo games and do you like spending a lot of money on games?

If the answer is yes to both of those questions then get a switch.

Normally I stump unequivocally for PC upgrades, but given the artificial demand caused by cryptos, you’ll burn a lot of money for a GPU or RAM.

Switch is fine, good for Nintendo 1st party if they appeal to you and indies if you don’t play them elsewhere. But I suspect they’ll drop the price or offer a redesign within the next year and if you’re not pining for Smash or Zelda + Mario, it’s worth waiting.

For now I advise just saving up. 2019 is a year where games will be in greater abundance on the platforms you’re currently eyeing.

Yes but he doesen't get nintendo exlusive games and portabilty if he upgrades pc. Reading what he is saying the only game that benefit from that update is overwatch, if he likes to play it more competivity than console and also if he has a 144hz monitor. He have to make choise based on the games he likes, and he seems to like more single players game or jrpg, at least I understand so, because he is enjoying some ps4 exclusive game and I dont think games like persona 5 would take benefit from pc hardware.

To anser again to this topic, OP, is there some game that you want to play on pc and you feel you have to upgrade or that the upgrade would give you more benefit than playing nintendo exlusive (+portability)? Its all this:P

If you buy switch you have: a gaming pc where you can play like always, not very powerful but you can upgrade in the future if some more demanding game interest you, a ps4 for exlusive games and jrpg that you like, and a switch for portability, exlusive nintendo games, and some third party exlusive for switch (like bayonetta 3 and others that you may like basing on your taste). I'd buy switch because is the thing you are missing more in my opinion.

You should go with the Switch. Specifically considering you would use its portability.

Progress has slowed way down since 10 years, for example the Pentium D960 (top of the line cpu from intel 12 years ago (2006)) was 2.5 times slower in SC workloads and 10 times slower in MC workloads then the 2700k (top cpu from early 2011), while the 2700k is only 29% slower then a cpu that came 4-5 years after it (the 6700k).

Same goes for GPU's (the difference is even bigger there)

You no longer need to upgrade that often, if you are fine with console grade performance your rig can easily last 2 console gens esp if you buy a cheap 80-150euro gpu mid gen.

Some upgrades are required, though. You ever try to run Battlefield 1 on a 3770k? It runs like complete horse crap at 1080p on all low settings. Mostly in the 40s fps range; it's hardly playable unless you're using a controller. This was using a 760 GTX GPU, but this same GPU has no problems with 1080p medium 60 fps+ on a 7600k processor.

Overall, though, I would agree that you have to upgrade less and less nowadays. The 760 GTX can still run quite a lot of games at 1080p perfectly fine with a newer processor, and this GPU is from 2013.

Something wrong with the config you used because a 3770K can easily handle BF1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wWuF9uFFds

100fps+ pretty much at all time on Ultra.

Here it is only marginally slower than a 8700K, indicating a CPU bottleneck at those frame rates.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-eC7PPIW0

Hmm, what the hell. I'll have to look into this. I have a 3770k in a machine right now with 8 GB of RAM, and it absolutely struggles.

But this video is also using only 8 gb of RAM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeFkTfif56c

What the heck is wrong with this 3770k? Lol

He's using a Rx580. The benchmarks I posted use a 1080 and a 1070 respectively. Obviously his RX580 is a bottleneck but a 3770K should absolutely breeze through Battlefield 1 if your target is 60fps. It should remain WAY above that provided you have an adequate GPU.

Honestly, I think it's the hard drive in this old machine. It's constantly sitting at 100% when it's barely doing anything. It's an old re-purposed HDD I got for free, so it doesn't really surprise me. I guess I'll have to just buy a cheapo one and see if that fixes it.

get a pc then get everything else.

For the love of god, DON’T buy a switch.

And DON’T play video games in public. You are asking for it to get stolen.

Why would anyone want to play video games in public? Especially on transit. It is basically asking for you to feel sick and then have someone steal your stuff because you are not paying attention.

Not everyone lives in the ghetto :P

yeah that is a good point,

he is not saying 'no upgrades are ever needed and you can run all games on a toaster made 10 years ago'

he is saying its not nearly as bad as it used to be, and that is absolutely true

if you have toaster you bought for $500 6 years ago and are using that as evidence that upgrading is always needed in PC then you are really stretching

Yeah ever since Amazon Prime Day I've been seeing GPUs go on sale often. For example the EVGA GTX 1060 6GB is currently on sale on newegg and with a special promo code you can get it for $250 with $20 store credit and a copy of Destiny 2. That is a pretty good deal and plus since its EVGA if any of the 1100 series cards were to launch within the next 90 days after your purchase you could take advantage of their step up program and trade in your 1060 to help cover the cost of whatever 1100 card you're trying to buy. An upgrade from the GTX 950 to the 1060 is huge especially since @riverboatron: you claim to be a casual PC gamer, the 1060 will last you a good long time for 1080p/1440p gaming at 60fps max/high settings.

Assuming the 800 bucks you're referring to is 800 USD you may be able to buy both a Switch and a new GPU especially if you wait till the holiday seasons to get a good deal on both the Switch and a GPU. If the GTX 1100 series does release this holiday it is likely to be more expensive MSRP wise than the 1000 series

Switch is 300 dollars and i see a lot of people on the bus with the latest smartphones that are 600+, also see people with tablets and occasionally laptops

Never seen anyone get robbed in the daytime in this city and theres security cameras on our buses with police sitting at major bus stops

@Basinboy:

By Feb 1st of 2019 , we're going to have Read Dead 2 , Dragon Quest 11, Soul Calibur VI , Smash Bros Ultimate, Resident Evil 2 Remake, and Kingdom Hearts 3

Just this Fall/Winter in general is going to be great . I think I'm leaning towards just waiting until Smash comes out to buy a Switch , and just wait till sometime Spring 2019 to upgrade my GPU since I dont play alot of PC games that require great GPU (the only ones i can think of ATM is i could replay Kingdom Come Deliverance and the Witcher 2/3 in much better FPS)

as others have said the cpu should be able to run the game at 110+fps avg with the right gpu (should hardly drop below 60)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EmpnEIG8gY

The GTX 760 should run 30-50% faster then the consoles but that's still not enough to hit a consistent 60fps in mp on 1080p, just take a look at consoles they have dynamic resolution and can drop 25% and still can't get the frame rate anywhere near that you got.

That gpu is a mid-range one from the same year as the PS4 and it does run 30-50% better but if the PS4 can't hit 43fps without a 25% drop in resolution your 760 won't be able to get 60fps at consistent 1080p. Usually its worth waiting 1-2 years after console release before GPU upgrade because the 960 cost the same as your 760 but is 40-50% faster and can hit 60fps in most games on higher than console resolution where consoles struggle to get 40.

Either way the GTX 760 is still a great gpu and gives you better then console performance (at least the base ones), if i were you i would only upgrade after the PS5 (or whatever its named) is released and we see what kind of gpu it uses, then maybe wait for a new GPU arch and bam you'll have way better then console performance on the cheap for the next 6-7 years (or however long the next gen will last).

So you don't HAVE TO upgrade in fact if you want the most bang for your buck, and for your gpu to outlast next gen it's not the best idea to upgrade now (unless Navi is a complete failure and high end Nvidia gpu's are already ahead of it, then you might as well upgrade now, but we can't see into the future).

Upgrading your CPU is fine tough the i9-9900K is almost guaranteed to have 1.5-2 times the performance (both SC and MC) as the next gen consoles.

Just buy a 1080 Ti, wait for one to drop to $6xx. Last week there was an EVGA SC Ti for $599.

There's still some months to wait for newer cards and NVIDIA is just going to heavily milk the 11xx series or whatever it is called since AMD has nothing to compete. I wouldn't be surprised if the 1180 is $799 or more and that for the one with the crappy blower reference cooler.

I think you should get a Switch and put it in your bathroom since that is the only place you can't bring a PC with ya.

...or so i thought

Get a new computer every 3 years my butt. Maybe if you are a total graphics whore and just need to be constantly at the bleeding edge... for me, I might upgrade a single component every 3-5 years depending on how much I cheaped out on it last time. Many parts of my computer dont get touched for eons

Funny you should say that. I made some tweaks to the CPU config. Reduced the overclock down to 3 Ghz, turned on XMP profile for the RAM, and now it's mostly getting 60 fps on medium, even going as high as 70 or 80 in some instances. It does drop down to 50s, but it doesn't seem to go below it from the two test maps I played. It was even stable enough for me to go 30 and 18 on KD with assault class.

Also a funny thing, and I was mistaken on this, but it's not a 3770k, it's a 3570k.

And you're wrong about the 760 gtx. This guy is pulling a lot of the same FPS I was getting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UYGdS-KflE

And what do you mean, if you were me? Dude, this is a spare parts computer. My main is a 7700k, 16 gb 3000 with a 1080 GTX EVGA hybrid on a 34" samsung ultrawide 3440x1440. Lmao

@speedytimsi said:

I think you should get a Switch and put it in your bathroom since that is the only place you can't bring a PC with ya.

...or so i thought

And this is why I take my Switch when I'm on the toilet :P