Build upgrades

[zapsqq]

Hello! My PC recently has been on the fritz with overheating (somehow ) and I've sent in my GPU / Mobo to be RMA'd. Since then I've gotten my parts back but am thinking about just maybe perhaps selling those parts. Basically I'm looking at upgrading my PC currently as it's already all in pieces. I'd like to spend no more than around ~$900. When I upgrade I look to buy parts I don't have to worry about upgrading for a while that will allow me to play my games on max settings or as close as possible (WoW, TF2, Total War games, planet side 2 once released, and skyrim). Ive been thinking about upgrading my Mobo, CPU, and graphics card. Right now Ive been considering the 660ti by MSI, but haven't really weighed my other options. If there are other upgrades you think would be better off being replaced let me know, I'm open to suggestions. Also, if anyone has some quality gaming speakers to suggest for my sound card I'd appreciate it. Bought the sound card but my old speakers can't connect to them .

tl;dr
Budget: ~$900
Looking for potential upgrades (I was thinking Mobo, CPU, graphics card) open to others as well.
Max settings or close to max settings without PC melting on games like WoW, TF2, Planetside 2 and Skyrim

Case: Coolermaster RAF 942 (with 1 rear 120 mm fan and 120mm fan on top installed I believe)
PSU: Coolermaster 1000w RSA00-AMBAJ3-US
CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T w/ a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo heatsink
GPU: Radeon HD 6870 1gb
RAM: 4x4 GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance 1600
Mobo: Asus Xtreme Design M4A89GTD
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX
Hard Drives:
60GB Kingston KINGSTON SV100S264G ATA Device (SSD)
932GB Western Digital WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 ATA Device (SATA)
1397GB Western Digital WDC WD15EARS-22MVWB0 ATA Device (SATA)
932GB Western Digital WDC WD10EACS-22ZJB0 ATA Device (SATA)

[glo]

May as well go all out on a budget like that with most other parts already taken care of. You can always swap out the 7970 Ghz with a 680 if you like, but the 7970 Ghz is still the strongest single card available.

Something like this will last you a long while until it's time to upgrade again:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($142.86 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $912.83
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-14 16:42 EDT-0400)

[Jinto]

Forgot the motherboard.

[glo]

Forgot the motherboard.

True story. :P

Edited!

[zapsqq]

I have a coolermaster 212 on my current CPU, would this heatsink be that drastic of a performance increase over my 212? If it isn't a large performance increase would I be able to put that money into a better CPU? an i7 perhaps?

[Seiz]

May as well go all out on a budget like that with most other parts already taken care of. You can always swap out the 7970 Ghz with a 680 if you like, but the 7970 Ghz is still the strongest single card available.

Something like this will last you a long while until it's time to upgrade again:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($142.86 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($449.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $912.83
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-09-14 16:42 EDT-0400)

Like you said in other thread,
The 7970 GHz edition out performs the GTX 680 more games than not, and its 50 dollars or so cheaper!

[yurano]

I have a coolermaster 212 on my current CPU, would this heatsink be that drastic of a performance increase over my 212? If it isn't a large performance increase would I be able to put that money into a better CPU? an i7 perhaps?

The Noctua D14 is a huge performance increase not to mention exceptionally quiet as well. http://frostytech.com/articleview.cf...id=2525&page=5 vs http://frostytech.com/articleview.cf...id=2655&page=5 Take a look at the Low Fan Speed temperature.

Whether you're looking to maximize your overclock (maximum performance per core) or interested hyperthreading (maximum cumulative performance) will determine whether you want the Noctua D14 or an i7.

Like you said in other thread,
The 7970 GHz edition out performs the GTX 680 more games than not, and its 50 dollars or so cheaper!

Yeah, but Nvidia. The 680 has a performance advantage on 'Nvidia centric' games such as BF3, Portal 2, SC2 and Skyrim. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/555?vs=618

[vesseblah]

I have a coolermaster 212 on my current CPU, would this heatsink be that drastic of a performance increase over my 212?

No. Noctua NH-D14 would run the CPU maybe 4-5 degrees C cooler, but it doesn't really matter one bit unless you're aiming for record-breaking overclocking. Huge performance increased mentioned in post above is... not there.

If it isn't a large performance increase would I be able to put that money into a better CPU? an i7 perhaps?

You could, but i7-3770 doesn't give that much extra in gaming. Rather buy 120GB SSD instead of the current tiny 60.

[glo]

Yeah, but Nvidia. The 680 has a performance advantage on 'Nvidia centric' games such as BF3, Portal 2, SC2 and Skyrim. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/555?vs=618

And the 7970 Ghz has the advantage in Crysis 1, 2 and (more than likely) 3, Metro, just about any Unreal engine game, Batman series (even though it's an Nvidia title), etc etc.

What's you're point? The list could go on and on. Fact is, the 7970 Ghz performs better than the 680 in more games than the 680 beats it. It's something like 65% vs 35%~ for $60 less than the 680.

This is all excusing that fact that it's nearly 90% all AMD past 1080p, when both cards are overclocked or when you run multiple monitors.

And in closing, feel free to ignore Portal 2 and SC2. They're CPU bound games, and anything over the $250 mark is going to bench within margin of error. For example:

[zapsqq]

I probably won't be over clocking much. Never have done it in the past, always afraid to burn up my hardware as overheating has been issues in the passed. So with that in mind what say you?

[glo]

I probably won't be over clocking much. Never have done it in the past, always afraid to burn up my hardware as overheating has been issues in the passed. So with that in mind what say you?

7970 Ghz is still the better card even if you don't overclock.

1. Does better in 65%~ of games compared to the 680's 35%~.
2. Does better at higher resolutions due to its membus if you ever purchase a new monitor above 1080p.
3. Has higher VRAM for future titles that will utilize it.
4. Handles multiple monitor setups better.

Basically, it's better out of the gate in most games and will age a lot better with newer titles.

[Seiz]

7970 Ghz is still the better card even if you don't overclock.

1. Does better in 65%~ of games compared to the 680's 35%~.
2. Does better at higher resolutions due to its membus if you ever purchase a new monitor above 1080p.
3. Has higher VRAM for future titles that will utilize it.
4. Handles multiple monitor setups better.

Basically, it's better out of the gate in most games and will age a lot better with newer titles.

This is the best performance even for someone who uses single monitor at resolution of 1920x1080.
I am after MAX FPS and that is why I am upgrading to this card.
It was hard between the GTX 670 Galaxy but if this is the best choice for single monitor and my reso i play on then I am going to get it.

[zapsqq]

7970 Ghz is still the better card even if you don't overclock.

1. Does better in 65%~ of games compared to the 680's 35%~.
2. Does better at higher resolutions due to its membus if you ever purchase a new monitor above 1080p.
3. Has higher VRAM for future titles that will utilize it.
4. Handles multiple monitor setups better.

Basically, it's better out of the gate in most games and will age a lot better with newer titles.

I was talking more along the lines of the CPU you suggested. Since I already have the cooler master 212, I was wondering if the heatsink you recommended would be that big of a performance increase in relation to the new suggested CPU? And if it isn't would the money saved from not getting a new heatsink be better spent on getting a better CPU, and i7 for example?

[vesseblah]

I was talking more along the lines of the CPU you suggested. Since I already have the cooler master 212, I was wondering if the heatsink you recommended would be that big of a performance increase in relation to the new suggested CPU? And if it isn't would the money saved from not getting a new heatsink be better spent on getting a better CPU, and i7 for example?

Already answered to both in post #8 on this thread. Here's a recap:

Noctua NH-D14 would run the CPU maybe 4-5 degrees C cooler, but it doesn't really matter one bit unless you're aiming for record-breaking overclocking.

i7-3770 doesn't give that much extra in gaming. Rather buy 120GB SSD instead of the current tiny 60.