Upgrading my PC - Need a few pointers

[Wizie]

Hey, so I've been wanting to upgrade my PC for a while now, and with the new GTX 980 just out, I figured that now would be a great time to do it.

I want to "future proof" my PC for at least a good while. My current setup has served me well for the 2 or so years I've had it, but my GPU is starting to fault. I basically want to ensure I can continue playing games at the highest settings for a good while, and possibly even be able to handle Nvidia 3D Vision / Oculus Rift.

My current specs are as follows:

• OS: Windows 8.1
• CPU: Intel i5 2500k 3.3Ghz
• GPU: Nvidia GTX 560ti 2GB (Club 3D's special edition card)
• Storage: 1x 2TB HDD, 1x 300GB HDD and 1x Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD.
• MOBO: ASRock P67 Pro3
• RAM: 1x8GB 1333 (This one)
• PSU: I don't recall the one I have in right now, I borrowed one from a friend. It's a 750W one from Cooler Master with Bronze efficiency if I recall correctly.

The part I'm looking to upgrade with are these:

• ASRock Z77 Extreme 4
• Corsair H100i Liquid CPU cooler
• 2x MSI GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr
• Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB DDR3-1600

What I had in mind was to get SLI 980's which requires a new MOBO. I'd upgrade the RAM as I feel I'm still a bit slow with only 8GB. And then I'd get a better CPU cooler so I could OC my i5 2500k.

PC Parts Picker estimates the Wattage to be around 574W, so the PSU shouldn't be a problem, even with overclocking.

What are your thoughts? This will put me within my budget of around ~£1200/$2000/€1500.

Is there any reason to think that the soon to be released GTX 8xx series are going to be better than the current 980's? If so I could wait another month or two.

Also if you've got suggestions for other parts which you think would be better, let me know. Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks.

[Remilia]

I'd just go with just one 980 unless you're planning on some 4k or something.

Maybe get a better PSU like this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasoni...upply-ssr650rm
or a bit more expensive
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasoni...upply-ss660xp2

Cooler is good and just OC the cpu.

[Wizie]

I'd just go with just one 980 unless you're planning on some 4k or something.

Maybe get a better PSU like this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasoni...upply-ssr650rm
or a bit more expensive
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/seasoni...upply-ss660xp2

Cooler is good and just OC the cpu.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Is it really worth a bigger CPU? Not sure if you saw that it was a 750W I have at the moment.

It says it only requires an estimate of 574W, which thinking about it does seem odd, but the new cards are reported to have a much better power efficiency.
I did the "upgrade" on PC partspicker with the exact same build except with 2x 780ti's and that still showed the estimate to be under 750W.

I'd rather not shell out more money for a new PSU if I don't need it.

Didn't read your post properly.

I want to "future proof" my PC, as I might not get another chance at upgrading for a while. So I wanted to go "all out" while still staying on a reasonable budget.


PC Parts Picker link.

[Gungrir]

Depends on how old your PSU is if you ask me, the older the PSU the lower the efficiency becomes (through usage of course).

If use the PC for gaming only, i would go for a single gpu, save yourself that money.

BTW what is the 8xx GTX you are talking about? Nvidia made the decision to skip the 8xx naming to not confuse costumers with the 8xx M mobile variants. The 9xx are the newest models.

Get a new GPU, CPU cooling and a RAM stick (just get + 1 8GB 1333).

Then wait and see if you don't need a new CPU+MB in the near future when developers start to use more then 2-4 Cores/Threads, Watch Dogs made the start using HT (all 8 threads) which surprised me :P.

Guess with the new generation of consoles and them having more cpu power this will be the next step.

[Wizie]

Depends on how old your PSU is if you ask me, the older the PSU the lower the efficiency becomes (through usage of course).

If use the PC for gaming only, i would go for a single gpu, save yourself that money.

BTW what is the 8xx GTX you are talking about? Nvidia made the decision to skip the 8xx naming to not confuse costumers with the 8xx M mobile variants. The 9xx are the newest models.

Get a new GPU, CPU cooling and a RAM stick (just get + 1 8GB 1333).

Then wait and see if you don't need a new CPU+MB in the near future when developers start to use more then 2-4 Cores/Threads, Watch Dogs made the start using HT (all 8 threads) which surprised me :P.

Guess with the new generation of consoles and them having more cpu power this will be the next step.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I did not know about them skipping the 800 series entirely. Last I had heard / read they was just releasing the current ones as the 900 series so people wouldn't get confused about the 800 series they had said they'd release some time in November / December. But I guess they have skipped it, odd but oh well.

I only added it to the post a few min ago, so I don't blame you for missing it, but I want to go all out (so to speak) and future proof my PC, as I may not get another chance at upgrading for another 2 years or so.

Also, I've always been told (and believed) that when it comes to computers, it's best to do upgrading of something like GPU in one take instead of saying "I'll just buy another and go SLI later" as that very rarely ever happens, since it's almost always been better to get 1 of the newer cards instead of getting another "old" card for SLI.

I'm planning on overclocking my CPU with the new cooler I'm getting, so unless there's something new and unexpected in terms of CPU coming to the market, I think I'll be fine. The games has and seem to continue to rely on GPU power more so than CPU.

[Deleted]

What games you play and you need the gtx980 if not sli for them (i don't reckon it). Cause unless you play in very high resolutions you don't need it. gtx970 on the other hand is the best for price/performance and since its almost half the price it would be better in the future if you want to sli that instead of 980.

[Gungrir]

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I did not know about them skipping the 800 series entirely. Last I had heard / read they was just releasing the current ones as the 900 series so people wouldn't get confused about the 800 series they had said they'd release some time in November / December. But I guess they have skipped it, odd but oh well.

I only added it to the post a few min ago, so I don't blame you for missing it, but I want to go all out (so to speak) and future proof my PC, as I may not get another chance at upgrading for another 2 years or so.

Also, I've always been told (and believed) that when it comes to computers, it's best to do upgrading of something like GPU in one take instead of saying "I'll just buy another and go SLI later" as that very rarely ever happens, since it's almost always been better to get 1 of the newer cards instead of getting another "old" card for SLI.

I'm planning on overclocking my CPU with the new cooler I'm getting, so unless there's something new and unexpected in terms of CPU coming to the market, I think I'll be fine. The games has and seem to continue to rely on GPU power more so than CPU.

It really depends, if you have high workload a big CPU with high clock and more threads is better then big gpu for example.

For gaming on full HD (1080p) a single gpu is more then enough and sometimes even better (not from a fps point mind you) because dual GPU will always have micro stutter that are noticeable.

If you want to have a future proof PC you should consider getting a Intel CPU with HT (either Haswell-E or Refresh) because i am pretty sure we will see games with higher CPU (more cores/threads) demand, because of the new console generation.

something like this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£248.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£78.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£60.77 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£60.77 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£286.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £839.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-24 14:56 BST+0100

Note, those parts are picked because you want to Overclock, if you don't need/want to OC you can also pick a Xeon 1231 v3 and cheaper ram, i recommend G.Skill thou, good experience with them also EVGA > all other manufacturers .

I choose a 970 simply because you pay 200 pound sterling (£ prices are insane btw) for only 10% more performance, really.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...l,3941-16.html

just skip to summary.

[Wizie]

What games you play and you need the gtx980 if not sli for them (i don't reckon it). Cause unless you play in very high resolutions you don't need it. gtx970 on the other hand is the best for price/performance and since its almost half the price it would be better in the future if you want to sli that instead of 980.

Thanks for the reply

I basically wanted to be able to throw any game at it on highest settings for at least a couple of years and still be fine. But I just looked at performance and it does look like the 970 is a much better choice.

It really depends, if you have high workload a big CPU with high clock and more threads is better then big gpu for example.

For gaming on full HD (1080p) a single gpu is more then enough and sometimes even better (not from a fps point mind you) because dual GPU will always have micro stutter that are noticeable.

If you want to have a future proof PC you should consider getting a Intel CPU with HT (either Haswell-E or Refresh) because i am pretty sure we will see games with higher CPU (more cores/threads) demand, because of the new console generation.

something like this

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£248.34 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£78.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£104.36 @ Scan.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£60.77 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory (£60.77 @ Ebuyer)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£286.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £839.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-24 14:56 BST+0100

Note, those parts are picked because you want to Overclock, if you don't need/want to OC you can also pick a Xeon 1231 v3 and cheaper ram, i recommend G.Skill thou, good experience with them also EVGA > all other manufacturers .

I choose a 970 simply because you pay 200 pound sterling (£ prices are insane btw) for only 10% more performance, really.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...l,3941-16.html

just skip to summary.

Thank you very much for that reply.

I just looked up the benchmarks of the 970 and I'm stunned that there's only a 10% difference with how different the price is.

The only reason I mentioned overclocking was because I thought it'd be better to just overclock my current i5-2500k instead of buying a new one, but if I am to get a new CPU I want it to be unlocked for overclocking, so the 4970k looks nice.

How noticeable is the micro stutter from running SLI? I've got a 120hz display (BenQ XL2420T), would that have anything to say? I'm not sure about overclocking the GPU, it's not something I've done before, but I'd be willing to try it.

Would you say SLI is even worth it? I want to be able to throw anything at it for at least a year or two without it having any issues. This would probably include something like Oculus Rift. I'd still stay under my budget, but I guess if SLI isn't worth it I could use that money for something like new peripherals or another SSD. Or food, but that's not a priority right now.

[Gungrir]

Thanks for the reply

I basically wanted to be able to throw any game at it on highest settings for at least a couple of years and still be fine. But I just looked at performance and it does look like the 970 is a much better choice.


Thank you very much for that reply.

I just looked up the benchmarks of the 970 and I'm stunned that there's only a 10% difference with how different the price is.

The only reason I mentioned overclocking was because I thought it'd be better to just overclock my current i5-2500k instead of buying a new one, but if I am to get a new CPU I want it to be unlocked for overclocking, so the 4970k looks nice.

How noticeable is the micro stutter from running SLI? I've got a 120hz display (BenQ XL2420T), would that have anything to say? I'm not sure about overclocking the GPU, it's not something I've done before, but I'd be willing to try it.

Would you say SLI is even worth it? I want to be able to throw anything at it for at least a year or two without it having any issues. This would probably include something like Oculus Rift. I'd still stay under my budget, but I guess if SLI isn't worth it I could use that money for something like new peripherals or another SSD. Or food, but that's not a priority right now.

The setup i posted is more then enough for the next 2 years, if you don't OC don't buy the watercooling and get cheaper 1600er RAM and no, i don't think SLI is worth it in on a normal 24" 1080p display.

I can only tell you my experience with running SLI, granted it was a few years ago and i am pretty sure they tried addressing micro stutter but i noticed it allot.

If you want to play on 4K you can consider SLI but anything apart from that, is not really worth it.

[Wizie]

The setup i posted is more then enough for the next 2 years, if you don't OC don't buy the watercooling and get cheaper 1600er RAM and no, i don't think SLI is worth it in on a normal 24" 1080p display.

I can only tell you my experience with running SLI, granted it was a few years ago and i am pretty sure they tried addressing micro stutter but i noticed it allot.

If you want to play on 4K you can consider SLI but anything apart from that, is not really worth it.

Right, thank you.

I've read around a bit and people have been saying that they have improved micro stutter a lot. There might still be a tiny bit, but it's supposedly way less than before.

I think I am going to go with the H100i and OC the CPU. As well as look into SLI a bit more. I know that 4K is going to get more and more standard on PC at least (not on this gen console, that's for sure). And as more 4K displays come to the market, the cheaper it'll get.

Thank you all very much for the replies. It's all been really helpful.