It's been about two years since I put my PC together and I feel it's about time I did some upgrading to the hardware. I'm planning on upgrading the GPU, Motherboard, and putting in a new heatsink. I'm thinking of getting a GTX 760 (4GB Model) and a MSI Z77MA-G45 Motherboard. I currently have a i5-2500K CPU and due to being away as college I am unaware of my current PS wattage, but I feel that putting in the new components shouldn't prove a problem.
Anyway, on to why I'm making this thread: I'm still not the greatest at finding hardware, so I want to know if you guys have some better suggestions for what I've gathered so far, and suggestions for a new heatsink (LGA 1155 socket) as I'm planning on tossing my stock one but I know jack-all about aftermarket ones. There's also the matter of my current GPU, a GTX 460- would I have any problems SLI-ing both it and the 760? I'd like to make use of the thing even if it's only a marginal increase.
Get a 7970 mine litecoins, trade them for bitcoins then spend them on more hardware at bitcoinstore.com
AMD cards pay for themselves :)
[QUOTE=Cuddly;43051634]Get a 7970 mine litecoins, trade them for bitcoins then spend them on more hardware at bitcoinstore.com
AMD cards pay for themselves :)[/QUOTE]
Because everyone wants to use there new bought hardware mining bitcoins.
I recommend the R9 280X over the 760 4GB model. There's no point in getting the extra 1 GB of RAM, since very few games actually use that much at standard resolution. There's a reason that even the 780 ti only has a 3GB framebuffer.
[url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9280xgaming3g[/url]
For heatsinks you have quite a few choices.
Low end for a reasonable overclock: [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2[/url]
High end (the best you can buy currently): [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk017[/url]
For the motherboard, why are you actually upgrading it? You know you won't see any improvement in performance, right? The G45 is an excellent choice regardless.
As for SLI, you can only SLI the same model of video card (e.g. two 760's). CFX supports crossfire within the same series (ex. 7950 + 7970), but you still have match the series. Also you don't want to SLI two cards that have vastly different performance even if you could (especially since SLI and CFX are already buggy technologies at best).
[QUOTE=flayne;43052381]Because everyone wants to use there new bought hardware mining bitcoins.
I recommend the R9 280X over the 760 4GB model. There's no point in getting the extra 1 GB of RAM, since very few games actually use that much at standard resolution. There's a reason that even the 780 ti only has a 3GB framebuffer.
[url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-video-card-r9280xgaming3g[/url]
For heatsinks you have quite a few choices.
Low end for a reasonable overclock: [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/cooler-master-cpu-cooler-rr212e20pkr2[/url]
High end (the best you can buy currently): [url]http://pcpartpicker.com/part/be-quiet-cpu-cooler-bk017[/url]
For the motherboard, why are you actually upgrading it? You know you won't see any improvement in performance, right? The G45 is an excellent choice regardless.
As for SLI, you can only SLI the same model of video card (e.g. two 760's). CFX supports crossfire within the same series (ex. 7950 + 7970), but you still have match the series. Also you don't want to SLI two cards that have vastly different performance even if you could (especially since SLI and CFX are already buggy technologies at best).[/QUOTE]
I'm upgrading the motherboard cause it only has a PCI Express 2.0 slot, so I need to get one with a 3.0 slot.
Thanks for the input on SLI, heatsink and GPU though. I may just stick with an Nvidia card for the sake of dealing with driver installation and familiarity (plus that shadow play thing they put in looks pretty nifty) however I probably won't go with the 4GB model now if I get it.
[QUOTE=flayne;43052381]Because everyone wants to use there new bought hardware mining bitcoins.[/QUOTE]
Mine when you aren't gaming. My 7970's paid for themselves and bought me a whole new rig.
[QUOTE=Cuddly;43052580]Mine when you aren't gaming. My 7970's paid for themselves and bought me a whole new rig.[/QUOTE]
Reduce the lifespan of your GPU. Drive up your electric bill. There are cons to it, and there's no point in bringing it up on this forum in a random thread.
You don't need a motherboard with a PCI express 3.0 slot to use a graphics card that uses one. They are backwards compatible, so basically you are looking at a 0-1% performance drop. There's no need to upgrade it.
I also recommend you bump up to the 770 since it's only a bit more expensive than the 760 4GB model.
[QUOTE=flayne;43057316]Reduce the lifespan of your GPU. Drive up your electric bill. There are cons to it, and there's no point in bringing it up on this forum in a random thread.
You don't need a motherboard with a PCI express 3.0 slot to use a graphics card that uses one. They are backwards compatible, so basically you are looking at a 0-1% performance drop. There's no need to upgrade it.
I also recommend you bump up to the 770 since it's only a bit more expensive than the 760 4GB model.[/QUOTE]
Oh. Damn I had no idea they were backwards compatible. I'll probably put off the upgrade for that then. Thanks again man!
Ok, one last question. I've settled on getting the GTX 770 (this EVGA one to be exact: [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921"]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130921[/URL]) and found that I needed to upgrade my Power Supply. I remember Corsair ones being pretty good from when I first built mine 2 years back and settled on this one:
[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139061[/url]
At the risk of showing my complete ignorance, should I worry about any incompatibilities, specifically CPU wise?
Just a question. Why you going for the 770 when the 280x is slightly cheaper and faster? (And please don't say its about personal preference for nvidia or this 'shadowplay' gimmick). Drivers are pretty much stable (For me aleast) currently with the 280x and it maxs out every game thats thrown at it. Just curious as to why your picking a pricey, slightly slower card.
[QUOTE=Neddy;43077081]Just a question. Why you going for the 770 when the 280x is slightly cheaper and faster? (And please don't say its about personal preference for nvidia or this 'shadowplay' gimmick). Drivers are pretty much stable (For me aleast) currently with the 280x and it maxs out every game thats thrown at it. Just curious as to why your picking a pricey, slightly slower card.[/QUOTE]
Because I'm a stupid, biased human being it is personal preference. I've always been familiar with nvidia cards and thus dont know jack shit about AMD ones. Plus I just need an upgrade period, so any upgrade works for me AND I'm going to be getting these parts come the end of the month from my family so as long as the cards aren't as expensive as Titans or 780 ti's price isn't that imperative.
There's no actual difference between the two companies. Driver installation is the same, but whatever.
[QUOTE=flayne;43085971]There's no actual difference between the two companies. Driver installation is the same, but whatever.[/QUOTE]
Eh, I figured as much.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.