My specs. Got this from Cyberpower.
CPU: AMD FX-9370 4.40 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) Eight-Core AM3+ CPU 8MB L2 Cache & Turbo Core Technology <--- ([B]Have no clue how to use the "Turbo"[/B])
HDD: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)
MOBO: GIGABYTE 990FXA-UD3
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR3/1866MHz Dual Channel Memory (ADATA XPG V2) <--- ([B]Guess this isnt the best ram didnt know, Might upgrade this too.[/B])
GPU: FXF AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB GDDR5
PSU: AzzA Alpha 800w (80 Plus?) <------ ([B]Will this do Crossfire?[/B])
My goal is to be able to record and love stream more graphically intense games at high framerates. I am thinking about either buying a new graphic card either the r9 290 or like maybe something from nvidia or getting another FXF R9 270x and try crossfire for the first time. I never have done crossfire so Im not sure how it works and if games like rust even supports it yet.
Any help would awesome. Im new to pc building. Most ive done is switch PSU, Ram, GPU.
The "Turbo" is enabled by default - it's simply a dynamic clock based on various variables like temperature, power draw, etc.
Memory is basically a non-factor when it comes to gaming, the FPS increase will be close to immeasurable.
The OEM for your PSU seems to be Superflower, so I suppose it's based on one of their current designs. Superflower has some pretty reliable PSUs, so I guess you should be fine for CF.
Are you only having FPS problems when recording? Or is it in general? What recording program are you using?
You might consider the 7XX line from nvidia if your goal is recording. Shadowplay is great and stupid easy to use, costs virtually nothing in performance and very friendly on hard drive space for high quality 60FPS 1080p footage. You can just have it record all the time in the background too to capture cool moments without it soaking up HDD space. Also supports streaming to twitch.tv
Otherwise you are looking at using something like Dxtory for recording, which isn't bad but will use up more performance and space. If you need absolute 100% control over your footage anyways though (i.e. forcing weird aspect ratios, very specific codecs/file types, need raw footage, etc) then you'll need to use something like dxtory anyways, but for almost all general purpose recording Shadowplay has been the best and easiest to use by far.
Oh and a downside to Shadowplay is that unless you are on Windows 8, file sizes for video files are limited to around 10minutes of footage (4GB file size) due to constraints in the OS. In windows 8 however its unlimited (though shadow recording doesn't go over 20 minutes, you can manual record for as long as you want). Not a big deal though unless you are hell bent on using Windows 7 for your next computer, which I don't really recommend just so you can reap the benefits that W8 provides (as modest as they are).
For reference, the Nvidia equivalent of the 270X is the 760. The 760 will cost you just a little bit more, but it performs better in every benchmark so you get you get a bit better performance out of it too. The only wildcard is if Mantle ends up going big, and if FreeSync for AMD goes big too, those will be two nice advantages of owning an AMD card. Hard to tell how either of those will end up though at this point.
You're recording RAW 1080p video at higher frames than bluray movies. You cannot write that crap to HDD fast enough. Linus did a number on recording with FRAPS and found that the storage medium was a huge factor with regards to FPS lag while recording raw footage. ([URL="http://youtu.be/bEGDgzlc7mA"]http://youtu.be/bEGDgzlc7mA[/URL]) He pretty much sells the SSD advantage, which I'll mention in a moment, but hear me out before you jump to conclusions.
If you want to record raw footage, you could try an SSD or RAID a few cheaper HDDs. Perhaps even consider getting an external capture device or if you have money to burn, a second PC with something like a Avermedia Live Gamer HD in it, but these are far from the easiest solution.
Seeing you're considering a new GPU already, your solution might be Shadowplay. As it uses the GPU to compress the video while you're recording, the data being written to the drive is smaller, and you're avoiding the bottlenecking that you're probably getting now in your HDD writespeed, which in turn chokes up your CPU and RAM. It generates smaller files because of this, too, so you won't need to invest in a buttload of storage before you can make a nice montage.
So if I get a SSD it might be better? Im new to installing these. My case does have like the super easy slots tho... Bassicly just plug it in? Use it like I would a external drive?
[QUOTE=deebles;43792737]So if I get a SSD it might be better? Im new to installing these. My case does have like the super easy slots tho... Bassicly just plug it in? Use it like I would a external drive?[/QUOTE]
I mean I guess you could use it as an external drive, but that would be silly. Install the os on the ssd to get the benefits of it.
[QUOTE=deebles;43792737]So if I get a SSD it might be better? Im new to installing these. My case does have like the super easy slots tho... Bassicly just plug it in? Use it like I would a external drive?[/QUOTE]
You don't currently have an SSD, so as Phrozen99 said, the best way to go about upgrading to one would be to use it as your C:\ drive - your Windows boot drive. If you got one large enough (128, 240GB), you could also use it to record footage to and maybe store a couple of games on it for fast loading.
An SSD, I was once told, is one of the best upgrades you can do for a computer which doesn't already have one. It's better than more RAM, a faster GPU, RAID, more cores on a CPU.. And it really is. Speeds expected from an SSD are three to five times that of a hard drive, and reduce your boot times significantly. Not only will you be in Windows faster, but all the programs you have set to open will open faster. I have a higher end SSD and I can go and start typing to people immediately after seeing the desktop; something I never could have expected to do in the past.
Excuse my wall of text, if you don't care for how to install it, or plan to get someone else to, don't bother reading the below quote. :3
[QUOTE]
Installing a drive requires you to mount it in a bay made for that drive, an SSD is physically smaller than a full size HDD and may require an adapter to suit your case (just a piece of plastic to bulk up its size - 2.5" to 3.5"). You will have to plug in power on the back of the drive, either from a suitable plug already in your case (SATA POWER CONNECTOR), or getting a MOLEX to SATA POWER adapter, as most power supplies leave you with a few free MOLEX which aren't plugged in, and just cable tied to the side, or such. Then, you'd need to plug in the SATA plug from the back of the SSD to the motherboard. Your current HDD will be plugged into the motherboard beside the remaining free SATA connectors, so follow the cable. Naturally, have your computer completely unplugged from a power soruce when you do any work inside it.
As for Windows, you will want to have an install DVD for Windows, and choose to boot from your optical drive in BIOS, if it isn't set as priority already. BIOSes vary, so I won't comment on how to do this in yours. Have the DVD in the drive, then restart the computer and see what happens to tell if you'll need to change boot priorities. If the Windows installer loads from the DVD, then you won't need the BIOS at this point. For reference, to open your BIOS, you hit Del, F8 or whatever key your motherboard suggests while turning on - during the text screens before Windows usually loads.
Windows is a pretty simple install: you just follow the prompts. You will have to choose the drive to install to, obviously the smaller one once your SSD is plugged in. If you're worried about overwriting your HDD (not an easy task, but doable if you've never done this before), just unplug the HDD's SATA connector at the motherboard before you go to install Windows. You will need to install drivers and such once you're in the fresh install of Windows, refer to any CDs that came with your computer when you purchased it, or go to your parts' manufacturer's sites and look for driver downloads, usually under support. Avoid installing any "demo" versions of antiviruses if you do install from discs, which are often bundled software.
Once your fresh Windows is up and running, you'll want to make sure when your HDD is plugged in, it boots to the SSD - you can do this in your BIOS. Look for something called boot priorities or similar. [/QUOTE]
When installing new games or software you do not want on your SSD, make sure to change C:\ to whatever drive letter your old HDD is in the installer. Many of your programs, you will be able to run from your old drive as is (just navigate to them, and perhaps right click and do move to desktop -create shortcut). Leaving windows on your old HDD is handy if your SSD should ever fail, but feel free to remove it, too. With 2TB, you shouldn't be in any rush to free up space. Try to keep at least 15-20% space free on your SSD at all times, and if you're saving video footage to it, remember to move it off to your HDD once you're done.
To get all the programs you want on a fresh Windows install, try [URL="http://ninite.com/"]Ninite[/URL]. You check the boxes for the programs you want, then hit get installer. It will install them all at once, and save you a lot of fiddling around.
If you can't already tell, I had nothing better to do than write this, lol, but now I've gotta leave for work. I'm happy to be bugged for more details and others, feel free to chip in if you think I've explained anything incorrectly.
If you really want to max recording performance, [I]add[/I] an SSD to your system (internally or via eSATA/Thunderbolt/USB 3.0) and don't move your operating system or your games on there, only record to it.
If you're someone with external drives mostly then I suppose an SSD would do.
Personally, I wouldn't record to an SSD. I'd put your OS on the SSD, put games on the SSD. Then buy some giant Harddrives. Modern 3-4TB drives push 180MB/s minimum which is plenty even for 1080p60 with a decent lossless codec.
Although I know they're regarded as ancient now, a WD velociraptor wouldn't be a terrible choice imo. You can get a 250gig for under $100, and it would be an improvement over a standard HDD with a bigger capacity on a budget than an SSD. Plus you won't have to worry about those pesky read/write warranty limits most SSD's have, which I would assume may prove problematic recording large amounts of 1080p gameplay.
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