A few questions about upgrading

[kunal96]

hi there guys,
1) my first question is regarding and upgrade in my graphics card, i was wondering if the gtx 970 is worth getting and also if it is compatible with my motherboard which is a ASUS P8Z77-v PRO.

2) secondly im also looking to upgrade my ram, whats the best ram out there at the moment and which one would work with my motherboard

 

[zeyuanfu]

What's your CPU? If it's too weak, it will bottleneck the 970.

 

[kunal96]

my cpu is a i5 3570k

 

[justaguywithagun]

my cpu is a i5 3570k

youre good to go, especially so if the cpu was OC'ed. and yes a gtx970 is compatible.

regarding ram, you need 1600mhz 1.5v ram, the lower the latency the better. id suggest atleast 2x4gb, and games are more and more going to be closer to the 16gb range.

additionally, regarding ram, keep in mind that there are sometimes clearance issues between tall heatspreaders on ram and the bottom end of many cpu hsf's

 

[kunal96]

What's your CPU? If it's too weak, it will bottleneck the 970.

my cpu is a i5 3570k

youre good to go, especially so if the cpu was OC'ed. and yes a gtx970 is compatible.

regarding ram, you need 1600mhz 1.5v ram, the lower the latency the better. id suggest atleast 2x4gb, and games are more and more going to be closer to the 16gb range.

additionally, regarding ram, keep in mind that there are sometimes clearance issues between tall heatspreaders on ram and the bottom end of many cpu hsf's

is 1600mhz the max i can go, i currently have 8gb of ram, im looking to upgrade to about 16gb

 

[zeyuanfu]

If your other set of RAM is at 1600 MHz, then even if you buy faster RAM, it will get underclocked to 1600 MHz.

 

[kunal96]

If your other set of RAM is at 1600 MHz, then even if you buy faster RAM, it will get underclocked to 1600 MHz.

so can i have two different manufacturers of ram, i currently have kingston ram, but i cant seem to find that ram anywhere on the internet?

 

[zeyuanfu]

Yes, you can, but the old and new RAM might not like each other and refuse to work. If you want 100% guaranteed compatibility, then I would sell the existing RAM and buy a new kit.

 

[justaguywithagun]

If your other set of RAM is at 1600 MHz, then even if you buy faster RAM, it will get underclocked to 1600 MHz.

kunal96: anything higher than 1600mhz is mostly pointless on your platform, generally yeilding 1-3% increase (if anything at all) due to what the cpu natively supports and the inability to overclock the FSB or anything close to an FSB.
lower latencies are, in this instance, a better way to go once that 1600mhz barrier has been met.

you could just get another 2x4gb set that atleast somewhat match your first set.

 

[justaguywithagun]

Yes, you can, but the old and new RAM might not like each other and refuse to work. If you want 100% guaranteed compatibility, then I would sell the existing RAM and buy a new kit.

i disagree. there are sometimes compatibilities that render one set or another useless, but ive found that generally if you set the bios up appropriately then it will be stable.

ex: 2x4 1600mhz cl8 1.5v mixed with 2x4 1866 cl10 1.65v. youd want to try to run the ram at 1600mhz cl9-10-9 1.5v
1.5v may not necessarily work but theres generally wiggle room to play with if you have the patience and a little know-how. though, its best to buy ram sets that are rated for the same voltage/speed/etc as your existing set