Critique my rig, (need upgrade advice)

[Tyler Cooke]

Pc is feeling pretty good now.

Need advice one what i should add in/replace next since i have some money spare.
I was thinking monitor, but you guys always give good advice so id love to hear what you guys would do.

Specs.
Asus VE248H 60hz monitor (3 YEARS OLD)
Seasonic 620W psu (1 WEEK OLD)
GTX 970 (3 MONTHS OLD)
16GB SAMSUNG RAM 4 X 4GB(4 YEARS OLD WAS THINKING THIS)
Intel i7 2600 @ 3.4GHZ (4years old)
Asus P8Z68-LV Mobo (4 years old)
1tb seagate barracuda
500gb WD HDD blue

 

[celtic_warrior99]

I reckon get an SSD for your boot drive. Mine is an $80 120gb an it boots in 7 seconds. SSDs will impact your PC transfer speeds aswell by quite alot. For the RAM, I reckon just stay with it. What speeds do the RAM chips run at? You could also maybe get two more monitors to rock a triple monitor setup !

 

[BrandonYoung]

Unless I'm missing something and you have one already, get a SSD. I can't stand being on machines without solid state at least for the OS.

Second, I would invest in either a new (or more matching), bigger, 3D, 144hz, 4k, (or something) display, or another gtx 970.

Ram should be fine. You wont gain much moving beyond 16gig, or going faster here.

CPU should still be fine unless its starting to act up.
Fancy water cooler (cpu/gpu/both)?

Case?

Awesome surround sound speakers (w/ sub) and amp? Fancy Headphones? Fancy gameing sound card?

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Maybe a case with a side-panel window and some fancy lights? There are so many things......

 

[Tyler Cooke]

I reckon get an SSD for your boot drive. Mine is an $80 120gb an it boots in 7 seconds. SSDs will impact your PC transfer speeds aswell by quite alot. For the RAM, I reckon just stay with it. What speeds do the RAM chips run at? You could also maybe get two more monitors to rock a triple monitor setup !

SSD it is, just bought a kingston 120gb. I love speed in windows when im moving from files etc, will it give me more speed there???

My Ram is running at 1337mhz. All 4 of them. I was just thinking due to age they may need replacing.

My case is a Cooler master HAF 212 X. id get a transparent side panel but the way i have my setup my machine doesnt face the right way. so if the one closest was transparent id be seeing the back of my mobo .

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Yes it will definitelly majorly improve transfer speeds and boot speeds. The RAM speeds are fine, you wont gain much by upgrading to faster speeds. Ah ok, pity about the case setup.

 

[celtic_warrior99]

ANd you could get another GTX 970 as the guy above said, so you can run them in SLI.

 

[BrandonYoung]

You won't be sorry with a SSD for the OS. It's like moving from dial-up to broadband. Seriously. Moving files around is fast, but this is not really where I personally see the largest impact. Booting, shutting down, loading games/apps (from the SSD), and using windows in general, is much, much, much more responsive.

 

[Tyler Cooke]

ANd you could get another GTX 970 as the guy above said, so you can run them in SLI.

Ive heard people have lots of issues with SLI? is it not that bad? this is somthing ill consider as gtx 970's arnt too expensvie and i guess two of them will pack some power

 

[celtic_warrior99]

No, there isn't any thing to worry about with SLI. You Just have to make sure that you have the correct psu, GPU and mobo.

 

[Tyler Cooke]

No, there isn't any thing to worry about with SLI. You Just have to make sure that you have the correct psu, GPU and mobo.

SSD came today. Very happy so far, super speedy. Twin 970's will be my next venture. My mobo supoprts it, does my psu?

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Your PSU should support it. How many PCIE plugs does it have?

 

[Tyler Cooke]

Your PSU should support it. How many PCIE plugs does it have? [/quotems

Two lots of two 6 pin. So it will support two GPUS. Will my mobo? Asus P868-LX? It does say Crossfire Ready on it?

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Hi. Sorry but your mobo won't support SLI. Crossfire only works if using two ati cards. Sorry. If you want SLI, we can have a look at some new mobos.

 

[Tyler Cooke]

Hi. Sorry but your mobo won't support SLI. Crossfire only works if using two ati cards. Sorry. If you want SLI, we can have a look at some new mobos.

Could you recommended me an awesome MOBO? AND A MOBO INSTALLATION IS THE ONLY THING I HAVE NOT DONE WITH MY PC SO FAR.

Is it a complex tasK?

 

[celtic_warrior99]

What is your budget for a new mobo? Installing a mobo isn't too hard. You Just have to unplug everything from the old mobo and put them back in the new mobo. But you will need to reinstall windows because of the new mobo.

 

[Tyler Cooke]

What is your budget for a new mobo? Installing a mobo isn't too hard. You Just have to unplug everything from the old mobo and put them back in the new mobo. But you will need to reinstall windows because of the new mobo.

100-120 gpb. However, i suppose id only need a new mobo for SLI, that and the addded cost of another 970 = a 980, so would just getting a 980 be a better decision? i know x2 970 are better but i think for the sake of 2 GPU gaming i could get a 980.

 

[tiny voices]

Upgrading form a 970 to a 980 is a poor decision. VERY little boost in performance for the money.

 

[celtic_warrior99]

I agree with the above statement. Go for an sli board. Are u comfortable with eBay buying

 

[Tyler Cooke]

Upgrading form a 970 to a 980 is a poor decision. VERY little boost in performance for the money.

I agree mate after just looking at some comparisons.

Im thinking ASUS Hero VII for my new Mobo
and then another gpu to match my current one,

comes to a total of £398 just via amazon no price searching. Which is cheaper than a 980 on its own.

 

[tiny voices]

That motherboard is super overkill. No need for something like that.

 

[celtic_warrior99]

Yeah those Asus hero motherboards are overkill. Maybe go for a cheaper one. Gigabyte are pretty good quality motherboards and you should be able to find one in your price range.

 

[Tyler Cooke]

That motherboard is super overkill. No need for something like that.

Could you point me in the right direction them mate, i do like the bios on my current asus p867-z. Would like somthing similar to this one but with the dual card support

 

[Tyler Cooke]

That motherboard is super overkill. No need for something like that.

Could you point me in the right direction them mate, i do like the bios on my current asus p867-z. Would like somthing similar to this one but with the dual card support

 

[tiny voices]

An ASUS Z97-A is the most I would go. VERY goof board for the money.