GTX970 - Just Plug&Play? - Upgrading an old system

[TehPenguin]

With all the 1080 hype and the newest 1080ti rumors I kinda cooled down, put my obese piggy-bank aside, and decided to update my current rig with the lowest cost possible just to enjoy higher FPS while I wait for a 1080ti and what it brings to the table.

What is my question? Before I get a new PC with a 10series card, I'd like to "muscle" up my old rig for the time being. I don't know if I can just buy a 970(which get cheaper by the hour it seems), stuff it into my PC and enjoy the performance.

My current(ancient)rig:
AMD HD5870
AMD Phenom II x4 965
Gigabyte MoBo - no idea what model and how to find out - can't find any descriptive numbers on it
750w PSU(should be enough)
8GB DDR3, I believe 1333


Edit: made it a bit more clear that I am sane and do not wish to put a $700 GPU in a 5 year old PC.

 

[jkhoward]

Yes, however..... what kind of games do you play? Your CPU is fairly dated and may be a better upgrade.

 

[Quixit]

Wait until the new cards come out, even if you want to buy an old one. Any of the old cards still around after the new ones show up will be fire-sale cheap.

 

[MnMWizard]

You physically can if you wanted to but it doesn't really make that much sense seeing as your CPU would be a serious bottleneck. If you can wait then I would really recommend waiting for the 1070, as well as upgrading your CPU. They SHOULD be coming out as early as June 10th in UK and most likely a tad later for other countries. If you don't want to completely change your computer then I would say the max GPU you should get is a 960 without getting a new CPU.

 

[TehPenguin]

Yes, however..... what kind of games do you play? Your CPU is fairly dated and may be a better upgrade.

It is but I do not wish to start upgrading all the parts right now since I have a hefty budget I initially planned to spend on the 1080 with skylake etc.
I am just looking for a cheap upgrade that will help me get trough a few more months when 1080 has matured out and maybe a 1080ti is already on the market.

Unless the once great Phenom II x4 965 will bottleneck the 970 so hard it'll make me weep.

What I play... The Witcher(1&2, 5870 can't handle the 3rd), Battlefield, Battlefront, Dark Souls, Assassin's Creed... I feel like I play all the genres depending on the weather and I still can play them but, for example, I have to limit Battlefront to 35FPS in order to get a smooth gameplay on absolute lowest settings.

It doesn't even have to be the 970 it's just that it seems to devastate all 1080p games and is getting really cheap atm.

 

[TehPenguin]

You physically can if you wanted to but it doesn't really make that much sense seeing as your CPU would be a serious bottleneck. If you can wait then I would really recommend waiting for the 1070, as well as upgrading your CPU. They SHOULD be coming out as early as June 10th in UK and most likely a tad later for other countries. If you don't want to completely change your computer then I would say the max GPU you should get is a 960 without getting a new CPU.

No, no. I want to upgrade EVERYTHING. Like, this is what I planned to do. It's just that I have put on my patient pants on and will wait for a good, overclockable 1080 that I can watercool or wait a bit more for a 1080ti before upgrading and I wish to get something small that'lll give me acceptable fps.

 

[Dule__]

If you don't wanna wait, I say buy it and stop reading everyone's opinion on when to do it. One thing is to make sure if it can fit into your case, as there are different size cards. Your CPU won't bottleneck that much.

Close your eyes, and just click buy!!

 

[jkhoward]

Getting a new GPU isn't going to solve your performance issues. Your CPU is a big bottleneck in those games. I'd wait until you can upgrade your CPU, motherboard, and RAM.

 

[atomicWAR]

yeah think i would consider upgrading your CPU and motherboard first...at the very least I would overclock your CPU. Though that depends on your PSU quality, motherboard capability and cooling (ie using a nice aftermarket CPU cooler). That said I run some older CPU's myself on my wife gaming rig and lan rigs for friends with decent results. As as long as your not trying to break past 60 Hz setting vsync/gsync then you might be ok in some, not all, games. In fact in some you may have to live with some games in the low 40s and even 30s FPS if they are playable at all. The short of it is you CPU at stock clocks is going to be a pretty big bottleneck for a GTX 1080ti...the GTX 970, a little less so. With your CPU I would consider something more like the GTX 950/960 range, then upgrade your CPU, ram and motherboard when your ready to go for the GTX 1080Ti

 

[TehPenguin]

yeah think i would consider upgrading your CPU and motherboard first...at the very least I would overclock your CPU. Though that depends on your PSU quality, motherboard capability and cooling (ie using a nice aftermarket CPU cooler). That said I run some older CPU's myself on my wife gaming rig and lan rigs for friends with decent results. As as long as your not trying to break past 60 Hz setting vsync/gsync then you might be ok in some, not all, games. In fact in some you may have to live with some games in the low 40s and even 30s FPS if they are playable at all. The short of it is you CPU at stock clocks is going to be a pretty big bottleneck for a GTX 1080ti...the GTX 970, a little less so. With your CPU I would consider something more like the GTX 950/960 range, then upgrade your CPU, ram and motherboard when your ready to go for the GTX 1080Ti

I appreciate your input but please do read what I exactly plan to do before making assumptions. I do not wish to take this ancient piece of a computer and put a 1080ti into it. The whole computer will get replaced. Very soon. I just want to hold off for a bit to not get a sour taste from the hype train.

 

[Bezzell]

A bottlenecked new card will still run circles around that 5870. A good first step if you're planning upgrading components one at a time.

 

[TehPenguin]

A bottlenecked new card will still run circles around that 5870. A good first step if you're planning upgrading components one at a time.

Thanks! Considering I do not plan to hold on the 970 for too long(as mentioned, I plan to build a whole new computer with the 10series cards), are there any other GPUs you would recommend that'd give good performance? Some said I should get the 960 but I read very poor reviews saying it's not worth the attention(and price).

 

[Dule__]

Use the 970 later in the new system while you wait for the 1080ti

 

[TehPenguin]

Use the 970 later in the new system while you wait for the 1080ti

Now that's some food for thought... Huh.

 

[jkhoward]

Sir, you should really just sit tight until the new cards are released. Purchasing the 970 isn't going to give you the performance you'd like and if you plan on selling it soon, it is a waste of your hard earned cash.

 

[Bezzell]

I agree the 1000 series card are dropping end of May to mid June. Silly to buy a 2 year old card now really. Unless you have cash to throw in the trash and can't wait a couple weeks.

 

[atomicWAR]

yeah think i would consider upgrading your CPU and motherboard first...at the very least I would overclock your CPU. Though that depends on your PSU quality, motherboard capability and cooling (ie using a nice aftermarket CPU cooler). That said I run some older CPU's myself on my wife gaming rig and lan rigs for friends with decent results. As as long as your not trying to break past 60 Hz setting vsync/gsync then you might be ok in some, not all, games. In fact in some you may have to live with some games in the low 40s and even 30s FPS if they are playable at all. The short of it is you CPU at stock clocks is going to be a pretty big bottleneck for a GTX 1080ti...the GTX 970, a little less so. With your CPU I would consider something more like the GTX 950/960 range, then upgrade your CPU, ram and motherboard when your ready to go for the GTX 1080Ti

I appreciate your input but please do read what I exactly plan to do before making assumptions. I do not wish to take this ancient piece of a computer and put a 1080ti into it. The whole computer will get replaced. Very soon. I just want to hold off for a bit to not get a sour taste from the hype train.

I did read your post....but you didn't make it clear you were replacing the whole rig in the first one and I was slow responding (puppy troubles) and didn't see the subsequent posts where you stated more clearly you planned on replacing your whole rig at some point. So don't be so quick to jump down my throat for trying to help. But I get were your coming from all the same. I see plenty of posts where the person clearly only read the first sentence and replied. Had they read further some of their questions would have been answered. Regardless it sounds like you have a solid plan for upgrade and i hope you look forward to your new machine.

 

[TehPenguin]

Spoiler

yeah think i would consider upgrading your CPU and motherboard first...at the very least I would overclock your CPU. Though that depends on your PSU quality, motherboard capability and cooling (ie using a nice aftermarket CPU cooler). That said I run some older CPU's myself on my wife gaming rig and lan rigs for friends with decent results. As as long as your not trying to break past 60 Hz setting vsync/gsync then you might be ok in some, not all, games. In fact in some you may have to live with some games in the low 40s and even 30s FPS if they are playable at all. The short of it is you CPU at stock clocks is going to be a pretty big bottleneck for a GTX 1080ti...the GTX 970, a little less so. With your CPU I would consider something more like the GTX 950/960 range, then upgrade your CPU, ram and motherboard when your ready to go for the GTX 1080Ti

I appreciate your input but please do read what I exactly plan to do before making assumptions. I do not wish to take this ancient piece of a computer and put a 1080ti into it. The whole computer will get replaced. Very soon. I just want to hold off for a bit to not get a sour taste from the hype train.

I did read your post....but you didn't make it clear you were replacing the whole rig in the first one and I was slow responding (puppy troubles) and didn't see the subsequent posts where you stated more clearly you planned on replacing your whole rig at some point. So don't be so quick to jump down my throat for trying to help. But I get were your coming from all the same. I see plenty of posts where the person clearly only read the first sentence and replied. Had they read further some of their questions would have been answered. Regardless it sounds like you have a solid plan for upgrade and i hope you look forward to your new machine.

Ah. My bad then. Drink's are on me tonight.

 

[TehPenguin]

I agree the 1000 series card are dropping end of May to mid June. Silly to buy a 2 year old card now really. Unless you have cash to throw in the trash and can't wait a couple weeks.

The thing is that I do not wish to buy the Founders Edition as it is overpriced and underpowered compared to what a 3rd party design can achieve with the amazing architecture - furthermore the 1080ti seems to be around the corner and it seems to be the perfect choice for a 3440x1440 display that I wanted to get with the 1080. A 1080ti is more than a few weeks away and thus I wish to get something to get me "through" the wait.