Question Help making a PC utilise my 970 gpu

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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Hi i have a GTX MSI 970 and my pc isnt able to use this graphics cards full potential. Im wondering to make a build with somebodys help to not need to have another gpu. My CPU currently is an Intel Core i7 2600 which is holding my pc back. Im also using DDR3 ram at the moment with an p8z77-V LX motherboard.

Would appreciate help on building a pc around my GPU, thank you. My goals are to make a 1080p/144hz build as my uses for the pc will be obviously for gaming. Willing to spend at most £500 for this.

Thanks.
 
Build List:
  1. Inexpensive B560 Motherboard
  2. Intel i5-11400 CPU (6 Cores 12 Threads)
  3. 16 GB of RAM (2 x 8 GB DDR4)
You should be able to buy this for 500 Euros.

This is currently the best inexpensive system you can make. Buying an older CPU/motherboard will leave performance on the table without saving you any money. There are better CPUs out there (like the Ryzen 5600x for example), but they are too expensive.
 
Hi i have a GTX MSI 970 and my pc isnt able to use this graphics cards full potential. Im wondering to make a build with somebodys help to not need to have another gpu. My CPU currently is an Intel Core i7 2600 which is holding my pc back. Im also using DDR3 ram at the moment with an p8z77-V LX motherboard.

Would appreciate help on building a pc around my GPU, thank you. My goals are to make a 1080p/144hz build as my uses for the pc will be obviously for gaming. Willing to spend at most £500 for this.

Thanks.

How did you check if your CPU is the issue here? The 970 was a decent card, but aging a bit, and that i7 was also a CPU, also just aging compared to new stuff.

Are you hitting 100% CPU usage in benchmarks with the GPU running much less?
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
I'm with hang-the-9. This was an awesome midrange GPU...when it was released in 2014. Seven years is an eternity with GPUs and there's no reason a 2600K shouldn't keep up with a GTX 970; the 2600K wasn't much different in performance than a midrange Haswell released in 2014.
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
The 970 is really still ok. I have one in my system, though I got a deal on a 1070 that’s on the way. So that should tide me over until things even out. But the 970 is basically still equal to a 1650. Which considering the release date of the 970 is good.

Dont' get me wrong, I'm not saying the GPU sucks; it doesn't. I'm just noting that a midrange GPU from 2014 shouldn't be held back by a 2011-2014 Intel i7, so that's unlikely to be the problem.
 

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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How did you check if your CPU is the issue here? The 970 was a decent card, but aging a bit, and that i7 was also a CPU, also just aging compared to new stuff.

Are you hitting 100% CPU usage in benchmarks with the GPU running much less?
Hi thank you for the response, Im not actually sure exactly on the problem but my pc has been suffering with a few issues, One of the issues is my D drive has suddenly became extremely slow. The other issues is I mainly play league but if i play other games such as warzone, my pc cannot handle it and if i play a ligher game like Hades, my pc will powersurge a few hours into the session. I thought the issue has to be the CPU or the PSU but i cant pin point it since im not really sure how to find out.
 

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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How did you check if your CPU is the issue here? The 970 was a decent card, but aging a bit, and that i7 was also a CPU, also just aging compared to new stuff.

Are you hitting 100% CPU usage in benchmarks with the GPU running much less?
Id also like to point out when the power surges occur the CPU cores were around 90 degrees if i remember right.
 

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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Benchmark shows your drives performing really, really poorly. How long has it been since you did a fresh Windows install? How long since a format or defrag on the storage drive?
Ive never done a fresh windows install, and with defragging ive did it few times before. Could you assist me on what to do with this? Thank you.
 
What do you have for backing files up as far as any other drives or usb thumb drives? What is your OS originally on, disk, flash drive, nothing? Also, I'm assuming your OS is running on the SSD and the other is for basic files?

Also should look into that temp issue on the CPU. What does your case airflow consist of and what case? What type of CPU cooler are you using?

That CPU and GPU are pretty well matched once everything is running correctly, upgrading one, but not the other probably wouldn't give a big performance increase. With the drive and temp issues fixed though you should have no issue with good performance at 1080p.
 

mikewinddale

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Dec 22, 2016
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If your computer is still working fine for now, I would personally recommend waiting until new DDR5-capable CPUs come out. Intel is supposed to be releasing the Alder Lake with DDR5 support in November 2021. So just a few months from now.

Even if the new CPUs and DDR5 are too expensive for you, the new release should cause prices on old components to drop. You might be able to get DDR4 for relatively cheaper since demand will drop for DDR4.

Of course, it's always possible to wait a little longer to upgrade. But in this case, waiting longer will not only let you get a CPU for cheaper, but RAM too.
 
Could be, I did a benchmark if this can help pinpoint any issues.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/44438456
I think you have a few problems start with the cpu temp.
Get a can of compressed air and a small brush.
Give the innards a good cleaning.
Fans and heatsinks extra clean.
Don't forget the psu a few shots of air from both directions.
After that's done play your games and watch the cpu temp if it's still high redo the thermal paste.
 

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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I think you have a few problems start with the cpu temp.
Get a can of compressed air and a small brush.
Give the innards a good cleaning.
Fans and heatsinks extra clean.
Don't forget the psu a few shots of air from both directions.
After that's done play your games and watch the cpu temp if it's still high redo the thermal paste.
Ive cleaned it already didnt do anything, so yeah probably thermal paste wearing out
 

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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If your computer is still working fine for now, I would personally recommend waiting until new DDR5-capable CPUs come out. Intel is supposed to be releasing the Alder Lake with DDR5 support in November 2021. So just a few months from now.

Even if the new CPUs and DDR5 are too expensive for you, the new release should cause prices on old components to drop. You might be able to get DDR4 for relatively cheaper since demand will drop for DDR4.

Of course, it's always possible to wait a little longer to upgrade. But in this case, waiting longer will not only let you get a CPU for cheaper, but RAM too.
This sounds like a really good idea but my motherboard only supports ddr3 i think unfortunately. Do you still think its best to wait
 

DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
This sounds like a really good idea but my motherboard only supports ddr3 i think unfortunately. Do you still think its best to wait

It depends on your need now versus your need later. Any significant CPU upgrade would involve a new motherboard and new RAM. But if you do upgrade, don't upgrade to "take advantage" of your GTX 970 as your current CPU does that, especially when all thermal issues are resolved.
 
I think it's best to wait, what you have should be fine at 1080p running correctly. You said ddr3, if you have at least 8gb then that should be fine, if you have 4gb, then a cheap 2 x 4gb set would be a cheap investment.

New thermal paste on the CPU wouldn't be a bad idea to start. If it doesn't help the Cooler Master 212 EVO is only about $40 and works with any Intel socket in the last 10 years or so and is good. Also your case could have 4 front, 1 rear, and 1 top fan, but only comes stock with 1 rear exhaust fan. Upping that to maybe 2 front inlet, and 1 rear and 1 top outlet wouldn't be a bad idea.

Your drives should be fine once they are cleared out and working correctly again. You could back your files to the storage drive, reinstall windows, then back up the storage to the main drive while you format the storage, but personally I'd feel better with another hard drive or flash drive with a 2nd copy of the files while you're doing it. A cheap 128gb flash drive is only about $10-15.

Poor air flow and slow drives need to be fixed before any upgrades are thought about because you wouldn't see any difference anyway until things are working correctly.
 

bz3426

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Nov 6, 2016
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I think it's best to wait, what you have should be fine at 1080p running correctly. You said ddr3, if you have at least 8gb then that should be fine, if you have 4gb, then a cheap 2 x 4gb set would be a cheap investment.

New thermal paste on the CPU wouldn't be a bad idea to start. If it doesn't help the Cooler Master 212 EVO is only about $40 and works with any Intel socket in the last 10 years or so and is good. Also your case could have 4 front, 1 rear, and 1 top fan, but only comes stock with 1 rear exhaust fan. Upping that to maybe 2 front inlet, and 1 rear and 1 top outlet wouldn't be a bad idea.

Your drives should be fine once they are cleared out and working correctly again. You could back your files to the storage drive, reinstall windows, then back up the storage to the main drive while you format the storage, but personally I'd feel better with another hard drive or flash drive with a 2nd copy of the files while you're doing it. A cheap 128gb flash drive is only about $10-15.

Poor air flow and slow drives need to be fixed before any upgrades are thought about because you wouldn't see any difference anyway until things are working correctly.
Thanks for telling me this, I think ill act on this. Could I ask if I am going to add more fans, would I need a better PSU?