[SOLVED] Need input on Upgrades/Bottlenecks

[THE__C00N]

Any input is welcome, always looking for new ideas.
I have a I7 4790k on a Asus z97-E
Gigabyte gtx 970 windforce
8gb ddr3 ram (ew I know)
I dont plan in spending the money on a new gpu at the moment if i find a deal, I would most likely grab another 970 and just run them in sli. Looking to get new ram, without getting a new gpu would the speed of ram make that big of a difference? After a ram upgrade would my new bottleneck be the single 970?
Thanks, Conner

 

[PC Tailor]

Welcome to the forums my friend!

I would most likely grab another 970 and just run them in sli.

This doesn't really yield much benefit outside of very specific applications/expectations. You're better just getting a whole new GPU. Also SLI means you'll need the appropriate power supply to deal with it too.

16GB is certainly useful in modern day applications. DDR3 speeds don't make a huge difference, DDR4 I'd argue otherwise, but in DDR3, not necessarily. Modern day applications are better at utilising faster RAM, but I'd suspect the speed in DDR3 is still up for debate. I ran low and high speeds in DDR3 and found no real noticeable difference.

Do you have HDD or SSD?

 

[THE__C00N]

Welcome to the forums my friend!


This doesn't really yield much benefit outside of very specific applications/expectations. You're better just getting a whole new GPU. Also SLI means you'll need the appropriate power supply to deal with it too.

16GB is certainly useful in modern day applications. DDR3 speeds don't make a huge difference, DDR4 I'd argue otherwise, but in DDR3, not necessarily. Modern day applications are better at utilising faster RAM, but I'd suspect the speed in DDR3 is still up for debate. I ran low and high speeds in DDR3 and found no real noticeable difference.

Do you have HDD or SSD?

Thank you for your reply, I believe I do have an adequate power supply(750w corsair). IF I was going to get a new card what would you recommend? I currently have a 2x1 tb HDD with a 500GB SSD on its way.

 

[ElectrO_90]

There is no bottleneck
Just get 16GB ram and a SSD and a decent GPU - never go SLI unless you have a decent PSU
Since the 970 is quite old, anything like a 1660ti is the way to go
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-970-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1660-Ti/2577vs4037

 

[THE__C00N]

There is no bottleneck
Just get 16GB ram and a SSD and a decent GPU - never go SLI unless you have a decent PSU
Since the 970 is quite old, anything like a 1660ti is the way to go
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-970-vs-Nvidia-GTX-1660-Ti/2577vs4037

Okay thank you, I will look around and see what I can find.

 

[geofelt]

You will win synthetic FPS benchmarks with sli, but your gaming will be better with a single good card.
dual gpu is prone to stuttering, screen tearing, and non support in an increasing number of games.
If you need more graphics power, look to sell the 970 and replace it with a stronger card.

On ram, 8gb used to be ok for gaming so long as you were not also multitasking.
I think, today, 16gb really is better.

But, if you want 16gb, consider:


Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.

If you do buy more disparate sticks, they should be the same speed, voltage and cas numbers.
Even then your chances of working are less than 100%

What is your plan "B" if the new stick/s do not work?

If you want 16gb, my suggestion is to buy a 2 x 8gb kit that matches your current specs.
Then, try adding in your old 8gb,
If it works, good; you now have extra ram.
If not, sell the old ram or keep it as a spare.

As to ram speeds, it matters little so long as you are using a discrete graphics card and not an integrated adapter.
Here is a study:
https://www.anandtech.com/show/7364/memory-scaling-on-haswell