system upgrade to remove bottleneck help

[scyllanick]

Hi
I currently have the below setup (originally built in 2011 plus a couple upgrades her and there)

- Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit)
- Intel i7 2600K @ 3.40 GHz (Sandy Bridge 32nm) with Coolermaster 612 heatsink and fan
- Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 (Socket 1155) Motherboard
- 8GB Dual-Channel RAM DDR3 @ 407MHz (6-6-6-15)
- A few SATA drives (Newish) no SSD's
- Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 (Don't recall exact version. I think it was an OC version)
- Corsair RM850w Modular PSU
- 3 X BenQ XL2420Z (144hz) monitors

I have been a bit disappointed with the graphic performance. I have it hooked up to a racing sim rig and I am getting terrible results when trying to play in triple screen setup.
I have heard good things about the GTX 970 (the 980 had quite a premium price tag on it where I am when i was buying) but so far I am not able to exploit it.
Is it the rest of my system causing a huge bottleneck?

I am now building a new PC with the following specs:
- Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit)
- Intel i7 7700K (Socket 1151) with Coolermaster 212 heatsink and fan (apparantly slightly more efficient than the 612 despite being smaller)
- Gigabyte Z270X Gaming 7 Motherboard
- 2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance LED DDR4 - 3200MHz RAM (16GB)
- Corsair 120GB SSD (OS and system applications)
- Samsung 500GB 850EVO (Game installaions)
- Corsair RM1000x or HXi1000 1000w PSU
- using the GTX970 in this rig.

A couple of things: I chose these brands as they are easy to come by here in South Africa and I get them at a very good price compared to MSI and Zotec etc Also, I have NEVER had a failure with a Gigabyte so I don't feel the need to change. Same with the coolermaster/Corsair. Brands like Noctua are not easy to come by here and the after sales on my chosen products is very good. So please don't tell me to go for other brands, I am limited by what is available.

What I would like to know is the following:
Will I now see significant improvements with graphic output? I was going to also install a GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming but after splashing out on the rest of the components I would rather wait a while and hope that the price of the card drops a bit. It is still very pricey here and the availability is also limited. plus my 970 is only about 18 months old.

I also want to ask about the PSU. Is 1000w overkill? will say, 850w do just as well? and is it worth paying extra for the HXi over the RM? I will do a small amount of overclocking down the line, but only a smidge above standard, nothing too crazy.

Finally, since this PC will be exclusively for gaming, should I stick with Windows 7 or go over to Windows 10? I know the Dx12 argument but otherwise? will I get better performance from my components? One other upside is that I get to experiment with Windows 10 on a non critical PC instead of rocking the boat with my main PC.

Thanks a bunch guys, I hope you can enlighten me.

 

[ExaltedNik]

This will most definitely remove any bottlenecks you may have had. 1000w is definitely overkill. Even the 850w is too much. You will not even come near that. I recommend a 700w if you are determined to have a lot of power capability. Even though 700 will still be much more than you need. Windows 7 will lose support completely coming in the next 3-4 years. As of now it is just your preference. I myself prefer Windows 7, but if you have not tried Windows 10, who knows, you might love it. Hope this cleared up some things for you!

 

[Dan28453]

get a 1700x fam, and a corsair ax850i :c

 

[ExaltedNik]

Do not listen to the AMD fanboy, the 7700k benchmarks significantly higher than the 1700x

 

[Lucky_SLS]

the 970 is fine for a single monitor gaming. for a triple monitor one, i would recommend getting another 970 and SLI it. ur old RM850W can handle the new rig with 2 970s.
if suppose u can fit 2 970 in ur case, sell the 970 and get a 1080/1080ti[if u have the cash] like the gigabyte g1 gaming. u still dont need a new PSU.

 

[scyllanick]

This will most definitely remove any bottlenecks you may have had. 1000w is definitely overkill. Even the 850w is too much. You will not even come near that. I recommend a 700w if you are determined to have a lot of power capability. Even though 700 will still be much more than you need. Windows 7 will lose support completely coming in the next 3-4 years. As of now it is just your preference. I myself prefer Windows 7, but if you have not tried Windows 10, who knows, you might love it. Hope this cleared up some things for you!

Thanks for the feedback. I know the 1000w is overkill but the price difference is so slight so I would rather just have it up my sleeve should I ever need it. I also plan to add a few other accessories at a later date that will go on the Sim rig and I don't know their power requirements so at least that will be one less thing to worry about.
I agree with the Win7 losing support in a few years which is why I thought this may be a good time to try it out without affecting my day to day computing. even if I don't like it straight away, this will give me some time to get used to it a bit so that when MS pull the plug on Win7, I am not caught with my pants down😉

 

[scyllanick]

the 970 is fine for a single monitor gaming. for a triple monitor one, i would recommend getting another 970 and SLI it. ur old RM850W can handle the new rig with 2 970s.
if suppose u can fit 2 970 in ur case, sell the 970 and get a 1080/1080ti[if u have the cash] like the gigabyte g1 gaming. u still dont need a new PSU.

Thanks for the info. I considered a second 970 but am unable to get a new one and I don't really like the idea of a used one since I cant be sure of what it has been through. They are also still fetching quite high prices second hand. I think I will stick to my single 970 for now and when the price comes down on the 1080 Xtreme edition (G1 only slightly cheaper here) I will sell my 970 and get that. from what I have seen the Xtreme is only slightly more powerful (a couple fps) than the G1 but it does run quite a few degrees cooler which I like.

 

[scyllanick]

get a 1700x fam, and a corsair ax850i :c

I have always used Intel and tbh I don't have a lot of knowledge on AMD products, possibly to my detriment. I have always been happy with Intel and never had any failures. I am quite big on "if it aint broke, don't fix it!"
With respect to AMD and their supporters I am sure they are extremely good bits of kit (and almost certainly cheaper than Intel), I am just not all that clued up on them.

 

[scyllanick]

Do not listen to the AMD fanboy, the 7700k benchmarks significantly higher than the 1700x

Thanks for saving me having to look it up 😉

 

[Dan28453]

Do not listen to the AMD fanboy, the 7700k benchmarks significantly higher than the 1700x

Thanks for saving me having to look it up 😉

 

[Dan28453]

"significantly"