Upgrade Assistance on my Current PC

[tomwestwood1]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently looking to upgrade my PC and whilst i have a general idea of what i would like to do, i'm kinda (1) surrounded by endless possibilities and (2) massively out of my comfort zone. So i was really hoping that someone could set me on the right tracks and probably even tell me how stupid i am for any particular reason.

My specs are:

1 TB Seagate SATA-III HDD 7200 RPM 64MB
Asus M5A99X EVO R2
Cooler Master GX Lite 700W PSU
AMD FX 8350
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770
16 GB 1600MHz
NZXT Phantom 410

I would really like to upgrade my graphics card, preferably to a MSI GTX 780Ti and i would also like to add a 250G SSD. Although i have to admit i don't know if my PSU would support this or even if i should just upgrade something else entirely. Any thoughts, ideas or recommendations would make my life gravy.
My main uses are everyday and gaming, i also have a single monitor set up only. All in all my price range is about £600-700 for this upgrade although i can do more if necessary.

Many thanks.

 

[Onus]

First of all, your system is fairly strong as is, so I'm curious as to what doesn't run as well as you'd like. Unless you're planning a 4K monitor, or to game across three monitors, your graphics card is sufficient.
You will probably want to overclock your CPU. I would recommend a 140mm tower-style air cooler, such as a model from Noctua or Phanteks. I would not use liquid cooling because a lot of the stress your CPU will create when overclocked is on your motherboard's VRMs, which won't be cooled very well unless you stick to air.
At some point, sooner rather than later, you'll also want to replace your PSU. The lower end models from that company are overrated, and tend to fail competent technical reviews. Some are missing claimed protection circuits, although I've not seen a review of your specific model; I would not trust it. If you do indeed plan to overclock, a 650W Seasonic or XFX (made by Seasonic) would be excellent choices.
The SSD would be an excellent upgrade; the only one that seems "obvious" to me. For any others, we'll need to know more about what you're wanting to do.

 

[tomwestwood1]

Thank you so much! Generally i would like to run a dual monitor set up and my main reasons for wanting to upgrade my GPU is i want to think more for future gaming, just to add some longevity. Whilst it's a reasonably strong card that can hold its own i would really like to push settings in things like AC4 and Watchdogs, when its released.

 

[Onus]

Well, before upgrading your graphics card, definitely replace the PSU. For a single card, 650W is enough, even if you overclock.

 

[tomwestwood1]

Well, before upgrading your graphics card, definitely replace the PSU. For a single card, 650W is enough, even if you overclock.

Thanks again, from your advice i'm going to purchase the Noctua NH-D14, which looks unreal. It just about fits in my case with around 1cm to spare, although i'm unsure of if my RAM will fit, from general pictures it looks as though it might be a struggle. I have 2x 8G of some brand i'm unsure of...

Also, with regards to the PSU, what type of difference will it make? I haven't identified any problems with my current one and the reviews that i've read suggest its one of the better mark ups. I was just wondering if its a necessity for any subsequent upgrades. You've got me very concerned and cautious of it!!

 

[Onus]

I had not read reviews of the specific model until I found this: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviewdb/PSUs/Cooler-Master/
...which gives you the opportunity to peruse many reviews of this company's products. As you can see, most are dismal, although it must be fairly noted that their new V-series is made by Seasonic, and is good. I found only one pseudo-review of your model, and it omitted proper load testing and oscilloscope readings, so I'd consider it useless.
I doubt the GX Lite is the company's worst (considering how bad some of their other products are). I suspect it is probably not a half-bad 600W PSU, but may not properly hold to in-spec voltages under heavy load. It isn't the sort of junk you'll find from a Diablotek or Apevia, likely to kill your system when it dies. Since the long term health and stability of a system are dependent on clean power though, if you anticipate a load near this one's limits, I'd suggest something better. You might use it, but be mindful of the temperature of its exhaust, and if your system is not rock-solid stable, power would be one thing to suspect early.