Question Upgrade Suggestions. Older Aurora r4

[rezpo]

I have older Alienware Aurora r4 with some upgrades that I use for gaming. I don't know a whole lot about pc components so I'm just looking for suggestions on possible upgrades if any..I know the Alienware comps are not the most upgrade friendly.
Here are my current specs.
Intel i7 4820K @3.7Ghz
GTX 970sc
12GB ddr3
2TB harddrive
Intel® X79 Express Chipset

Any kind of recommendations are welcome, Thanks for your time.

 

[hang-the-9]

Upgrade for what specifically? Without a full system swap only thing worth doing it getting a faster video card, but that may not be useful at all depending on why you are trying to upgrade. Also make sure the RAM is running in dual channel mode and you don't have 3 4GB sticks.

Solid state drive to replace your old drive is a great idea also.

 

[rezpo]

I actually have 4 sticks of cosair 4gb ddr3 . I think one stick is not working because I can only get my system to read 3 sticks even when I switch around which stick is in what slot. In CPUz it says my memory in running in triple channel. is this ok? or should I use 8gb in dual channel? Im just looking to have this system run as smoothly as it can with decent fps while gaming. I'm going to get an ssd and a new gpu, Any suggestions on a GPU that would be an upgrade from my 970 but not overkill for the system and the other components. I'm currently using an HP omen 25 monitor..Ive read that the newly released gsync technology works with the monitor if you have a 10 series card.. My last question being If I got a 10 series card would I get similar performance with my current monitor as I would with say an Acer Predator Gsync monitor.

Thanks for your time

 

[hang-the-9]

I actually have 4 sticks of cosair 4gb ddr3 . I think one stick is not working because I can only get my system to read 3 sticks even when I switch around which stick is in what slot. In CPUz it says my memory in running in triple channel. is this ok? or should I use 8gb in dual channel? Im just looking to have this system run as smoothly as it can with decent fps while gaming. I'm going to get an ssd and a new gpu, Any suggestions on a GPU that would be an upgrade from my 970 but not overkill for the system and the other components. I'm currently using an HP omen 25 monitor..Ive read that the newly released gsync technology works with the monitor if you have a 10 series card.. My last question being If I got a 10 series card would I get similar performance with my current monitor as I would with say an Acer Predator Gsync monitor.

Thanks for your time

Tripple channel is fine to be on if your motherboard supports that. And the upgrade thing is not really resolved, of course you can upgrade the card and get a bit more FPS or higher setting. You need to ask if it's worth it though. If system is running fine, and you have no issues in games, upgrading just to go from 100 fps to 120 fps or go from High to Very High settings is pretty much a waste of money. If you wanted to upgrade to a higher refresh rate monitor or one with higher resolution, then looking into a faster card may be OK, but that's if you don't like what you have now.

Too many people upgrade just because there is something faster not because it will actually be anything worth spending money on. My main system is actually just about the exact same speed as yours, you even have a better CPU than me, mine is a 4th gen i5.