970/980 or 960?

[khrystiano]

Hi I was thinking to upgrade my system (I asked for help on this forum a few weeks ago about getting a 960) and I would like to run the actual games (like The Witcher 3, GTA V, Fallout 4 and the games that will come this year) at 60 fps on ultra or maybe high settings, I'm actually playing at 768p but in the future surely I will upgrade to 1080p so I would like to buy a card for the next years since my budget is limited...

Here is my actual config:

i5-3330 @ 3,40ghz
Gigabyte GA-z77-DS3H
8GBs DDR3
HD 5850 Xtreme 1GB
PSU Cooler Master e600 600w

So, mi budged is about 500$ and I was looking for a new card + a cheap pa case (since my case is too small and its practically destroyed) + one 4gb ram module, because I've got 3 modules (4+2+2) running at 1333 and the 4 ram module originally runs at 1600...

What do you think? can someone help me?

Greetings

 

[tweakboy]

With that CPU go with the worst or slowest of the bunch.


grab a 460 GTX or 470 GTX

 

[ShintaiDK]

If you upgrade now, the GTX970. No need to spend 500$ (Unless you are Canadian )

 

[Techhog]

When you say that you'll upgrade your monitor "in the future," how far into the future are you thinking? If it's going to be a while, wait for Polaris and Pascal before upgrading.

 

[khrystiano]

Im from Europe so I'm with 500€ bugdet...

 

[DownTheSky]

+1 for the 970 and you'll have money left for the monitor.

 

[Charlie98]

Without getting too far into it, don't bother with a GTX960 if you are planning on gaming... step up to the 970 (at a minimum.)

I would probably try to find a reasonable match for your single 4GB stick of RAM (manufacturer and timings, etc) and sell off those 2x 2GB sticks.

If it's at all possible, perhaps find a used 3570K, or even a 2500K (both socket 1155) and upgrade the CPU, add an aftermarket air cooler (CoolerMaster 212 Evo, etc) and overclock it a bit.

As far as a case, something cheap and simple will do...

 

[khrystiano]

Oh, why do you recommend me to change my CPU? would bottleneck the 970, right?

 

[ShintaiDK]

No need to change CPU at all.

 

[khrystiano]

Oh, can I oc it?

 

[poofyhairguy]

That CPU is a really good match for a GTX 970 actually. You might have to turn down a grass or sunray setting or two but it will still be far beyond a console experience.

 

[Charlie98]

Oh, can I oc it?

That was my thought, anyway. With a K-chip, you can probably get to 4.0-4.1GHz without problems and extend the usability of your system. You have a Z77 board, might as well use it.

That CPU is a really good match for a GTX 970 actually.

i5 and GTX970 go together like macaroni and cheese...

 

[khrystiano]

Hi.. the CPU Multiplier only let me reach 34 (3,4) if I go try to increase the ratio in resets to 30 (3,0)... so, its that the limit?

Anyway, a friend is offering me to change my board and cpu for free for a Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 and AMD FX 8350 8-Core, what do you think? for games.. its a good change?

 

[ShintaiDK]

Hi.. the CPU Multiplier only let me reach 34 (3,4) if I go try to increase the ratio in resets to 30 (3,0)... so, its that the limit?

Anyway, a friend is offering me to change my board and cpu for free for a Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 and AMD FX 8350 8-Core, what do you think? for games.. its a good change?

For your "friend", not for you

 

[khrystiano]

Uhmm.. so I'd lose with the trade, right?

 

[Techhog]

Hi.. the CPU Multiplier only let me reach 34 (3,4) if I go try to increase the ratio in resets to 30 (3,0)... so, its that the limit?

Anyway, a friend is offering me to change my board and cpu for free for a Asus M5A97 EVO R2.0 and AMD FX 8350 8-Core, what do you think? for games.. its a good change?

It would be a tossup depending on the game, but a downgrade in most cases unless it overclocked to something like 5GHz. Just keep what you have for now and possibly save for an i7 3770K later.


By the way, Shantai is trying to insinuate that you friend is attempting to scam you. That's partially due to bias, but either way you should make sure to get a second opinion from any offers from them if you think they may have known that they would benefit more from the trade. They probably didn't though and just compared the numbers.

 

[MeldarthX]

where in Europe?? UK pretty much agreed 390 over 970 now....i3 very rarely beats 8350 at 4.5 ghz......but you should be able to get it up to 4ghz which helps.

Also what res will you be gaming at......390 at 1080p is a wash with 970 but going to 1440p 390 is faster.

we also have to consider how they will age; Nvidia's shown without a doubt they will thrown their older cards under the bus - see 700 series where they compare to 7000 series from AMD...

Along with false advertising of the 970 having full 4 gigs of memory; its 3.5 fast and .5 of slow.....while doesn't really effect at 1080p *some have show it has in a very rare occasion* moving up to 1440p it does have an effect.

just food for thought. 980 is expensive and with nano moving down in price no reason to get 980......

390 usually can be found cheaper than 970 and has taken over price/performance crown from 970....that's the card I'd go with is 390

 

[Jacky60]

I would keep what you have an d upgrade CPU to 3770k used or try and pick up used 980ti 390x when nvidia released pascal or AMD release polaris.
Don't get the 8350 its OK but not great.

 

[Charlie98]

Hi.. the CPU Multiplier only let me reach 34 (3,4) if I go try to increase the ratio in resets to 30 (3,0)... so, its that the limit?

No, even though you have a Z77 board, your CPU is not an unlocked 'K' chip... and you won't be able to OC it. Again, that's why I suggested a 3570K or 2500K CPU replacement (or, as someone else suggested, an i7 K-chip variant... which would be more expensive.) Your current CPU is a decent chip, don't get me wrong... but an upgrade to a K chip would be even better, and would carry your system a bit further. I'm still gaming on my OC'ed 2500K rig... I haven't found any reason to upgrade it.

Uhmm.. so I'd lose with the trade, right?

I think so, too.

 

[cytg111]

with next gen cards ~6 mothns away +/- I would not invest in card today, next gen cards will not only be the first node shrink in a long while (so its reasonable to expect something more than a miniscule iterative improvement) but they will also feature some level of HBM .. and lots of it.. 16-32GB IIRC.
Point beeing, shell out the cash now and go *doh* in half a years time.

 

[Techhog]

with next gen cards ~6 mothns away +/- I would not invest in card today, next gen cards will not only be the first node shrink in a long while (so its reasonable to expect something more than a miniscule iterative improvement) but they will also feature some level of HBM .. and lots of it.. 16-32GB IIRC.
Point beeing, shell out the cash now and go *doh* in half a years time.

There won't be HBM2 on any cards releasing within 6 months. September-October is when you can expect those.

 

[cytg111]

I stand corrected.

Would still wait.

 

[RussianSensation]

Im from Europe so I'm with 500€ bugdet...

Please list the price of the following cards:

GTX960 4GB
GTX970
GTX980
GTX980Ti

R9 380X
R9 290
R9 290X
R9 390
R9 390X
AMD Fury/Nano/Fury X

Otherwise, we are just guessing.

Also, when are you planning to upgrade your monitor to a 1080p one?

 

[Shmee]

As mentioned, may want to ebay a 3770k. Would be a good CPU upgrade. Also, consider something like a 290/290 or 970, or wait for the next gen GPUs.

 

[showb1z]

390 and 970 cost the same here, €310-€350. Prices haven't moved an inch since release. It's pretty sad really.

I wouldn't bother upgrading your GPU as long as you haven't upgraded to at least 1080p.