Possibly upgrading my heavy duty gaming PC

[squee116]

:thumbsup: Someone with realistic expectations.
(just tired of seeing "I want to spend a zillion dollars, so the PC needs to last a decade")

I'm in agreement with others. You are putting WAY too much money into a motherboard. What does paying $300 for a motherboard give you that a $150 motherboard won't? Uh, maybe a second LAN and a fixed USB Bluetooth module? Maybe support for super duper extreme fry-your-CPU overclocking? Eight extra SATA ports? Better performance? Oh wait, it won't give you that. :hmm:

Get an SSD (check hot deals, prices change daily/hourly and you can save a bundle) and a 2x8GB RAM kit. No need for super fast stuff either.

I would actually do the CPU/mobo combo first with the SSD/OS, keeping your RAM and graphics card since those are easy-swap upgrades.

I started in the "last a decade" camp... then I built two computers. I'm used to buying for AMD, where going for broke made sense. But now that I'm switching over to Intel, you, and everyone else, is absolutely right. With the sockets likely to change every generation or so, there isn't much need to buy the top dollar stuff.

In regards to the OS, and my comment earlier about Windows 8, is there a reason to not upgrade to 8? From a technical standpoint? I know lots of people gripe about the layout, which I entirely understand, but I just curious if there was a reason I shouldn't take advantage of the introductory pricing.

 

[dpodblood]

The last I had checked into it, support for Crossfire and SLI was not a guarantee on games. If it's come further, it's something I may upgrade to, but I generally prefer single card solutions for my wallet's sake. Thanks for the part recommendations. I'll keep them on my watch list.

You are right about that. In games where it works it works well, and can boost your frame-rate from 50-100%. In a lot of cases though it doesn't help at all, and can actually cause a performance drop or cause microstuttering.

The only time I would really recommend it is if you are doing one of the following:

-High resolution gaming 1440p or above.
-Eyefinity
-3D or 120Hz

 

[squee116]

You are right about that. In games where it works it works well, and can boost your frame-rate from 50-100%. In a lot of cases though it doesn't help at all, and can actually cause a performance drop or cause microstuttering.

The only time I would really recommend it is if you are doing one of the following:

-High resolution gaming 1440p or above.
-Eyefinity
-3D or 120Hz

While eyefinity and 3d interest me, I probably won't have the physical space for eyefinity until I move. But SLI and/or Crossfire make a difference for 3d? Is there one better than the other?

 

[squee116]

Just curious, looking around at some websites like Newegg reviews and such, I saw that Asrock has great features for the money, but not so much on the customer service. Is that just people being impatient or a legitimate concern?

 

[dpodblood]

While eyefinity and 3d interest me, I probably won't have the physical space for eyefinity until I move. But SLI and/or Crossfire make a difference for 3d? Is there one better than the other?

I'm not sure about the performance differences between Xfire and SLI, but for 3D yes it would make a huge difference. Every frame needs to be rendered twice from different angles in order for 3D to work. Essentially requiring twice the GPU horsepower.

 

[dpodblood]

Just curious, looking around at some websites like Newegg reviews and such, I saw that Asrock has great features for the money, but not so much on the customer service. Is that just people being impatient or a legitimate concern?

For what it's worth one of my friends has an ASrock board and had no issues with customer service during the P67/Intel SATA fiasco. Keep in mind that ASUS and ASrock are essentially the same company.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've actually been thinking about the 7870 or switching over to Nvidia. Are there any big technical advantages one has over the other?

No, not really anything important. Of course there are differences but not major ones. The HD7870 and GTX660 trade blows depending on which games you test and power consumption is roughly equal...

(today's tip: if you set powertune on the HD7870 to +20% you can get ~5% more FPS)

 

[mfenn]

Termie's part recommendations are good ones. If your current 8GB of RAM is 2x4GB, the free RAM will let you get to 16GB.

Your overall budget was stated as $940 (including OS, so let's see where that leaves us:

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 + 8GB RAM $135
Samsung 830 128GB $109
Windows 8 $100

That leaves you with $596 to spend on a CPU in GPU. If gaming is more important than rendering, you should go with:

i5 3570K $230
7970 3GB $380 AR

This is slightly over your budget, but you get 3 good, new games (FarCry 3, Hitman Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs) with the GPU.

If its the other way around, you should go with:

i7 3770K $320
7950 3GB $270 AR

Same 3 game bundle here.

 

[squee116]

Termie's part recommendations are good ones. If your current 8GB of RAM is 2x4GB, the free RAM will let you get to 16GB.

Your overall budget was stated as $940 (including OS, so let's see where that leaves us:

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 + 8GB RAM $135
Samsung 830 128GB $109
Windows 8 $100

That leaves you with $596 to spend on a CPU in GPU. If gaming is more important than rendering, you should go with:

i5 3570K $230
7970 3GB $380 AR

This is slightly over your budget, but you get 3 good, new games (FarCry 3, Hitman Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs) with the GPU.

If its the other way around, you should go with:

i7 3770K $320
7950 3GB $270 AR

Same 3 game bundle here.

My RAM is actually 4 sticks of 2GB RAM
Also, that build isn't bad at all to my eyes. I don't know if I'd splurge on the GPU up to 79xx series vs 78xx series. Something I'll have to look into >

 

[mfenn]

My RAM is actually 4 sticks of 2GB RAM

In that case, same advice applies, just ditch two of your old sticks and run with 12GB.

 

[squee116]

That's nonsense. You can mix and match as you please.

If you're really sold on updating to new standards, you may want to consider a newer case that would natively support USB 3.0, such as the Fractal Design Define R4 or Antec P280. They're also likely less noisy than your current Phantom if you care about sound levels.

I take it from your post above though, that you're not satisfied with the compiling/rendering performance of your current CPU. Have you looked at benchmarks that compare the CPU you have to Ivy Bridge and see what kind of performance gains you're looking at? Do you know whether your apps benefit from HyperThreading?

I'm looking into cases with usb 3.0 headers, and noticing a lot of them have issues with only one of the front jacks working. By the way, THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE HEADS UP! I've got the Extreme4 on order, as well as the 7950, and a copy of Windows 8 PRO. Got a lot of extras and savings with your help! I'll probably hold out on the SSD, case, and new cpu fan until I see a good sale on them. It turns out, my parents need a new pc at work, and will likely take mine, minus the psu, ram, and hdds.

 

[Zap]

In regards to the OS, and my comment earlier about Windows 8, is there a reason to not upgrade to 8? From a technical standpoint? I know lots of people gripe about the layout, which I entirely understand

Some people will always rave about what is new. Some people will always hate on changes. That's the nature of the human experience.

I think the big issue that some people face on a more technical standpoint is the issue of Media Center. Apparently Microsoft has had to pay licensing fees (for instance to Dolby Labs, I've heard DOUBLE DIGIT DOLLARS for every copy of Win7 sold just because of Media Center) for every copy of Media Center they included with the OS. Starting with Windows 8, Media Center will not be included. Media Player is still there, but will no longer play DVDs out of the box.

Just curious, looking around at some websites like Newegg reviews and such, I saw that Asrock has great features for the money, but not so much on the customer service. Is that just people being impatient or a legitimate concern?

Bolded for your pleasure.

The companies that people usually rave about for support are ones that are primarily local (for me, USA). For instance, EVGA is HQ'd in California, and users typically like the support they receive. Most motherboard manufacturers are HQ'd in Taiwan, so even if they have local offices (most have them in California) support is not the best. You have some success stories, and then you hear about "horror" stories of waiting several weeks for RMA.

 

[heroz0r]

GPU - 660 TI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127696

 

[squee116]

Some people will always rave about what is new. Some people will always hate on changes. That's the nature of the human experience.

I think the big issue that some people face on a more technical standpoint is the issue of Media Center. Apparently Microsoft has had to pay licensing fees (for instance to Dolby Labs, I've heard DOUBLE DIGIT DOLLARS for every copy of Win7 sold just because of Media Center) for every copy of Media Center they included with the OS. Starting with Windows 8, Media Center will not be included. Media Player is still there, but will no longer play DVDs out of the box.



Bolded for your pleasure.

The companies that people usually rave about for support are ones that are primarily local (for me, USA). For instance, EVGA is HQ'd in California, and users typically like the support they receive. Most motherboard manufacturers are HQ'd in Taiwan, so even if they have local offices (most have them in California) support is not the best. You have some success stories, and then you hear about "horror" stories of waiting several weeks for RMA.

Thanks much. I decided to bite the bullett on Windows 8, and see how things go. I never really used media center, so I'll just have to see how things turn out.

In regards to motherboards, that makes a whole lot of sense. I gave the Asrock a go, and with everyone's recommendations, and its price, I'm sure things will turn out alright. I'm usually okay with slow customer service as long as I get some customer service.

 

[fread2281]

Thanks much. I decided to bite the bullett on Windows 8, and see how things go. I never really used media center, so I'll just have to see how things turn out.

In regards to motherboards, that makes a whole lot of sense. I gave the Asrock a go, and with everyone's recommendations, and its price, I'm sure things will turn out alright. I'm usually okay with slow customer service as long as I get some customer service.

Go to a store and try windows 8 before you open the package.

 

[Termie]

The last I had checked into it, support for Crossfire and SLI was not a guarantee on games. If it's come further, it's something I may upgrade to, but I generally prefer single card solutions for my wallet's sake. Thanks for the part recommendations. I'll keep them on my watch list.

Just an FYI - the Samsung 830 128GB SSD is currently $70 shipped at TigerDirect: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...704&CatId=5300

This is a great deal, so if you're able to jump on it now, you should. If you can't, just look for it in this price range in the future.