What to upgrade if needed? ( Bottlenecks? )

Kaluditz · Jul 13, 2013

I am thinking of that I could upgrade my PC, but I am not sure if something will be bottlenecking then :3. Purpose is gaming and maybe use Fraps to capture some footage

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
PSU: XFXPRO550W
CPU: I5-2320 @ 3.0 to 3.3Ghz
GPU: Radeon HD 7870 Gigabyte OC @ 1100Mhz/4800Mhz
RAM: 3x ADATA 4GB 2RX8 PC3-10600U-999 @ 1333Mhz
HDD: WD Caviar Blue WD10EALX @ 7200RPM, SATA 6GB/s ( 1TB )
Board: P8h67m - Pro

If I forgot something or you want more information please ask and I will tell you!

spentshells · Jul 13, 2013

use two chips of ram not 3

Kaluditz · Jul 13, 2013

spentshells :

How does that affect to my performance?
Ain't more RAM better?
Is the 1333Mhz fast enough for future games?

spentshells · Jul 13, 2013

Dual channel vs single channel gives you more memory bandwith.

1333mhz ram will do for now I would ask you to try to oc the ram but adata is not known for good overclocking

Kaluditz · Jul 13, 2013

spentshells :

So you would recommend to use 8GB RAM instead of 12GB in my situation?
Does this really make a difference?

And my other question is that should I upgrade my GPU? I am looking to buy the BF4 ( I have BF3 ) and play it on HIGH at 60fps. I can play BF3 on HIGH Vsync on at stable 50-60fps. So does my rig have a bottleneck if I upgrade my GPU?

game junky · Jul 13, 2013

8GB is more than enough for gaming as long as you don't have a crap load of background tasks running and dual channel does make a difference. I have 16GB @ 1600MHZ in my rig and have never seen it go above 6GB even when playing music while playing Battlefield - I only went with 16GB because RAM was crazy cheap at the time.

That 7870 is a good card, but it doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room for BF4 on high/ultra. I think the 7970 is overpriced so if you want to stay on AMD's platform you are going to be stuck, pay too much for the 7970s or have to wait for the 8000 series to release which hasn't been finalized yet. If you go to the Nvidia side of the fence, a 770 should be able to get the job done but price is still a little high.

I would recommend upgrading the PSU so that you can have the option to crossfire or SLI. 750W is probably the lowest I would go with a new build unless you are getting a dual-GPU card that you don't want to X-fire or SLI w/ down the road.

I am a huge SSD fan because it makes load times seem instanteous but if you're a media nut like me you have to constantly offload your encoded files to a secondary HDD. I use a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro with a 3TB 7.2K Seagate HDD - it's pretty beast.

Also might be worth installing a CPU cooler if you want to try to get a little extra muscle out of your processor with overclocking. I have left my CPU at stock settings but that is just because I fried a couple in the past and hate the headache of being down for a couple of days while you wait for a replacement.

Kaluditz · Jul 13, 2013

game junky :

8GB is more than enough for gaming as long as you don't have a crap load of background tasks running and dual channel does make a difference. I have 16GB @ 1600MHZ in my rig and have never seen it go above 6GB even when playing music while playing Battlefield - I only went with 16GB because RAM was crazy cheap at the time.

That 7870 is a good card, but it doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room for BF4 on high/ultra. I think the 7970 is overpriced so if you want to stay on AMD's platform you are going to be stuck, pay too much for the 7970s or have to wait for the 8000 series to release which hasn't been finalized yet. If you go to the Nvidia side of the fence, a 770 should be able to get the job done but price is still a little high.

I would recommend upgrading the PSU so that you can have the option to crossfire or SLI. 750W is probably the lowest I would go with a new build unless you are getting a dual-GPU card that you don't want to X-fire or SLI w/ down the road.

I am a huge SSD fan because it makes load times seem instanteous but if you're a media nut like me you have to constantly offload your encoded files to a secondary HDD. I use a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro with a 3TB 7.2K Seagate HDD - it's pretty beast.

Also might be worth installing a CPU cooler if you want to try to get a little extra muscle out of your processor with overclocking. I have left my CPU at stock settings but that is just because I fried a couple in the past and hate the headache of being down for a couple of days while you wait for a replacement.

Thanks for your answer! I will stick to the 7870 untill prices drop or something.
I don't have an SSD but my HDD has C: (372GB) and D: (544GB)
I don't think i need an SSD, I have done well with my HDD, just maybe need a little more space

One more thing is: If I bought a lets say 770 or 7970 would there be a bottleneck?

spentshells · Jul 13, 2013

Nothing wrong with the 7870

Kaluditz · Jul 13, 2013

Will there be a bottleneck if I buy a 770 or a 780 or a 7970??

game junky · Jul 13, 2013

SSD isn't a make or break thing, I just personally wouldn't build without one having seen the difference in day to day load speeds.

Your CPU will be the bottleneck regardless of which of the recommended cards you select - it's not a bad processor, it will just become the weakest component in your system. Shouldn't be an issue until you try for max settings on some of the more demanding games.

I am a firm believer in spend it once so you appreciate your gaming experience, but that's just me. There is nothing wrong with continually upgrading your setup, it just gets expensive chasing the newest technology.

My 8150 & my 660 are taking care of business - am I playing at max settings with all textures and additional graphical features enabled, no. I am getting to play with high settings without any struggles and that is all I wanted.

Just draw your line in the sand as far as what you're willing to pay for your setup and what you want to accomplish and then adjust until those 2 goals match up. BF4 isn't going to be dramatically more demanding than BF3 - AA & Motionblur will play a factor and some of the textures look cleaner which will require a good GPU to keep up with.

Kaluditz · Jul 13, 2013

game junky :

SSD isn't a make or break thing, I just personally wouldn't build without one having seen the difference in day to day load speeds.

Your CPU will be the bottleneck regardless of which of the recommended cards you select - it's not a bad processor, it will just become the weakest component in your system. Shouldn't be an issue until you try for max settings on some of the more demanding games.

I am a firm believer in spend it once so you appreciate your gaming experience, but that's just me. There is nothing wrong with continually upgrading your setup, it just gets expensive chasing the newest technology.

My 8150 & my 660 are taking care of business - am I playing at max settings with all textures and additional graphical features enabled, no. I am getting to play with high settings without any struggles and that is all I wanted.

Just draw your line in the sand as far as what you're willing to pay for your setup and what you want to accomplish and then adjust until those 2 goals match up. BF4 isn't going to be dramatically more demanding than BF3 - AA & Motionblur will play a factor and some of the textures look cleaner which will require a good GPU to keep up with.

That's what I wanted to hear!

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What to upgrade if needed? ( Bottlenecks? )

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