Souping up my PC-Suggestions

xerxesaria · Dec 1, 2013

Hi. I built a gaming PC last year and want to soup it up even further to get maximum performance out of what I built. Any suggestions would be appreciated: (I had invested in a couple of different SSD's, but returned them because of small storage and too much baby sitting at the time, so I know they are good, but I will opt out of those for now):

- Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
- Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Socket LGA1155, 3.4Ghz, 6MB L3 Cache
- Gigabyte (NVIDIA) GeForce GTX 660 OC,integrated with the first 2048MB GDDR5 memory and 192-bit memory interface
- Corsair GS Series GS700 — 80 PLUS® Bronze Certified Power Supply
- Vengeance 8GB (2X4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit (CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B)
- WD VelociRaptor (WD2500HHTZ) 250GB SATA 6Gb/s 10000RPM 64MB
- WD Black 2TB HDD
- Windows 7 Home Premium

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

xerxesaria :

Do you mean more FPS?
If so then get a new graphics card since thats the weak point of your system.
Do you have a budget?

Tyk3 · Dec 1, 2013

The only further sensible upgrade i can suggest to you is buying a good Aftermarket cooler for CPU. Air or closed Water Cooled. other than that nothing else. Your machine is Very powerful as it is why do you want to spend more money on it? save it, for future upgrades when you actually need them. You can't get any more performance out of this in any way by upgrading anything. It is already maxed out for the components that are there inside it.

GPU can be upgrade to an even better performing one, Like GTX 780Ti or Titan, but it would be a waste of money. GTX 660 can run every game currently available maxed out at good frame rates on 1920 x 1080p reso. So Upgrading graphic card won't give you any performance boost that you will be able to see.

Another Sensible Upgrade is SSD. Which will give you massive boost in hard disk speed. But that won't make any difference in gaming performance as your mechanical drives are top notch. Loading times must already be very low on your system. So if i were you i won't even invest in that.

Add a WIFI PCI card to your PC if you just want to spend some bucks and improve its specs on paper. That's something you can really use in many different ways, it will reduce some cable clutter around your desk as well.

If you just want to make it look cool, try modding the case with LED lights, or more fans for better airflow. Other cool looking option can be an external Fan Controller Like NZXT sentry. they look really cool on a PC. Google for them.

RazerZ · Dec 1, 2013

If you really want good performance then get a Noctua DH-14 to overclock your cpu.

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

RazerZ :

Getting a better gpu would give more performance than overclocking the cpu.
Oc'ing it will add a few fps but not that much.

RazerZ · Dec 1, 2013

diazalon :

True but the only noticeable step up would be GTX 780 and thats around $330

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

RazerZ :

diazalon :

True but the only noticeable step up would be GTX 780 and thats around $330

Well even a 760 would be a step up for about $240

Tyk3 · Dec 1, 2013

Is GTX 660 not enough for whatever games are there today? or for that matter another year, why does he needs to spend money pointlessly if all he does is game at 1080p...

Lets say that he is getting 60 FPS on a game with GTX 660, and with a 780 he starts getting 100FPS (although i doubt it.), what does that increase in number means in real world. NOTHING.

He was getting a slick smooth game play before upgrade. He will get the same smooth game play post upgrade. He just spent another 200-300 dollars for nothing. It is not like characters from games will come out of monitor and start doing things in real world.

Cooling upgrades will at least increase longevity of his devices, and maybe he can go into overclocking in future when he will need it. I doubt adding a 780 today will make it any more future proof, better spend that money in future on some card of that gen. Use 660 until it doesn't starts falling back than games requirements.

RazerZ · Dec 1, 2013

diazalon :

RazerZ :

Well even a 760 would be a step up for about $240

But they're almost identical, maybe a 5% difference so I don't see a reason to upgrade.

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

RazerZ :

diazalon :

But they're almost identical, maybe a 5% difference so I don't see a reason to upgrade.

Not true at all:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7103/nvidia-geforce-gtx-760-review/10
If you said that about the gtx670 i would agree.

RazerZ · Dec 1, 2013

diazalon :

RazerZ :

Not true at all:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7103/nvidia-geforce-gtx-760-review/10
If you said that about the gtx670 i would agree.

That's just one game though, here's a more accurate comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/783?vs=854

I think the next card you should upgrade to is either a 79xx series r9 290x or a gtx 780. Those are all over $300 each so I would wait till one of them goes on special.

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

RazerZ :

diazalon :

That's just one game though, here's a more accurate comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/783?vs=854

I think the next card you should upgrade to is either a 79xx series r9 290x or a gtx 780. Those are all over $300 each so I would wait till one of them goes on special.

I agree but thats still not %5

RazerZ · Dec 1, 2013

diazalon :

RazerZ :

diazalon :

That's just one game though, here's a more accurate comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/783?vs=854

I think the next card you should upgrade to is either a 79xx series r9 290x or a gtx 780. Those are all over $300 each so I would wait till one of them goes on special.

I agree but thats still not %5

Yea I was just saying that to get my point across to only upgrade if there is a great improvement.

xerxesaria · Dec 1, 2013

diazalon :

xerxesaria :

Do you mean more FPS?
If so then get a new graphics card since thats the weak point of your system.
Do you have a budget?

I meant speed more than FPS. I don't think I can afford something like GTX770 etc atm. So something that would boost speed.

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

xerxesaria :

diazalon :

I meant speed more than FPS. I don't think I can afford something like GTX770 etc atm. So something that would boost speed.

So not fps.
Speed as in loading times?
Get an SSD to make booting and loading times a lot less.
Something like a Samsung 840 EVO 120/250gb

xerxesaria · Dec 1, 2013

Thanks everyone for your kind suggestions. I am now even more proud of my system, though I can see there may be things I can do to enhance it's performance, though not even close to 10% more.
My goal was to find out if I can get an even speedier response. So would adding RAM be overkill?...
Would that help if I want to overclock?
My concern comes for example from when I am dual/triple monitoring, and start to game (for ex. Lara Croft) and get a message pop up from Windows something like:
"change windows color scheme"....I think it means that my GPU is running low on resources. I want to get an extra ummmpf from it so that I can run dual/triple monitor and run my game smoothly without the Windows warning popping up.

Thanks again everyone......

xerxesaria · Dec 1, 2013

diazalon :

xerxesaria :

So not fps.
Speed as in loading times?
Get an SSD to make booting and loading times a lot less.
Something like a Samsung 840 EVO 120/250gb

Thank you. I did have two SSDs at one point, but it required too much baby sitting..but if you read my answer at the end of this thread, you will know what I mean. I have explained it further. Thanks again

diazalon · Dec 1, 2013

xerxesaria :

For 3 screen gaming at high settings you want a new gpu like a GTX 770 or 780 or AMD R9 290/290x
More ram would not help.
Oc'ing the cpu, new gpu and an ssd would make it alot faster in loading times and fps

Souping up my PC-Suggestions

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