Upgrading Gaming Rig

ozb · Oct 19, 2014

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my rig. My current specs are:

CPU - AMD Phenom II x4 965 oced at 3.8Ghz
GPU - Radeon HD 5870 with a ZALMAN VF3000A cooler
PSU - Huntkey 700W
MEMORY - G.Skill TridentX 16GB (8GBx2) 1600MHz
HDD- 2TB
SSD - Neutron GTX 120gb
CPU cooler - Coolermaster V6
CHASSIS - Coolermaster HAF 922

I'm looking to upgrade my GPU, CPU and motherboard to the following:
GPU - Gigabyte R9 290 GDDR5-4GB
CPU - AMD FX-8350
MOBO - ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AMD 970 & SB950 ATX DDR3 800 AMD - AM3+

Will my powersupply/chassis/cpu cooler be compatable with this upgrade?
Any other advice is welcome.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

What's your budget for the upgrade?

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

Hello, you should be fine with the compatibility just one thing, I would not recommend the R9 290 anymore. The 970 dropped and it even more powerful and a little less expensive if you want benchmarks here are some great ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuDneh8Q3U4
I would recommend the MSI or Windforce 970.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

Windforce is a bit loud and MSI, well , I just don't like their cards. The EVGA 970 SC ACX 2.0 would be my choice.

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

I would too if it was not for the heat sink problem on the EVGA card.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

No, it's only the ACX (not 2.0) coolers that have the problem. ACX 2.0 does NOT.

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Oh sorry the 2.0 flew right over my head

(that's I get when my internet crashes) TIME TO RESEARCH!

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

THERE'S A FTW EDITION! Time to compare to the MSI one I am ordering D:

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

There is (for the 970)?

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Yup here is a review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8568/the-geforce-gtx-970-review-feat-evga/2

And here is the product on EVGA's website
http://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=04g-p4-2978-kr

Looks cool, think I am going to stick with 2 way SLI MSI 970 still, read that they OC better so water cooling those two and I could get some insane OC's. Plus insane temps

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

I don't see it on PCPartPicker, though.
What a shame I can't use that card when making builds for others...

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Such a shame D: on a side note, going to PartPicker and finding there most expensive and cheapest parts is a lot of fun! Also, random information of the day, the latest Disney movie was made on a 55,000 core supercomputer! Ok I'm done researching random computer news.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

WHAT? Impossible.

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Thats what I tought

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/18/disney-big-hero-6/

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

OK, we're getting off subject.
OP, the best GPU upgrade would be the 970:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($345.66 @ Newegg)
Total: $345.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-19 08:22 EDT-0400

Jack Poole · Oct 19, 2014

zeyuanfu :

Ok, now that I know that they fixed heat sink problems I agree with that last statement.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

They didn't fix anything on ACX 2.0, there was never a heatsink problem. It's only for ACX (the original).

ozb · Oct 19, 2014

Yea thanks, i think i should go with the 970. Are you guys suggesting i get the EVGA?

ozb · Oct 19, 2014

Could anyone recommend a slightly better mobo in the price range of $150? I will be buying these of amazon.

I was thinking of rather getting the ASRock 990FX EXTREME3 Socket AM3+ rather than the 970 Extreme3.

zeyuanfu · Oct 19, 2014

ozb :

EVGA makes the best, if not one of the best nVidia GPUs.

Upgrading Gaming Rig

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