Community's Thoughts on Next Part(s)?

[SodaPortal]

Hello everyone!
I am trying to decide which part to buy next for my rig. So many choices!

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/SodaPortal/saved/QBMFf7

I have $200 in Amazon Gift Cards and $118 available for any store.

I do heavy gaming but I also render stuff and use CPU intensive work. Divided in my time spent on the computer:
youtube/twitch: 10
gaming on ultra high graphics: 9
skyping: 8
rendering animations and videos: 7
gaming on less intensive GPU stuff: 6
I can't think of more as of now

I was thinking of my possible choices of getting a 3770k, going SLI with another 760, getting a 1150 motherboard with a new cpu, etc.

Please tell me what you think!
Thanks

 

[SodaPortal]

Also is it possible I can SLI http://www.amazon.com/Zotac-GeForce-DisplayPort-Graphics-ZT-70402-10P/dp/B00DMUMO86/ with http://www.amazon.com/GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5-GeForce-256-bit-PCI-Express-OC-selected/dp/B00DBPKEOI ? From what I've heard, as long as they are both 760 and have the same amount of memory, it should work.

 

[uthvag]

your build is an outdated one

:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/intel-cpu-bx80646i54460) | $179.98 @ OutletPC
**Motherboard** | [ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-h97pro4) | $72.98 @ Newegg
**Memory** | [G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f32133c9d8gxl) | $64.99 @ Newegg
**Storage** | [Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/western-digital-internal-hard-drive-wd10ezex) | $51.85 @ OutletPC
**Video Card** | [EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-video-card-04gp41970kr) | $329.99 @ SuperBiiz
**Power Supply** | [XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/xfx-power-supply-p1550sxxb9) | $37.99 @ Newegg
**Operating System** | [Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit)](http://pcpartpicker.com/part/microsoft-os-wn700615) | $88.99 @ NCIX US
| | **Total**
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $826.77
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-12-25 00:43 EST-0500 |


this is mainly a gaming build

if you can spend more get these

1. a 750w psu

2. i5 4690/i7 4770k

3. another 8gb ram

4. sli your 970 if you get the better psu

 

[Karadjgne]

For $318 your choices are limited. You could move up to the 3770k, or sli gtx760 or 1150/cpu and that's it. Your current cpu is fine graphically for any rendering but a move upto an OC 3770k would definitely be an improvement. A gtx760 is fine graphically for rendering by itself, so a move upto sli will only help in some games, the 3770k will also help, in some games. Moving to 1150 would really be a lateral move, the i5-3570K / i7-3770k perform similar to their newer generation brothers, so no real help there.

So, upgrade cpu or add gpu is your 2 real choices, personally I'd wait until the gtx960 is released and see how it compares, or save up a little bit more and get a gtx970, before adding a gpu, but I would move the cpu up to the 3770k and get it oc'd as it'll have the broadest range of improvements across the board.

 

[Karadjgne]

@uthvag. Outdated? Absolutely nothing outdated about a sandy/Ivy Bridge system. Windows XP is outdated, pentium4's are outdated, The old Athlons are outdated, but by no means is sandy/Ivy outdated just because a newer model that performs similarly anyways has been released. An i7-3770k can (with a good batch) be oc'd to 5.0GHz+ with standard aio/air cooling at less than 1.4v, and will easily handle fast ram at voltages over 1.5v. Show me that on a newer Haswell i7

 

[uthvag]

not on the ocing side . i agree that haswell runs hotter .I am not from the US , but here the guys in service centers take a long time to replace anything from previous generations. (experience with my i5 2500k )

and i dont think OP is going to OC , not everyone is willing to take the risks/has it as a hobby esp. if you have a nice rig and game

the thing i mentioned was a bit outdated was this:

8gb 1333mhz ram with a gtx 760 and a corsair CX series PSU ? and that too for videoediting / rendering?

 

[SodaPortal]

@uthvag I have 16 GB 1333mhz ram, only one pair shows up and the other one is custom because I couldn't find it on PCPartPicker

 

[SodaPortal]

For $318 your choices are limited. You could move up to the 3770k, or sli gtx760 or 1150/cpu and that's it. Your current cpu is fine graphically for any rendering but a move upto an OC 3770k would definitely be an improvement. A gtx760 is fine graphically for rendering by itself, so a move upto sli will only help in some games, the 3770k will also help, in some games. Moving to 1150 would really be a lateral move, the i5-3570K / i7-3770k perform similar to their newer generation brothers, so no real help there.

So, upgrade cpu or add gpu is your 2 real choices, personally I'd wait until the gtx960 is released and see how it compares, or save up a little bit more and get a gtx970, before adding a gpu, but I would move the cpu up to the 3770k and get it oc'd as it'll have the broadest range of improvements across the board.

so you're saying getting a 3770k would be the best improvement? I definitely can spare the rest of the money to get a 970 so pretty much the final choice is to get 3770k or go with a gtx 970 and forget about SLI with 760

 

[Karadjgne]

Well that's not outdated either. A gtx 760 is still a damned good card, performance right smack dab in the middle between the high end stuff and the low. As far as ram goes, Intel cpu's run native 1333MHz or 1600MHz, so absolutely nothing wrong there either. While faster ram wouldn't hurt, its still very viable, and the differences between 1333 and 1600 is almost negligible, you are talking a few minutes on an hour long render. There are not very many programs at all that will use more than a few Gb of ram at best, even the heaviest games + Windows are hard pressed to use even 8Gb. Rendering is an exception, it can and often will use all available memory, so a move upto 16Gb of 2133 or even 2400 would help considerably there, which will work fine on an Ivy cpu as it will easily handle 1.65v ram. OC? For rendering, speed is king. Move up to a 3770k, get the speed upto 4.3-4.4 and op will cut his rendering times in half. He'll have 8 cores working at 4.3 instead of 4 working at 3.3. Huge amount of power differential. Won't do much for most games, but for some like BF4 that are optimized for multi-core cpus, its a good deal.

Corsair CX. Has its uses, but not in gaming rigs. It's a design based on older server style designs that use large 5v and 3.3v outputs, you could run dual Xeons with a CX and not break a sweat. However, newer generation cpus do not need huge 3.3 or 5v, there 12v is important, and the only way the CX makes up for its short comings there is by combining the 12v and 5v outputs. Honestly, it's a joke, a bandaid on an old design to make it viable for modern pc's without a total retool and design. The only CX worth its weight is the 430w, and only because it's a perfect match for a budget system powering a 750ti. My Seasonic 520 has better, higher 12v outputs than the CX 600 builder, really, Corsair doesn't sell anything worth a damn until you get to the HX, TXv2 and AX lines, but that doesn't make them outdated....

 

[uthvag]

@uthvag I have 16 GB 1333mhz ram, only one pair shows up and the other one is custom because I couldn't find it on PCPartPicker

still try for a higher freq if you can and if you really want to game at high settings and do 3 stuff

you better get a good card like the 970/980 ,and you need at least 4gb of vram for both gaming at high res or doing your work
(for heay duty professional work+ultra setting gaming i mean)
hope it helps

 

[uthvag]

Well that's not outdated either. A gtx 760 is still a damned good card, performance right smack dab in the middle between the high end stuff and the low. As far as ram goes, Intel cpu's run native 1333MHz or 1600MHz, so absolutely nothing wrong there either. While faster ram wouldn't hurt, its still very viable, and the differences between 1333 and 1600 is almost negligible, you are talking a few minutes on an hour long render. There are not very many programs at all that will use more than a few Gb of ram at best, even the heaviest games + Windows are hard pressed to use even 8Gb. Rendering is an exception, it can and often will use all available memory, so a move upto 16Gb of 2133 or even 2400 would help considerably there, which will work fine on an Ivy cpu as it will easily handle 1.65v ram. OC? For rendering, speed is king. Move up to a 3770k, get the speed upto 4.3-4.4 and op will cut his rendering times in half. He'll have 8 cores working at 4.3 instead of 4 working at 3.3. Huge amount of power differential. Won't do much for most games, but for some like BF4 that are optimized for multi-core cpus, its a good deal.

Corsair CX. Has its uses, but not in gaming rigs. It's a design based on older server style designs that use large 5v and 3.3v outputs, you could run dual Xeons with a CX and not break a sweat. However, newer generation cpus do not need huge 3.3 or 5v, there 12v is important, and the only way the CX makes up for its short comings there is by combining the 12v and 5v outputs. Honestly, it's a joke, a bandaid on an old design to make it viable for modern pc's without a total retool and design. The only CX worth its weight is the 430w, and only because it's a perfect match for a budget system powering a 750ti. My Seasonic 520 has better, higher 12v outputs than the CX 600 builder, really, Corsair doesn't sell anything worth a damn until you get to the HX, TXv2 and AX lines, but that doesn't make them outdated....

yes bu op want to play at ultra/high setting right? while gaming i agree that ram freq above 1333mhz doesnot make a difference

another thing is tat some ages like witcher 2 dragon age inqui and shadow of mordor already use up to 5- 6.5 GB of ram

i agree about increasing speeds and cutting down the time , but personally i wouldnot OC any new rig

PS - no offense i read your entire passage , but can you keep it a bit short?

 

[uthvag]

[reposted]...... .... ...

 

[Karadjgne]

Hah, it was a little long, wasn't it. But thats ok by me. I'm a firm believer in explanation, especially when my opinion differs from others. I could have just stated "you are a little misguided" and left it at that, but then no one learns anything. There I go again... Lol

 

[uthvag]

Hah, it was a little long, wasn't it. But thats ok by me. I'm a firm believer in explanation, especially when my opinion differs from others. I could have just stated "you are a little misguided" and left it at that, but then no one learns anything. There I go again... Lol

haha.. anyway thanks for the info!

 

[Karadjgne]

You are welcome.

 

[SodaPortal]

Ok, I have an extra $100 dollars from Christmas now. So what could I get for $418 right now?

 

[Karadjgne]

You'll have to decide just what's more important to you. The 3770k will have the broadest range of impact, helping out a little in some and considerably in other games, yet a gtx970 would definitely increase graphics much better than sli 760. So decide, then put the extra cash towards saving for the component you didn't get. Once you get the 970 and 3770k, I'd eBay the 760, and old cpu and recoup some cash back.