Upgrading my Rig! Looking for some advice.

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jcg512

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Hello there!

I could probably ask this in a small amount of words, but I guess I am a wordy poster.

I'm hitting the forums because I'm looking to upgrade my gpu and have some questions. My current rig is running a 3570k with a AMD 6850. I picked up The Witcher 3 and have been looking forward to it, but have wanted to wait to play it until my gpu gets an upgrade.

The main question that I have is whether or not it is worth getting the new NVIDIA cards when I have a mother board that has a 2.0 PCI-E port. I know the new cards are 3.0 and that I could use them, but not to their fullest extent.

Is it worth investing in one of the new cards, or going for an older, but higher end, 2.0 card? I know the newer cards have processing power which, if my rig can utilize it, tempts me.

If you think I should upgrade to the new NVIDIA line should I go for a 960, or 970. Obviously I know the 970 is the better card, but is the extra power worth the money, and will the 960 be able to handle The Witcher 3 well with my rig?

If I shouldn't go to the newer cards, what is your suggestion?

Also, my motherboard is rather tiny. I don't know if it would hinder my rig's performance in anyway, but here is a link to it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157236

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! :)
 
Solution
bennyd87708
You will experience a huge upgrade from your old graphics card. PCI-E 3.0 only offers more bandwidth but in real world use like games you won't notice a difference. PCI-E 3.0 isn't fully utilized yet so you'll be fine. I recommend that you go with the 970, the extra amount of money is completely worth it for the amount of performance you receive, especially in a game like Witcher 3. I am also fairly certain there are several deals where when you buy a 970 or 980 graphics card, you get a free copy of Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight. I hope this helps! Best of luck.
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bennyd87708

bennyd87708

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You will experience a huge upgrade from your old graphics card. PCI-E 3.0 only offers more bandwidth but in real world use like games you won't notice a difference. PCI-E 3.0 isn't fully utilized yet so you'll be fine. I recommend that you go with the 970, the extra amount of money is completely worth it for the amount of performance you receive, especially in a game like Witcher 3. I am also fairly certain there are several deals where when you buy a 970 or 980 graphics card, you get a free copy of Witcher 3 and Batman Arkham Knight. I hope this helps! Best of luck.
 
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drtoast

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for the purpose of pcie, i dont yet think there are cards that fully saturate the bus, one of the radeons may be the exception? a full speed 2.0 x 16 slot is fine for a 960 or 970.

regards which one, the 970 maxes it out all settings ultra at 40-45fps. the 960 will be less so, maybe 30fps? or lower settings to run it at 60 fps.

it should fit the board unless your have a massive cooler/heatsink. however as its an mAtx board, can i assume you have a mAtx case? in which case you may not be able to fit it. the biggest 970 is some 31.5cm long 13 wide, and requires two expansion ports on the back of your case. Break out your measureing tape ;)
 
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bennyd87708

bennyd87708

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If he does end up having a mini itx case, he can just get gigabyte's mini GTX 970 - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1096665&gclid=Cj0KEQjw4fCqBRDM1ZKhk5jfo6IBEiQAZQ97OF1vfRRd5yte6Oc6WmwPtzam5RpuLznxdVnsVwoPdKMaAv3Y8P8HAQ&Q=&is=REG&A=details
 
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jcg512

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No sir, I'm rocking this case here which I think should have plenty of room: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112154


Also, thanks for the suggestions guys! I'm definitely leaning towards the 970. It's a lot of money, but I feel like if I get it I won't have to worry about upgrading for a long time.

How is the 3570k standing up to the mighty TW3? Will I have any issues there?
 
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bennyd87708

bennyd87708

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Excuse me, but what is a TW3?
 
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