GIGABYTE GA Z68XP-UD4 vs GTX 980 + new Ram kit and SSD

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dPske

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Jul 3, 2015
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Hi they,

First of all... im 28yrs old, like to play graphically heavy games on highest or highest possible settings , maybe in the future on 4K... but ... im a total noob in pc's... just to make that clear :p

My desktop is about 4 years (dec 2011) and would like to upgrade some components because they are getting outdated i guesse... ( no need for overclocking). I wanna try to do it myself wich i never done before...

Now about that ... i have a few questions, but first..

Some Specs:

Intel Core i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz Socket 1155 LGA 32nm Sandy Bridge
GIGABYTE Z68XP-UD4 (Socket 1155) Bios version F1 (20/05/2011)
8G DDR3 ram 1333Mhz - CAS Latency 9 ( 2 x 4G dualchannel?) got total of 4 slots wich 2 are occupied
GeForce GTX 580 gainward Phantom
OCZ-VERTEX3 ATA Device 120G SSD
Windows 7 64bit (first install)

Thats about it i think?

Now the questions..

- I would really like to upgrade my GTX 580 to a GTX 980.

    is this overkill?


    Is the GTX 980 compatible with my motherboard? ( pcie 3.0 x 16 vs pcie 2.0 x 16?)


    Do i need to update my bios? Since its a very old version (currently (passed last year?) no problems. Couple of bleu screens in the past but no serious things i guesse ? )


    There are many variants in the GTX 980 ... i was thinking of a .. MSI GeForce GTX 980 GAMING 4G. What speccs for this variant would u advise for? / maybe other card?


- Next, would u suggest to upgrade my processor to a ivy bridge? faster?

- Next, can i simply replace the old Ram sticks with new ones like to a kit of 2x8G total 1600mhz or 1866mhz and lowest possible CAS latency? wich one u suggest?

- Last thing i would like to upgrade is my SSD to a Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB . Is this a good choise?


Now the BIG question is ... is this all compatible and do i need to change things like said above : Bios update .... changing Voltages ... etc etc ? Do i need to keep things in mind and pay attention for surtain stuff or is it just plug and play :p ?

Thanks in advance and sorry if its posted in a wrong section.

Kind regards dPske



 
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Suztera

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Mar 18, 2014
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Your i7 2600k is still fine for gaming.
Your 8GB ram is still fine as well, you probably won't notice that much difference between 1333 and 1866.
The SSD is a solid choice.
The GTX 980 should still be fine with your motherboard. There is a negligible speed difference between 2.0 and 3.0 for the graphic card.
MSI GTX 980 is a good choice, there are many others that will be fine as well. Go with the one you prefer the most.
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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The only thing you need to upgrade is the video card the 980 is a good choice as would be the GTX 970 The 970 will give you more bang for the buck because the price to performance increase of the 980 is not a good value about a 40% price increase for a 20% performance increase.
On a single 1080p 60 refresh rate monitor the 970 will pretty much max out every game.
For adding more and faster memory not needed for gaming you would be spending 100 bucks for very little gain if any. Your memory could already be 1600MHz and was never set right in BIOS.
For the difference in the 2.0 and 3.0 it will be 0 until you get into the GTX980ti card the 980 on a 2.0 is just reaching the saturation point.
You could update the BIOS but if your PC is working fine right now their no reason to.
For changing to a 3770 processor again wasted money 15% performance increase for a premium price. Buy a decent aftermarket CPU cooler and overclock your processor up to around 4.2 /4.4 (very easy on those chips) and let it go.
Note in my siggy I'm still using my 2500K not because I cant afford to upgrade but because upgrading would not really get me better performance, running SLI 970's.
The SSD is up to you no real in game performance increase other than load and cut screen times.
 
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dPske

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Jul 3, 2015
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Thanks for the fast reply!

If the difference isnt THAT great ... im still doubting between the gtx 970 (399€) and the gtx 980 (599€), why i dont know, ive seen alot of revieuws and mostly good for each one. So ill have to figure out what i wanna spend on it i guesse.

For the memory i can just go to my Bios settings and cranck it up to 1600Mhz? isnt it gonna get hotter and dont i need more cooling orso? Just like the processor?
And if i "deside" to get higher ram , can i take any brand kits? like a corsair or Gskill ... or is there a list of brands that are supported for my mobo/cpu ?

Btw what values should i look for on the cpu cooler when OC the cpu to 4.2/4.4? Besides the mesurements and socket ofc. Like airflow/dB/price ratio?

Kind regards dPske
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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That's a 50% price increase for a 15 to 20% performance gain on the video card not really a good buy.
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-980-vs-GeForce-GTX-970
For the memory speed that is not what it means. Download CPU-Z click where it says SPD look at the part number and post it here that will tell us the exact memory you have then we can go from their.
What cooler you should be looking at depends on the case and memory you have.
 
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dPske

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Jul 3, 2015
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Okay and whatabout 3d/rendering programs? Like blender type's? Because i like to fool arround with those too. I also use programs like solidworks etc for designing 3d models for my cnc .

Ohh and for the cpu cooler? The case i have is a HAF 922 coolermaster
 
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