Upgrading my first build. Various questions

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zarbowski

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Sep 12, 2013
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10,510
Dear Tom,

My current system is made up of:
- Corsair cx750 bronze PSU
- Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W)
- Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler
- Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Microsoft Windows 8 64-Bit DVD - OEM (WN7-00403)
- Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU)
- HIS HD 7950 IceQ BOOST 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (H795QC3G2M) **Voltage Unlocked**
- Samsung 256GB SSD 840 PRO SATA 6Gb/s Basic - (MZ-7PD256BW)
- couple of sata hds

I am thinking of the following upgrade:
1) another set of Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz
2) another HIS HD 7950 to run in crossfire

The reasons for me wanting this upgrade are:
1) Slowly starting to feel like I could do with a bit more under the hood.
2) I don't think more ram will give me more than a 3-5% FPS upgrade, but in the future, games will require more ram, and if I do not buy now I probably will not find the exact same ram set in the future (hence need to replace it all).
3) I think spending £200 on getting a 60-70% upgrade from x-fire is more effective than what i get from replacing my gpu whilst staying in the same ball park budget range, Also, I want to try tinkering with crossfire technology (for the fun of it).

My questions to the board are:
1) Do I need more ram for gaming, does my reason for getting ram now make sense?
2) Would you bother X-fire rather than simply upping the card?
3) Re PSU:
- Can you confirm that my PSU will take the load?
- Also, it is meant to be x-fire ready (says so on the box), is that enough for me to assume it has sufficient cables? Does this PSU physically have enough cables? (it is not modular).
4) Re x-fire:
- HIS HD 7950 seems to take up a lot of space and though it connects to one slot, it blocks the other. I am worried about whether two HIS HD 7950s physically fit on the board. Am I being overly cautious? can I assume they fit because the board is x-fire ready.
- I am having trouble finding the 7950 from HIS. Would another brand of 7950 (e.g sapphire) do provided they have same ram?

I put the rig together myself after loads of research. But its been two years ago now and well...easy come easy go!

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Michael
 
Solution
geofelt
To answer your questions:
1. You likely do not need more ram. Adding ram is iffy from a compatibility point of view.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.
Although, I think the problem has lessened with the newer Intel chipsets. Still,
it is safer to get what you need in one kit.
If you ever need 16gb, buy a 16gb kit of 2 x 8gb.
2. No. A single stronger card is preferable if it will do the job.
You avoid dual gpu issues such...
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geofelt

geofelt

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Oct 9, 2006
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To answer your questions:
1. You likely do not need more ram. Adding ram is iffy from a compatibility point of view.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.
Although, I think the problem has lessened with the newer Intel chipsets. Still,
it is safer to get what you need in one kit.
If you ever need 16gb, buy a 16gb kit of 2 x 8gb.
2. No. A single stronger card is preferable if it will do the job.
You avoid dual gpu issues such as stuttering, screen tearing and performance inconsistencies. Plus, some games are supported poorly or not at all.
3. In theory, 750w would be ok. But Corsair CX is only middling quality. It does have sufficient power leads for 2 cf 7950 cards
4. The X16 slots are sufficiently separated. One issue will be case cooling since the top card tends to get starved for fresh air.
I think two similar 7950 cards should work.

I would sell the 7950 and buy a more modern card like a GTX970 or GTX980.
 
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Solution
Z

zarbowski

Honorable
Sep 12, 2013
10
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10,510
Thank you for your speedy and informative reply. Much appreciated geofelt.

Re 1. Interesting point about the ram. Though I would like to specify that if i did upgrade, I would be buying the exact same ram module types - down to the same product code [Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (BLS2CP4G3D1609DS1S00CEU)]. It would be equivalent to someone buying two 4*2 sets on day 1. Does your advice still hold?

I was aware of ram sensitivity - but I figured that you can pair sets that are precisely the same.

Re >=2. This is the same answer brought to me when I first set up my PC. Everyone rightly told me to throw it all behind one card rather than trying to buy two smaller cards (makes me wounder if x-fire has a real place in a good but not extreme gaming rig). I will try find a buyer for my card, however living in a small island with high transport costs does not help. If not then I will consider either waiting a bit, or indeed going for the x-fire. The PSU is middling - but overall I think it will take the load. I have read posts from others than seem to not have had issues, and so far the PSU I got seems to be one of the more reliable ones flowing out of the assembly line. Not a lemon anyway. The bigger issue is heat. My system is already suffering a bit.

Probably best wait for the sterling/€ rate to get better anyway. Thank you very much geofelt. You have been a tremendous help. I would appreciate confirming the ram question though. Thanks and regards,
Michael
 
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geofelt

geofelt

Titan
Oct 9, 2006
54,291
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174,240
Even the same part number bought on the same day can have manufacturing differences.
Ram is sold in kits to assure that minor difference are compatible and will run together.
You take your chances because you will get no support from either the ram or motherboard vendors.
That said, you are likely to work(90%???)
One other issue, you may have to increase ram voltage to make it work.
It is harder for a cpu to manage 4 sticks vs. 2. That may negatively impact how high you can overclock.

Ram is not that expensive these days. If you need more, sell the old on ebay in favor of a supported 2 x 8gb kit.
 
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Z

zarbowski

Honorable
Sep 12, 2013
10
0
10,510
Thanks for all your help !



 
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