HW Upgrade Tips for a Newbie please

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terodil

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Oct 30, 2015
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Dear Hardware Folk,

please bear with me as I've lost touch with "recent" hardware developments. My last hardcore building stuff involved a DX2/66 and the Voodoo 1. ;)

I'm looking to upgrade my system to accomodate max (or close-to-max) setting (A)RPGs. Fallout 4 is knocking on the door, as is Dishonored 2, Deus Ex etc.! I'm also a mod nut and love to squeeze the best visuals out of the game that I can. Witcher 3 and a fully modded Skyrim showed me that I need to do something about my FPS... I just don't know what. I'm willing to spend around 500 EUR +/- 100. I'm playing on a single monitor at 1920x1080.

Here's my current specs:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge-DT, E1)
3400 MHz (34.00x100.0) @ 3803 MHz (38.00x100.1)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z77X-D3H
Chipset: Intel Z77 (Panther Point DH)
Memory: 8192 MBytes @ 800 MHz, 11.0-11-11-28
- 4096 MB PC12800 DDR3 SDRAM - G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBXL
- 4096 MB PC12800 DDR3 SDRAM - G Skill F3-12800CL9-4GBXL
Graphics: ASUS GTX670-DC2
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670, 2048 MB GDDR5 SDRAM
Drive: PLEXTOR PX-128M5Pro, 125.0 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Drive: ST1000DM003-1CH162, 976.8 GB, Serial ATA 6Gb/s @ 6Gb/s
Drive: ATAPI iHAS124 W, DVD+R DL
Sound: Intel Panther Point PCH - High Definition Audio Controller [C1]
Sound: NVIDIA GK104 - High Definition Audio Controller
PSU: BeQuiet Straight 450W
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Build 10240

What would give me the most bang-for-the-Euro? Or... is there a hardware revolution around the corner that it would make sense to wait for a bit?

Thank you :)
 
Solution
Vic 40
Comparing the tdp's of the gpu's,the gtx 670 and the gtx 980,is there hardly any difference. Since the first is running good on that psu should the other do fine as well.Some gtx 980 require two 8pin connectors,which your psu has,but these might use abit more power.Look at a gtx 980 that keeps it to two 6pin connectors if possible.
The gtx 980 is just within your budget looking at the pcpartpicker.Like these two,
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/evga-video-card-04gp42983kr%2Czotac-video-card-zt9020410p/

A video that uses a 450watt psu with some pretty high end hardware,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajiN9aVOv4A
Your psu has some good protections so i doubt it will "blow up" as some say.

I wouldn't get the r9...
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Vic 40

Vic 40

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Oct 22, 2013
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I would look at a better gpu.You might need a better psu for that,but since the gtx 670 is running of that one maybe not necessary.
I would look in the range of the gtx 980 for that,the r9 390(X) is another possibility,but that one would definitely need a psu upgrade.
With a nice overclock,and probably still without it,is that cpu a very good one and should last for quite a while.
 
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T

terodil

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Oct 30, 2015
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Thank you Vic! Good to know that the CPU is still okay-ish. I'll focus on the GPU then. Is there a way to tell how much "wiggle room" my PSU has so I know if I need to get a new one? Or just go by "try it out, if black smoke comes out of the fan you should think about replacing it"? ;)

Thanks again!
 
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Vic 40

Vic 40

Titan
Ambassador
Oct 22, 2013
20,885
994
87,990
Comparing the tdp's of the gpu's,the gtx 670 and the gtx 980,is there hardly any difference. Since the first is running good on that psu should the other do fine as well.Some gtx 980 require two 8pin connectors,which your psu has,but these might use abit more power.Look at a gtx 980 that keeps it to two 6pin connectors if possible.
The gtx 980 is just within your budget looking at the pcpartpicker.Like these two,
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/compare/evga-video-card-04gp42983kr%2Czotac-video-card-zt9020410p/

A video that uses a 450watt psu with some pretty high end hardware,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajiN9aVOv4A
Your psu has some good protections so i doubt it will "blow up" as some say.

I wouldn't get the r9 390(X),that,imo,uses to much power.

Don't know how old that psu is so maybe upgrade that as the first next thing.If you can squeeze more out of the budget would it maybe good to do so now.Age is more a concern here than the power delivered by it.Having said that it has a 5 year warranty period.I assume we're talking about this one?
"STRAIGHT POWER E9 | 450W"
 
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Solution
T

terodil

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Oct 30, 2015
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4,510
Indeed, that's the one!

Alright -- I've just dug deep into my penny jar and ordered the superclocked GTX 980. \o/

I just realised I had a wattmeter lying around in one of my drawers, so I'll simply watch it for a while and see if power consumption ever reaches critical levels. Thankfully, if the temperature really hits the fan, PSUs aren't all *that* expensive.

Thank you so much for the help!
 
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T

terodil

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Oct 30, 2015
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Well... turns out it isn't. Is that a problem?

After googling it a bit and stumbling across https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc8G5_sW8lk it seems to me that it should be on. Incidentally I've also got another 8GB of RAM so I'll try to kill two birds with one stone (or 4 banks with one setting, lol) and see if it works.

If you don't hear from me again... well... I made a valiant effort ;)
 
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T

terodil

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Oct 30, 2015
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4,510
It worked without a hitch! Enabling XMP went fine too. I wouldn't have expected the GPU upgrade to make such a difference. So... fluid... almost... mesmerising...

*hug* Merci beaucoup! Danke!
 
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