Looking to upgrade my rig, suggestions would be appreciated.

[Marshall Hurtado]

Looking to upgrade my rig in a number of ways. Unsure if what to upgrade first, what might bottleneck what, etc. Open to all suggestions and help


The Current Rig:



OS: Windows 8 Pro

GPU: Radeon PowerColor HD 6870 1GB (stock)

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition (OC'd at 4GHz, cooled with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus with dual 120mm fans)

PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX600 600W

MOBO: ASRock 970 EXTREME3 AM3+

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

MONITORS/TVs: Acer 60Hz 21.5 LED monitor, Walmart branded 32 inch 60Hz TV




Possible Upgrades:





Operating system is just fine. 8.1 is coming out soon and i'm pleased.





Definitely want to replace my current AMD GPU to an Nvidia card. Choosing Nvidia for their drivers, adaptive vsync, txaa, etc. Going to be gaming at 1920 x 1080. Hoping to game at fps rates at and above 60 fps (See monitor below). I have tons of mods for Skyrim, lots are texture based so 4GB of VRAM could be justifiable. Considering SLI'ing also, whether that's two 660ti's or getting any of the listed cards below and getting a second at a later date (most likely that)




Looking at these cards:




- GTX 670 FTW Signature2 2GB

(Core Clock: 1006MHz Boost Clock: 1084MHz Cuda Cores: 1344 VRAM: 2GB)

- GTX 670 Superclocked+ w/Backplate 4GB

(Core Clock: 967 MHz Boost Clock: 1046 MHz Cuda Cores: 1344 VRAM: 4GB)

- GTX 680 Classified 4GB

(Core Clock: 1111MHz Boost Clock: 1176 MHz Cuda Cores: 1536 VRAM: 4GB)






I currently have two screens in use. The "main" screen is an Acer 21.5" monitor with a 5ms response time and a 60Hz refresh rate. It has a 9.5/10 contrast ratio IMHO. The "secondary" screen is for any kind of movies or videos, any games i play with my xbox controller. It's a 32' walmart branded TV with a horrible contrast ratio (compared to like all TVs and of course monitors). I'd rate the contrast an honest 6 or 7/10. It's bad but I can live with it.




Looking into these monitors:





- ASUS VG278HE 27" monitor with it's incredible refresh rate of 144Hz. Match that with adaptive vsync on a killer GTX card and those are some serious frames.


- Any 27' monitor with a great contrast ratio, quick response time, and a refresh rate over or at least 120Hz









Debating on replacing the CPU to get a few more frames.
Looking at the Intel i5-4670K Haswel @ 3.4GHz Stock (Most likely will OC it)











As for everything else, i might have to replace the mobo and possibly the power supply.






any help in any of these categories to upgrade would be really appreciated

 

[sourodip]

Well, i thibk u should pair two gtx770's in SLI as u want to go with nvidia. But it is safe to SLI with nvidia rather than amd bcoz. amd gpu'd while in crossfire suffers from microstutter issue. However, i think u would be gaming on both the monitors, right? If yes, then pls tell me ur budget and i shall build the rig with the parts u need.
Reply ASAP

 

[Marshall Hurtado]

Well, i thibk u should pair two gtx770's in SLI as u want to go with nvidia. But it is safe to SLI with nvidia rather than amd bcoz. amd gpu'd while in crossfire suffers from microstutter issue. However, i think u would be gaming on both the monitors, right? If yes, then pls tell me ur budget and i shall build the rig with the parts u need.
Reply ASAP

awh man i forgot the limits and such :/. limit for the GPU would be probably 500$ :/ that includes SLI too. i could always SLI another 670 or 680 in the future depending on which i get

going to be gaming solely on the ASUS 27" with the 144Hz rate, definitely. no kind of dual monitor stretched gaming. not really my style . the spare tv i have would be strictly for movies and extra space until i replace that tv, but thats going to be in the future. id consider it separate from any rig upgrades


and yea im going with nvidia for sure, even with a single gpu from them, amd cards just feel kinda cheap. at least mine is. all the features of nvidia cards, along with there great driver updates is definitely the way to go. feel free to ask any more questions if necessary

oh and also! i dont exactly know which order i should replace certain things. for instance: if i should replace the GPU first, the monitor, etc. so any advice on that would be great. i personally think i should replace the GPU first and worry about the kick ass ASUS monitor later on, but thats just me.