Hey all, I built my own computer before entering post-secondary (about 5 yeras ago). I've upgraded a few small things along the way (RAM, HDDs, CPU-cooler) but for the most part I've been limited by a very tight budget. Now, as a productive member of society I finally have a stable income. First things first, I want to upgrade my graphics card. Thinking EVGA GTX 970, but am open to other options. Is there anything else I could upgrade that would make a big difference? I've been out of the "build loop" for a bit. Price-wise, I'd like to stick to the $300-$450 range for GPUs.
I'll list my build below:
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ATX full-tower (Fractal Define XL)
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Sabertooth Z77
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Intel i7-2600
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Carsair H80i
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G-SKILL 16GB
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EVGA GeForce GTX 570 ti
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4 HDs (3 HDD, 1 SSD for OS)
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Can't remember the PSU, and I'd have to remove it from the case to check... But it's either 1000W or 1200W.
Also, I should probably note that I'm located in Canada for pricepoints.
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[–] Stavon 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Problem is you want PCIe 3 for your GPU, but you need to upgrade MoBo, Processor and RAM as well to use it effectively.
[–] BringingTelos [S] ago
Dang, didn't think my build was that out of date. Looking into it, the Z77 will support 3.0 with a 3rd gen CPU... But I may be better off upgrading everything anyways since I'll have to eventually. I'll keep an eye out for sales and good builds I guess.
[–] AmyAcker 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
Build looks good overall. 2600 is still a very capable CPU; no reason to upgrade it.
Only thing you need to upgrade is the GPU. A 970 would be good, or for cheaper, a 290(X).
[–] BringingTelos [S] ago
I've been recommended a 380x/390x by one of my colleagues, but was put off by the extra heat/power-draw. I haven't really looked into the 290x but I'll do some more research, thanks for the recommendation.
As Stavon mentioned, the 2nd-gen CPUs don't support full PCIe 3.0. My Mobo seems to handle both sandy and ivy bridge CPUs. So if I wanted 3.0 performance from my board, I could buy a 3rd-gen Ivy bridge CPU and everything should work alright... I think? I've been out of the game too long, I need to re-educate myself.
If I don't upgrade my CPU, it seems that the 970 will either be bottlenecked, or won't work at all :/
[–] AmyAcker 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
PCIe 2.0 will not bottleneck any modern GPU, running at x16 or x8. There is no need to upgrade your current CPU or motherboard for gaming.
The 380 is Tonga; basically a 285 with a 4GB VRAM option. 390(X) is Hawaii; not much improvement over 290(X) except in VRAM, and you are unlikely to need more than 4GB. They aren't worth their price, IMO. A 290(X) is a good option, and so is a 970.