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[Vipu]

So...I have a question. My computer is like 7 years old at this point.

Do I actually have to update everything about it to run the games I want?

Like, I want to get a new case (this one lacks HDMI cables. How did I get a case without those in 2009?), maybe a new fan, and obviously a new GPU.

Do I need to get a new processor, motherboard, and power supply as well?

for the record, this is what I have right now

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202 - processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006 - Power unit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131386 - motherboard

Depends what you play but you could just buy new gpu and see how it works.
Should be fine with that cpu if you have overclocked it.
I have also 7y old cpu and gtx970 and i can run games at high fps.
Just ordered gtx1070 yeaterday.

People underestimate old cpus too much.
Yeah sure new is a bit better but is it worth it?
At least i upgrade what gives me most for that money, for now its still upgrading just gpu.

 

[coughlanio]

Planning on going ultra-SSF later this year (waiting on Kaby Lake at this point). Currently living on the other side of the world, with plans to jump from place to place over the next few years, so it makes more sense to have a rig I can throw in a backpack. I also fell in love with the DAN A4-SFX case, but sadly missed the Kickstarter, but it should be going on sale by the end of the year.

Intel Core-i7 7700K
32GB DDR4 (2x16GB)
Z270 ITX Motherboard
1TB NVMe M.2 SSD
1TB SATA SSD
Silversone SX700-LPT

I'll probably put my current GTX 970 in there until the 1080 Ti is released (or Vega).

What do you think?

 

[ISee]

Planning on going ultra-SSF later this year (waiting on Kaby Lake at this point). Currently living on the other side of the world, with plans to jump from place to place over the next few years, so it makes more sense to have a rig I can throw in a backpack. I also fell in love with the DAN A4-SFX case, but sadly missed the Kickstarter, but it should be going on sale by the end of the year.

Intel Core-i7 7700K
32GB DDR4 (2x16GB)
Z270 ITX Motherboard
1TB NVMe M.2 SSD
1TB SATA SSD
Silversone SX700-LPT

I'll probably put my current GTX 970 in there until the 1080 Ti is released (or Vega).

What do you think?

I don't know what there is to think/talk about. We have no info about kabylake or how it will compete against zen (price/performance), no idea about future z-series intel boards or if a 1080Ti is even coming.

 

[mace999]

Download something like AIDA64 or HWINFO and post the screenshots here so we can see your whole rig (especially the MBO).
Your CPU and RAM are fine, but you need a better GPU. We'll know more once we see what motherboard you have.
Also, open the case and let us know what power supply you have.

Is this ok, shit I had to learn how to take a screenshot of my computer today and it still came out bad

 

[coughlanio]

I don't know what there is to think/talk about. We have no info about kabylake or how it will compete against zen (price/performance), no idea about future z-series intel boards or if a 1080Ti is even coming.

Well, we know it'll basically be a few % improvement over Skylake, and we know there will likely be a Z270 Intel chipset that supports Kaby Lake, and if a 1080 Ti doesn't eventually exist, I'll eat my hat.

Of course, my parts list is speculative but I'm just drawing out in my head a plan for December. You mentioned Zen, which is the kind of feedback I was looking for. From what I've seen though, that's looking to be 1H 2017 which leads me to believe that really means Q2.

 

[CrankyKong]

If I bought a new motherboard and reinstalled all my existing parts, would my Windows 10 license work ok?

 

[ISee]

If I bought a new motherboard and reinstalled all my existing parts, would my Windows 10 license work ok?

Yes.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

Ok, here's a weird issue: got a CTD yesterday while playing the new Deus Ex, and the game wouldn't restart (steam "preparing to launch" window would just stay there). Reset the computer and it took MUCH longer than usual to boot into Windows. Shut it down and restarted it, same deal.

I'm on my third try now, boot time has gone from 20 seconds to over a minute. Was working fine this morning. Game is installed on my system SSD. Seriously hope I'm not going to have to do a system reinstall.

Did another test by going into BIOS and enabling the fast boot option, same thing. POST actually takes much longer since the crash, and the Win10 loading screen lasts about 30 seconds while it was completely absent before. I'm tearing my hair out here because I don't think even a reinstall will fix this if the trouble starts in POST.

Any idea what might be up? My first thought would be to try clearing CMOS and seeing if that helps.

(oh and inb4 "Denuvo killed my SSD")

 

[Elven_Star]

1.) GPU

The 470 is a capable 1920x1080 entry level card. It can give you 60fps if you're willing to turn down settings to 'high' instead of ultra/very high (or whatever it's called). In fact it only seems to be a tiny bit slower than a 480. But beyond 1080p? It's not the right thing because of vram limitations and performance.

RX 470
GTX 970
RX 480
GTX 980
=1920*1080

GTX 980Ti
GTX 1070
Titan X (Maxwell)
=1440p

GTX 1080
TitanX (P)
=1440p+

2x1080
2xTitan X (P)
=4K

(of course that's not true for all games...)

2.) CPU

The 6100 is the bare minimum, so of course it will reach its limits in some games.


Long story short: Capable entry level 1080p gaming machine, but you won't be happy at higher resolutions. 30 fps should be doable at 2560x1080 though.

Thank you very much for the response. It should help me manage my expectations. That build is simply the limit of my budget. After two years of of sub-30 framerates at 1080p, I think I'll be happy with it. Ordered the card this morning. Wish me luck!

 

[OmegaDL50]

Would love some advice, I'm quite happy at playing at only 1080p but I want 60fps is my computer good enough or should I swap somethings out, or is it even possible to do this ?!?
I really am new to this being a console gamer all my life, I'm 41 by the way ...... So heer are my specs, what should I change to get what I need in most games ?!?

Intel i5-3570k @ 3.40ghz 3.80ghz
12gb ram
Geforce GTX 750 Ti

I have no idea what my motherboard is, but if that's needed to know what I can do, I'll get back to you

Thanks in advance

I have the same CPU currently as you, and I run it with a GTX 1070 and get a solid 60+FPS at 1080p res.

You have more ram than I do, I only have 8GB so the extra 4GB you have is a benefit.

The biggest question though is what Motherboard and PSU you have. Most of the newer GPUs are much more energy efficient then some of the older cards.

For example my HD7950 had a 200w TDP, and the GTX 1070 I just picked up TPD is 150w. A 50w difference making it much more efficient.

You may not need to outright replace your PSU depending on what manufacturer it is (When I say manufacturer, I'm not referring to the name on the supply but rather who constructed it) For example XFX doesn't make their own Power Supplies but rather gets their stock from Seasonic and rebrands them under their own name.

Another example is the Rosewill Capstone 550m in my system is manufactured by Super Flower (The OEM unit is a Golden Green, which the same OEM unit used by NZXT (Hale 90) and Kingwin (Lazer Gold)

Sorry if I diverged a bit. I take PSU rather seriously (JonnyGuru forum poster here), so I get kind of engrossed on who makes them, rather than who slaps their name on them.

 

[doemaaan]

If I buy a laptop that comes with Windows 8 or 10, it shouldn't be a problem to format the hard drive and throw Windows 7 on there and start fresh, right? No adware, malware, nothing.

 

[ekim]

If I buy a laptop that comes with Windows 8 or 10, it shouldn't be a problem to format the hard drive and throw Windows 7 on there and start fresh, right? No adware, malware, nothing.

Sure.

 

[enewtabie]

So computer is almost finished but now its time for a monitor. So many choices. I think I want to ultrawide but I can't afford a X34 or something like that. Running a 6700k and 1070 and have a 4-500 dollar range. What would you recommend ultrawide or something 27-28?

 

[doemaaan]

Sure.

Thanks. Thought there could've been some weird compatibility issues. Tryna be cautious.

 

[Vetro]

So computer is almost finished but now its time for a monitor. So many choices. I think I want to ultrawide but I can't afford a X34 or something like that. Running a 6700k and 1070 and have a 4-500 dollar range. What would you recommend ultrawide or something 27-28?

ASUS PG278Q or PG279Q

Run it (279Q) with my new system - GTX1070.
G-Sync is the bomb. Go for it.

 

[Exile20]

Yes.

Are you sure?

The motherboard is what determines if your computer changed or not according to windows.

Can anyone chime in on this? I was researching and people were saying it is best to just reinstall. Transferring license is difficult. Anyone?

 

[enewtabie]

Are you sure?

The motherboard is what determines if your computer changed or not according to windows.

Can anyone chime in on this? I was researching and people were saying it is best to just reinstall. Transferring license is difficult. Anyone?

I was under the impression if you changed motherboards, you had to have another license for Windows.

 

[RamaTheVoice]

I was under the impression if you changed motherboards, you had to have another license for Windows.

I think it depends on whether you have an OEM or boxed version. An OEM license will be tied to the first Mobo you install it on, but you can transfer a boxed license.

 

[demosthenes]

Anyone here use the Allsteel Relate chair? My friend can get me a deal on it for about $555/new as she works for a distributor of them and can get a discount. Any thoughts on it?

 

[ISee]

Are you sure?

The motherboard is what determines if your computer changed or not according to windows.

Can anyone chime in on this? I was researching and people were saying it is best to just reinstall. Transferring license is difficult. Anyone?

Very sure. Upgrade from a z77 board + 3570k to a z170 + 6700k just a couple of months ago. Had no problems with the license.

Thank you very much for the response. It should help me manage my expectations. That build is simply the limit of my budget. After two years of of sub-30 framerates at 1080p, I think I'll be happy with it. Ordered the card this morning. Wish me luck!

Please don't get me wrong. It's a good budget build. No doubt about that. Have fun

 

[Widge]

Are we entering a world where we need to go from 8GB -> 16GB RAM?

I can't see me upgrading mobo and from my 3570k, so I'd see this as the only increase I have left to do.

 

[j0hnny_385]

Are we entering a world where we need to go from 8GB -> 16GB RAM?

I did it recently. Took advantage of these low RAM prices. Better safe than sorry.
Seeing how DE:MD goobles up RAM, I think I made a good decision.

 

[HazySaiyan]

Wanted to get a monitor with a variable refresh rate and looking around it seems to work out cheaper overall to get an R9 Fury and a Freesync monitor, then sell my 980, than it does to just buy a G-Sync Monitor. On a scale from 1 to 'completely fucking stupid' how bad of an idea is that? Not interested in 1440p.

 

[Mine01]

looks like it may not be seated all the way, screw it in and try again?

Also, did you connect the 6-pin connector?

Sorry for the late reply, yea I connected the 6-pin connector and im pretty sure the gpu is fully seated.

Anyway, went to the store today and they installed it in a pc and it worked!!!

Now, why didnt it work on my PC? I think it is the motherboard, its pretty old... anyway tonight ill be updating the bios and if that does not work I'll upgrade my motherboard.

Can it be that my mobo has a normal PCI port and I need a PCIe??

 

[Bloodember]

Sorry for the late reply, yea I connected the 6-pin connector and im pretty sure the gpu is fully seated.

Anyway, went to the store today and they installed it in a pc and it worked!!!

Now, why didnt it work on my PC? I think it is the motherboard, its pretty old... anyway tonight ill be updating the bios and if that does not work I'll upgrade my motherboard.

What PSU do you have?

 

[mace999]

Ok now I think I have all the specs needed to know what I can do with my PC and if it's upgradeable.


Geforce GTX 750 Ti
Processor - Intel i5-3570k @ 3.40ghz 3.80ghz
Ram - 12 gb Kingston Hyper X - DDR3-1600
Motherboard Name - Gigabyte GA-Z77P-D3 (2 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR3 DIMM, Audio, Video, Gigabit LAN)
PSU - Corsair VS550


So, everything seems ok but not my Graphics card, what is a good mid range graphics card, budget is a problem ....... I thought mine was mid range but obviously not, what can you recommend ??

 

[HazySaiyan]

Ok now I think I have all the specs needed to know what I can do with my PC and if it's upgradeable.


Geforce GTX 750 Ti
Processor - Intel i5-3570k @ 3.40ghz 3.80ghz
Ram - 12 gb Kingston Hyper X - DDR3-1600
Motherboard Name - Gigabyte GA-Z77P-D3 (2 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR3 DIMM, Audio, Video, Gigabit LAN)
PSU - Corsair VS550


So, everything seems ok but not my Graphics card, what is a good mid range graphics card, budget is a problem ....... I thought mine was mid range but obviously not, what can you recommend ??

What's your budget?

 

[Mine01]

What PSU do you have?

I dont have the model here, but it's a 600w PSU, and as I said earlier my pc does turn on with a gtx 560, that requieres more power than the r9 480, as far as I know.

 

[Bloodember]

I dont have the model here, but it's a 600w PSU, and as I said earlier my pc does turn on with a gtx 560, that requieres more power than the r9 480, as far as I know.

That don't mean anything. I switched gpu's before with the new one using less power, and had the same issue, the issue was the psu. I'd try a different psu first.

 

[Mine01]

That don't mean anything. I switched gpu's before with the new one using less power, and had the same issue, the issue was the psu. I'd try a different psu first.

Okk I'll try a different psu today, thx!

 

[ISee]

Are we entering a world where we need to go from 8GB -> 16GB RAM?

I can't see me upgrading mobo and from my 3570k, so I'd see this as the only increase I have left to do.

Was just reading the Forza Hoprizon 3 recommended specs... 12gb of ram.

 

[paskowitz]

Are we entering a world where we need to go from 8GB -> 16GB RAM?

I can't see me upgrading mobo and from my 3570k, so I'd see this as the only increase I have left to do.

Considering how cheap RAM is ATM, I would just do it. 16Gb is becoming more of a standard. Even if your games don't require >8Gb it is worth it. With 16Gb, I keep at least 10 programs open at once (including Chrome) and don't have to worry about closing anything when I open up a game.

 

[demosthenes]

Considering how cheap RAM is ATM, I would just do it. 16Gb is becoming more of a standard. Even if your games don't require >8Gb it is worth it. With 16Gb, I keep at least 10 programs open at once (including Chrome) and don't have to worry about closing anything when I open up a game.

That and you can do what I did. Replace 8gb slow ram with 16gb of faster DDR 3 ram b/c it's really really cheap.

 

[paskowitz]

That and you can do what I did. Replace 8gb slow ram with 16gb of faster DDR 3 ram b/c it's really really cheap.

I went from 16GB of POS PNY DDR3 1600 ram to some nice 16gb Klevv DDR3 2666 and noticed performance improvements in Adobe Creative Suite, CPU heavy games like Fallout 4 and just general day to day use. Cost me a whopping $89.99 (-$40 I sold the PNY ram for... so $50).

RAM isn't really a critical part, but if you can spend ~$20-30 extra for 16GB and a decent speed (2400+) then it is worth it.

 

[Meatfist]

I'm in the market for a new GPU and 1440P ultrawide monitor and I'm a little miffed at the lack of options I have. It's either:

-Get a freesync monitor and deal with meh performance/PPW from a Fury X
-Pay the Gsync tax (which is crazy expensive for UW monitors) and get a 1080, which is the card I'd like
-Deal with 60Hz

I hope Vega performs well, just for the sake of lighting a fire under Nvidia's butt

 

[OmegaDL50]

Ok now I think I have all the specs needed to know what I can do with my PC and if it's upgradeable.


Geforce GTX 750 Ti
Processor - Intel i5-3570k @ 3.40ghz 3.80ghz
Ram - 12 gb Kingston Hyper X - DDR3-1600
Motherboard Name - Gigabyte GA-Z77P-D3 (2 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 2 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR3 DIMM, Audio, Video, Gigabit LAN)
PSU - Corsair VS550


So, everything seems ok but not my Graphics card, what is a good mid range graphics card, budget is a problem ....... I thought mine was mid range but obviously not, what can you recommend ??

Well the question is how much are you willing to spend. It all narrows down to what you are comfortable in spending.

Your Corsair VS550 PSU is decent as the OEM is CWT / Channel Well which has made some units for Antec in the past for example.

So you shouldn't have any issues running any modern GPU. Although Overclocking or a Dual GPU setup is probably out of the question.

If you want 1080p gaming at 60FPS on a budget, then the GTX 1060 might be your best bet. They are priced from $250 for the lowest end models to $280 for the higher units, but if you are going put out that kind of money for a GPU upgrade then $30 isn't going to make a whole lot of difference to be honest.

 

[fluffydelusions]

What's a good wireless card to get?

Also conflicted on a monitor to get. Never gamed on 144hz and looking at this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2HH7G0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But I also loved my IPS monitor when I had it...

 

[levious]

Very sure. Upgrade from a z77 board + 3570k to a z170 + 6700k just a couple of months ago. Had no problems with the license.



Please don't get me wrong. It's a good budget build. No doubt about that. Have fun

Do you have to remove your license from the previous build first or does that not matter?

 

[super-famicom]

What's a good wireless card to get?

Also conflicted on a monitor to get. Never gamed on 144hz and looking at this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2HH7G0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

But I also loved my IPS monitor when I had it...

I bought this wireless adapter on the recommendation of another GAFfer, it arrived yesterday and I haven't installed it yet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PVCVZ74/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Kinda pricey but it is supposed to offer excellent performance.

 

[CheDominik]

Quite a conundrum for me: but which GPU should I buy?

1060 or RX 480?
Early benchmarks suggest the 1060 but judging by the specs the Radeon could be better by better drivers?

 

[paperspace]

What would you guys say, worth upgrading from i7 4790K to 6700K?

The poor performance in Mankind Divided (with a 1080) got me thinking about it.

 

[Celcius]

What would you guys say, worth upgrading from i7 4790K to 6700K?

The poor performance in Mankind Divided (with a 1080) got me thinking about it.

Nope. If anything wait until December for Kaby Lake which should clock higher than Skylake. But your cpu should still be excellent though.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Forgive the dumb question: I'm looking to upgrade from a 970 to a 1080. Will a 1080 fit in the same space as a 970, or should I do some compatibility checks? I have a Gigabyte windforce 970 in this case.

Also, it looks like there's a few different makes. I've never really had a good sense for which ones to go for. Which of these seems reasonable? Aesthetics are not a concern. https://www.pccasegear.com/category/193_1828/graphics-cards/geforce-gtx-1080

Thanks as always.

 

[marrec]

Alright so I went ahead and bought that Z420 workstation cause a fool and his money blah blah

Anyway, this presents a dilemma.

I currently have a Rampage II v2 mobo and an i7 920. Clearly in need of a CPU upgrade.

But now I also own the Z420 mobo (HP 619557-001) which is an X79 socket LGA 2011 and a Xeon ES-1650 v2 (3.5 ghz).

So should I just sell the Rampage II + i7 920 and live my LGA 2011 life? I've looked into it and I believe that this is one of the HP mobo/CPU combos that can be overclocked, and quite easily.

Either way, I ordered a 1060 cause my 960 just ain't enough anymore.

I should be able to hit 90+ FPS at 1080p in most games with the Xeon ES-1650 + GTX 1060 combo right?

 

[paskowitz]

What would you guys say, worth upgrading from i7 4790K to 6700K?

The poor performance in Mankind Divided (with a 1080) got me thinking about it.

No way. The 4790K isn't the problem. DEMKD is just crazy taxing and IMO poorly optimized. As long as your 4790K is overclocked to ~4.6 you should be fine. I wouldn't upgrade until Cannonlake (gen after Coffeelake).

Don't forget you'll have to get a new motherboard and RAM as well. You are looking at $500+ just for a <10% improvement. That money would be far better spent on a second 1080.

Forgive the dumb question: I'm looking to upgrade from a 970 to a 1080. Will a 1080 fit in the same space as a 970, or should I do some compatibility checks? I have a Gigabyte windforce 970 in this case.

Also, it looks like there's a few different makes. I've never really had a good sense for which ones to go for. Which of these seems reasonable? https://www.pccasegear.com/category/193_1828/graphics-cards/geforce-gtx-1080

Thanks as always.

Manufacturers list their measurements on their websites.

I would go with the Asus Strix. EVGA is good for their warranty if you can get them were you are.

 

[paperspace]

Nope. If anything wait until December for Kaby Lake which should clock higher than Skylake. But your cpu should still be excellent though.

No way. The 4790K isn't the problem. DEMKD is just crazy taxing and IMO poorly optimized. As long as your 4790K is overclocked to ~4.6 you should be fine. I wouldn't upgrade until Cannonlake (gen after Coffeelake).

Don't forget you'll have to get a new motherboard and RAM as well. You are looking at $500+ just for a <10% improvement. That money would be far better spent on a second 1080.

Yep, you're right. I haven't been keeping up on the new CPUs since Haswell, but I checked some benchmarks and yeah, the improvement is barely noticeable in most (if not all) cases.

But I'm very curious of what's causing all the stuttering, 4 minutes long loading times and bad performance. It could be a bad port, but some people seem to have decent experiences, so I'm not so sure yet.

Could it be the RAM? I currently have 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz. Maybe an upgrade to faster 32GB would be beneficial in this case.

 

[Bloodember]

Yep, you're right. I haven't been keeping up on the new CPUs since Haswell, but I checked some benchmarks and yeah, the improvement is barely noticeable in most-if not all-cases.

But I'm very curious of what's causing all the stuttering, 4 minutes long loading times and bad performance. It could be a bad port, but some people seem to have decent experiences, so I'm not so sure yet.

Could it be the RAM? I currently have 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz. Maybe an upgrade to faster 32GB would be beneficial in this case.

Whats the speed of the hdd you have it installed to or is it an ssd?

 

[paperspace]

Whats the speed of the hdd you have it installed to or is it an ssd?

SSD.

 

[CreateNowSleepLater]

Is it still worth building around an i-3770k w/32GB DDR3?

 

[Mine01]

Sorry guys but gonna update my problem from yesterday, hope it doesnt bother you lol!

Anyway, yesterday i bought a r9 480 but my wouldnt boot up... fastwordard to today i went to the store and the card is working, looks like my mobo is the problem, thats the model, cleveland-gl8, looks like its incompatyble with new gpus.. sooo im getting a new mobo next monday... thx for the helps guys!