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Will my rig keep up with a 970/980

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12 Nov 2011
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Hi I'm thinking of upgrading my gpu as my current setup seems to be holding me back from playing some of the "next gen" games.

I've never had much luck with overclocking but I would be interested in trying it.

Current setup

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
Asus P8Z68-M PRO Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Antec Kúhler H2O 620 CPU Watercooler
Asus GeForce GTX 560Ti DirectCU II TOP 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair XMS3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Powercool 650W Modular PSU 80+ Dual 12V V2.2 High Efficiency
Intel 520 Series Solid-State Drive 240 GB SATA 6 Gb/s 2.5-Inch
 
either GPU would be fine, your PSU can power it, it's compatible with your existing hardware, You'll be running PCI-E 2.0 but that's fine there's no difference between gen 3.0 and gen 2.0. and you'll gain a boat load of Vram :) I'd suggest looking into adding another 8gb of system RAM as I found it helped in the newer titles but a 970 or 980 would do you good
I personally went with a 970 recently and I'm impressed with it despite the memory fiasco(google it but nothing to worry about in my experience)
 
Before you upgrade anything replace that abysmal psu. I wish people would pay attention to things before suggesting upgrades. It may say 650w on the label but there is no chance that it will ever deliver anywhere near that on the 12v rail. You would probably be lucky to get half that. Powercool make abysmal psu's and there is no way I would let a tier 5 psu manufacutrer anywhere near any pc.
 
Okay. I've bought a 980 and I'm looking into a new psu. If i wanted to ensure i have the option to SLI in the future, what would be the minimum wattage i should go for?
 
Can't really argue with Lemin's suggestion at that price. If it was the normal price I would have suggested paying a extra fiver for the EVGA G2 850w which is basically the same psu but no led's and a whopping 10 year warranty.
 
Have you overclocked your processor, given that it's a K version chip?

I've never had the need. My gpu has always been the bottleneck in my rig. I imagine in the next few years my cpu will start to hold me back so I think I will. I'm not sure if my cooler is good enough though.
 
Look at how long you leave to upgrade your system.
Look at your choice of psu.
You're not into overclocking.



You won't go SLI.

Maybe I will in my next system, and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by buying companonants that will restrict me in the future.
 
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