Do i need to upgrade everything or just a few bits?

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

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Hey guys!

I am starting to think about upgrading my pc as i havent touched any of the hardware for years since installing my 2nd 6950 card! I have been out of the loop for a while so please bare with me :)

My specs at this time are (to the best of my knowledge)

Asrock z68 mobo, gen 3?
i5 2500k as standard
2x 2gb AMD 6950 Cards
8GB RAM (not sure on specifics)
1tb hard drive, no solid state etc
windows 7 64bit

So what is the sort of thing people aim for these days? Is 4k more common place in pc gaming now? Or is it still best to aim for 1080p with a solid high frame rate?

I want to get a bigger monitor too, and eouldnt mind looking into the higher resolutions and frames :)

So are any of the bits above still good enough or will i need a new mobo and processor too?

Thinking a single gfx card may be better as always had ups and downs with xfire

Thanks!
 
Overclock that 2500k to 4.5GHz+ and you have a massive upgrade for no money.

The only things I'd change in that rig is to swap out those graphics cards for a GTX970 or R9 290, and grab yourself an SSD.

I would forget 4k gaming for the minute. The grunt just isn't there from the graphics cards yet. Get yourself a nice 27" 1440p screen.
 
Sorry 3g on my phone is terrible :D

Thats the sort of advice i was after thanks, i shall have a look at those bits!

I always wanted to overclock but just got overwhelmed and gave up witht he idea!

May need a better PSU not sure what i have at the mo! Will check tnite!

Whats the best sort of ram/amount of ram to have at the moment? I just got some standard random type at the moment i think!
 
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Rilot said:
Overclock that 2500k to 4.5GHz+ and you have a massive upgrade for no money.

The only things I'd change in that rig is to swap out those graphics cards for a GTX970 or R9 290, and grab yourself an SSD.

I would forget 4k gaming for the minute. The grunt just isn't there from the graphics cards yet. Get yourself a nice 27" 1440p screen.
Click to expand...

This. But my personal preference would be gtx 970 and a 24" g-sync monitor
 
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i am liking the look of the 970, so will that perform well at 1440p?

trying the overclock now, not 100% if im doing it right but am following the guide linked above!

here are my results after just 30mins (i know not long enough but is this looking ok)

test.png


*temps hit 90c, so is that bad?

also in my bios i had the option for fixed or offset? i set to fixed 1.35V?
 
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90C is too much, also Prime95 sucks and you never get your cpu as hot as that does in everyday use.

I prefer to use ASUS Realbench which has a stress test and benchmark.

lower the Vcore to 1.3 and just go straight in for a 4GHz clock.
 
stulid said:
90C is too much, also Prime95 sucks and you never get your cpu as hot as that does in everyday use.

I prefer to use ASUS Realbench which has a stress test and benchmark.

lower the Vcore to 1.3 and just go straight in for a 4GHz clock.
Click to expand...

this could be a good idea, will still be a big increase over stock i imagine!

or maybe keep at 4.5 but reduce the vcore a bit and see what happens? seems like overclocking is a bit of trial and error :D
 
kinger8938 said:
Whats the best sort of ram/amount of ram to have at the moment? I just got some standard random type at the moment i think!
Click to expand...

For DDR3 memory, it'd be 1600MHz minimum (faster if CPU/mobo support it).

For general tasks (browsing etc): 4GB.

For gaming: 8GB.

Photo/video editing (if used a lot for this) and other high memory usage tasks: 16GB or higher.
 
stulid said:
4-4.5Ghz should be possible with that cooler.

leave it at 4.5Ghz and start dropping the vcore.
Click to expand...

ok! i dropped it to 1.33 and it hasn't hit 90c yet, but has got close (n000b question, but should the cpu fan be changing in sound/speed at these temps? doesnt sound like its working any harder than when at idle)
 
All prime95 does is cook the cpu, I actually find the benchmark of Realbench a harder test to past.
 
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