New system and already got the bug :)

Twisted Kid

Twisted Kid

Twisted Kid

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Ok so recently bought this rig:

[email protected] - Z97X-Gaming 3 - R290X - 16gb Corsair 1600mhz - 240 GB KINGSTON SV300 Sdd - Antec High Current Pro 1000W - Zalman Z11 Plus.

Bought this 12/07/2014

Upgrades so far:

H60 corsair Cpu cooler with:
2x Noctua NF-F12 3k Rpm 120mm high pressure fans in a push/pull config on the H60 Radiator (exhaust top rear)
2x Corsair AF-120's High/performance acting as top exhausts.
2x Noctua NF-F12 2k High/performance high airflow bottom and front (Intake)
2x Noctua NF-R8-80mm silent side fans (Intake)

Now i want to start making this rig better and looking for a big increase in gaming performance but also would very much like to start having a crack at benchmarking as it looks a lot of fun and from what i have seen from the community so far it looks like something id enjoy.

What would be the quickest and most efficient way of increasing this pc's power? I have thought about the obvious like the Gpu and Cpu but would the motherboard be a good place to start and memory?
Also a R295x or the same money for 2 more R290x's?

As you can see i am total noob and only played with stock Oc' through my bios and only use automatic Oc' mode :)

Any help suggestions would be appropriated.
 
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Your PSU is good for Xfire/SLI already, so you are fine there

I'd simply whack in another R9 290X, make sure you have adequate cooling (which it looks like.)
Perhaps change the case for a nicer one also, a Corsair/Phanteks/NZXT case in particular, but no performance benefit here

XFire R9 290X's is your best bet firstly
 
I would have a crack at benchmarking before spending more money.

Then, when you have a better understanding of how a single GPU set up behaves, you can move on to a dual card set up.

You will then be able to see then if the extra card is even worth it or not with whatever you use the computer for, aside from benchmarking of course.

What resolution are you playing at, what games do you play, do you want higher frame rates than your monitor can handle, is it 60hz,120hz,144hz? etc.

Then do you play online or single player, some games in multi player FPS will never go over a certain amount anyway... leaving you with only being able to increase your resolution real estate with the dual cards and not so much FPS performance.

But what do you have anyway?
 
stulid said:
Hi,

I think a 2nd 290X and faster RAM is next for you.

YOUR BASKET
1 x G.Skill TridentX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-2400C10D-8GTX) £79.99
1 x TeamGroup Xtreem LV 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C10 2400MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (TXD38G2400HC10QDC01) £67.99
Total : £156.68 (includes shipping : £7.25).




Then try manual overclocking so you get a better overclock using a lot less voltage to do so.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, yeah i have thought about getting a 2nd card but i know i will only want a little more very soon after, i thought about having 3 in tri but from what i have read so far i will most likely need a better motherboard?
My budget for my next upgrade is £1000-£1400 as soon as i can choose what to get first.
 
Threepwood said:
I would have a crack at benchmarking before spending more money.

Then, when you have a better understanding of how a single GPU set up behaves, you can move on to a dual card set up.

You will then be able to see then if the extra card is even worth it or not with whatever you use the computer for, aside from benchmarking of course.

What resolution are you playing at, what games do you play, do you want higher frame rates than your monitor can handle, is it 60hz,120hz,144hz? etc.

Then do you play online or single player, some games in multi player FPS will never go over a certain amount anyway... leaving you with only being able to increase your resolution real estate with the dual cards and not so much FPS performance.

But what do you have anyway?
Click to expand...

I have been playing online gaming for years but have only recently started playing games requiring gpu power as i am a Counterstrike/Team fortress old boy :)
I am however new to overclocking and benchmarking but have started playing with 3dmark Fire strike, 3dmark11 and passmark and have so far made small gains with my limited knowledge but just want to learn more so currently reading lots on it, but its fun :)

Oh and my screen is a Asus PB287Q 60hz 4k, it's far better than my old loyal original counter strike monitor (6 years old) :)
 
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Yes for 3 way Crossfire you will need a board with more slots.

A Z97 SOC-Force will do 3/4 way Crossfire and is an "extreme" overclocking board.

It also comes with free 8 GB of 2400MHz RAM

In September Nvidia are suppose to release the new GTX880, I have no idea on its relative performance compared to other cards.

But then to do 3/4 way SLI you need a board that uses a "PLX" chip to add extra PCI lanes as you need at least a 8X slot for SLI. these boards cost £200+
 
stulid said:
Yes for 3 way Crossfire you will need a board with more slots.

A Z97 SOC-Force will do 3/4 way Crossfire and is an "extreme" overclocking board.

In September Nvidia are suppose to release the new GTX880, I have no idea on its relative performance compared to other cards.

But then to do 3/4 way SLI you need a board that uses a "PLX" chip to add extra PCI lanes as you need at least a 8X slot for SLI. these boards cost £200+
Click to expand...

That is great thanks!
I think it is best i upgrade the board from now as i sure it will be a benefit long term as i am likely to want to do more quite soon.
I have read a little on the Gtx880 and now i own a R290x i get the whole heat thing!
Mine is a stock cooled single fan Powercolour R290x and as my case cooling is a million times better than the stock case fans (Stock case fans Gpu was hitting 98c when at full load and stupid amounts of noise, with the replacement case fans it now runs lightly oc at 80c max but normaly in gaming around 70c max) which i have slightly oc.

Do you think there will be a big performance increase waiting for the Gtx880 rather than the Ti780 and would it be worth waiting for in your opinion and experience?
 
Twisted Kid said:
That is great thanks!
I think it is best i upgrade the board from now as i sure it will be a benefit long term as i am likely to want to do more quite soon.
I have read a little on the Gtx880 and now i own a R290x i get the whole heat thing!
Mine is a stock cooled single fan Powercolour R290x and as my case cooling is a million times better than the stock case fans (Stock case fans Gpu was hitting 98c when at full load and stupid amounts of noise, with the replacement case fans it now runs lightly oc at 80c max but normaly in gaming around 70c max) which i have slightly oc.

Do you think there will be a big performance increase waiting for the Gtx880 rather than the Ti780 and would it be worth waiting for in your opinion and experience?
Click to expand...

Imo I think there 880 will be similar to the 780Ti, but I can't be sure - someone else may know more
I think there will be more of a heat/power usage and output change just like the 750 and 750Ti. A lot less power usage and lower TDP output

I believe the 880 is rumoured to have 4GB vRAM also, so you might want to wait for that :) Only a month away-ish now!
 
Shivy011 said:
Imo I think there 880 will be similar to the 780Ti, but I can't be sure - someone else may know more
I think there will be more of a heat/power usage and output change just like the 750 and 750Ti. A lot less power usage and lower TDP output
Click to expand...

Hmm well i might need to change the case too, kinda wished i waited a little while longer and read a little more on it all before choosing my case, it was quite cheap and i liked the look of it but it seems looks are not everything in building a fast rig.
 
Twisted Kid said:
Hmm well i might need to change the case too, kinda wished i waited a little while longer and read a little more on it all before choosing my case, it was quite cheap and i liked the look of it but it seems looks are not everything in building a fast rig.
Click to expand...

Tbh it's not too bad of a case, do you find the build quality ok?
 
Twisted Kid said:
Do you think there will be a big performance increase waiting for the Gtx880 rather than the Ti780 and would it be worth waiting for in your opinion and experience?
Click to expand...

Always worth waiting to see what comes as its not long to go now and of course you should ask my expert opinion;)

Also I added a bit about the SOC Force now coming with free RAM worth £65.
 
Okay, if you have a 4k monitor then sure... Another card is not going to hurt :)


But I would still make a start with the overclocking before buying, so you have a proper comparison to work with.

Not that there is much point in overclocking dual/tri GPU setups on air... too much heat.

But by then you might be more knowledgeable about things and try an undervolt on the cards to help there, etc!
 
Shivy011 said:
Tbh it's not too bad of a case, do you find the build quality ok?
Click to expand...

Well my last case was a stock case around 6 years old bought from Pc world so in comparison amazing!
The case fans were terrible and loud, i replaced all of them within a few days as the noise was bad and cooling terrible, the stock cooler on the i7 was also dreadful (45-90c idle/load @ medium oc 4.20ghz but 55-100c! @ medium settings oc using easy tune)

The R290 also suffered with the stock case cooling and has now improved by around 30% since installing new fans which some what amazed me and just shown what a difference having good case fans makes!
The H60 on my i7 also allowed me to get 4.8ghz @ only 70c full load and 30c idle, i did however upgrade h60 radiator fans.

The case it's self is well built and easy to access all the areas with ease.
As a starter base case i am glad i chose it and for the components i have atm it's more than good enough from what i have read and learned over the last few months but great to get advice on better solutions to higher powered rigs from experienced seasoned people :)
 
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Threepwood said:
Okay, if you have a 4k monitor then sure... Another card is not going to hurt :)


But I would still make a start with the overclocking before buying, so you have a proper comparison to work with.

Not that there is much point in overclocking dual/tri GPU setups on air... too much heat.

But by then you might be more knowledgeable about things and try an undervolt on the cards to help there, etc!
Click to expand...

I know but i am quiet keen to get a big upgrade soon, i have played around with settings on the card and been careful with vts on both the cpu but mainly the gpu as its air cooled using the stock amd fan/heat sink :/
It oc's fairly well and i have seen great improvements with the card when oc since changing all my case fans :)
 
Maybe think about watercooling your existing GPU and seeing how far you can get it, then adding another watercooled card later? Otherwise, it's a waste having dual/tri on air if your new joy is tinkering and OC them.

Did you buy your CPU already OC'd with a bundle or did you do it yourself?
 
Threepwood said:
Maybe think about watercooling your existing GPU and seeing how far you can get it, then adding another watercooled card later? Otherwise, it's a waste having dual/tri on air if your new joy is tinkering and OC them.

Did you buy your CPU already OC'd with a bundle or did you do it yourself?
Click to expand...

Even though i am very fresh to this i am already loving water cooling and read up on it a lot, i am not even close to being confident enough to install one, the only things i have done so far is changing the case fans and installing the H60 which took 15 mins.

The Cpu was part of a total system i bought, it was only intended to be for gaming but love the whole oc thing, making things faster!, i used to spend lots on pixels (Tf2) but this is my new future thing/investment/hobby/thingawayfromthemiss's :)
 
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Did you OC the CPU yourself or was there already a 4.8 overclock saved on the main boards BIOS? (is what what I mean, just curious... if you are already stable at 4.8 off your own back you are doing okay you see, pat on the back etc etc)

You can use all in one coolers for liquid cooling your card, not too difficult!

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X31 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 120mm - Variable Speed Control £59.99
1 x NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Black £24.95
Total : £94.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).




Edit: Whatever you do-do.. do listen to Stulid btw ;)
 
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Threepwood said:
Did you OC the CPU yourself or was there already a 4.8 overclock saved on the main boards BIOS? (is what what I mean, just curious... if you are already stable at 4.8 off your own back you are doing okay you see, pat on the back etc etc)

You can use all in one coolers for liquid cooling your card, not too difficult!

YOUR BASKET
1 x NZXT KRAKEN X31 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 120mm - Variable Speed Control £59.99
1 x NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Black £24.95
Total : £94.54 (includes shipping : £8.00).

Click to expand...

My board has a oc facility in bios, it auto tuned to 4.6ghz using stock cooler but then over tuned to 4.8 ghz when i changed the stock fans and the stock cpu cooler to the H60 using push and pull with a pair of highly recommend fans by a mate.
I am pretty sure i can get better oc speeds as it still runs cooler than with the stock cooler and also only at a slightly higher vt output (something else i have been reading up on and had no idea about 4 weeks ago!) 1.361 at present.
 
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