Some ideas please

robfosters · 22 Aug 2015 at 12:54

This is my current PC.

i5 2500k at 4.4
8GB RAM
Asus 4gb 670GTX
Plextor SSD

This is going fine for my current 1080p gaming needs. However, I have been looking longingly at the new LG 34UC97.

It has a resolution of 3440x1440. I doubt my current system would cut it with games like Star Citizen and Star Wars battlefront and any other graphically intensive games coming out. What would you suggest as a possible upgrade?

I can salvage the following from my current PC:

SSD
PSU

I would be looking at a budget of around £1k. Lower if possible. I dont want go insane on it, but I do want to be futureproof for at least 2 years.

Danny75 · 22 Aug 2015 at 13:02

What PSU is it?

Does your motherboard support SLI?

Does the 1K budget include the monitor?

robfosters · 22 Aug 2015 at 13:08

Danny75 said:
What PSU is it?

Does your motherboard support SLI?

Does the 1K budget include the monitor?

PSU is a corsair HX620W

Motherboard is an AS Rock extreme 4 gen 3 and does support SLI

If I thought I could get both for a grand, I would be ecstatic. Alas, it is not possible, so the 1k is for the system upgrade alone.

Bickaxe · 22 Aug 2015 at 13:33

Great PSU but are you confident in its life span? I'll guess it must be 8 years now and will have degraded a bit. And will it power an SLI set up if that's what you want to build?

robfosters · 22 Aug 2015 at 13:35

Bickaxe said:
Great PSU but are you confident in its life span? I'll guess it must be 8 years now and will have degraded a bit. And will it power an SLI set up if that's what you want to build?

I bought it in 2008. It's still rock solid, but as you say, I'm not overly sure on its life span.

I'm not sure about SLI. I've never done it and I'm not sure if it causes more problems than it's worth. I probably would feel happier sticking to a single card setup.

Danny75 · 22 Aug 2015 at 14:04

Perhaps best to wait to see what happens with Star Citizen and SLI/CrossFire. Apparently it's only able to use one GPU (unless things have changed since June). http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/1992-star-citizen-113-gpu-benchmark

Does sound like you'll want 980TI SLI (because the game uses above 4GB memory even at 1080p with quality settings), but would be awful to splash out on that and find the game still only recognizes one card.

Would recommend a good 1000W PSU for that. 850W is enough but a bit extra will put less stress on it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £134.99
Total : £134.99 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).

But ultimately recommend waiting a bit more. The price on 980Ti's should come down a bit in 3-6 months time anyway.

robfosters · 22 Aug 2015 at 14:16

Danny75 said:
Perhaps best to wait to see what happens with Star Citizen and SLI/CrossFire. Apparently it's only able to use one GPU (unless things have changed since June). http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/1992-star-citizen-113-gpu-benchmark

Does sound like you'll want 980TI SLI (because the game uses above 4GB memory even at 1080p with quality settings), but would be awful to splash out on that and find the game still only recognizes one card.

Would recommend a good 1000W PSU for that. 850W is enough but a bit extra will put less stress on it.

YOUR BASKET
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 1000W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £134.99
Total : £134.99 (includes shipping : Ex.VAT).

But ultimately recommend waiting a bit more. The price on 980Ti's should come down a bit in 3-6 months time anyway.

You're saying to get a 980Ti SLI as the game uses above 4GB. The Ti comes with 6GB, but I didn't think you got more by adding a second card?

Danny75 · 22 Aug 2015 at 14:28

robfosters said:
You're saying to get a 980Ti SLI as the game uses above 4GB. The Ti comes with 6GB, but I didn't think you got more by adding a second card?

SLI/CrossFire doesn't add the VRAM. If the cards have 6GB each, it'll still be 6GB. What I mean is - don't get 970 or 980 SLI (just 4GB).

One 980Ti on low-medium settings on that 3440x1440 might be a good shout, to begin with, if you're trigger-happy. I'd hesitate to recommend 2 x 390X for example, as despite having 8GB memory, I think they'd be hard pressed to achieve good FPS with good settings on Star Citizen at that res. Now mind - I don't play it. Just going on what I've seen.

robfosters · 22 Aug 2015 at 14:42

It's an utter joke that a £500+ graphics card cant run games at that resolution. :mad:

I might wait until the next round of cards are out.

As for the CPU, would I need an upgrade with a top level card?

Danny75 · 22 Aug 2015 at 16:21

robfosters said:
As for the CPU, would I need an upgrade with a top level card?

Not with one card really, and I'd wait and try the same CPU with two cards and see how it goes. Expect there'll be some bottleneck but maybe not much.

Graphics is your priority.

I agree that waiting a bit more is the wise thing to do. Can also post in Graphics Cards forum for more advice.