Upgrade advice

[BusterGendo]

Had this PC for a few years, looking to upgrade to keep up with gaming. I'm hoping extra RAM and a second linked GPU will do the trick. What do you guys suggest? My current setup follows:

Intel Core i5-4670K 3.40GHz (Haswell) Socket LGA1150 Processor
MB-437-GI Gigabyte Z87-D3HP Intel Z87 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
MY-035-TG TeamGroup Vulcan RED 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit
GX-322-SP Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OC 3072MB GDDR5

Cheers ^^

 

[Plec]

What res do game at (is it Freesync)?

Clocking the CPU, adding 16Gb of memory plus crossfire or preferably (personally) a single card solution would bring your system upto date and playing games at ULTRA.

I'm personally not a fan of crossfire/sli - as not all games support it and driver issues/configuration/scaling problems can be a PITA . I mention this just incase you're not familiar with it (ignore if you're comfortable using it). Some users love it - plus driver issues have improved and DX12 looks promising - when it's ironed out...

If you consider a single card solution and you're gaming at 1080p an RX 580 would fit the bill.

If it's at 1440p the a GTX 1070 would be the cheapest single card solution - it would also suit 1080p if you could afford it.

I jumped from an R9 280x to GTX 1070 for 1440p gaming and I've been very impressed with the performance - everything set at ULTRA - coupled with a clocked 2500k and 16gb (for a comparison). Delayed my Ryzen build for a few months...

 

[BusterGendo]

I'm happy with gaming at 1080p. Do you mean you also suggest overclocking the CPU (never done any overclocking)? I was hoping SLI solutions nowadays were stable enough that I could use two GPUs otherwise it's a shape to drop my decent R9 280X, but I'm open to any suggestions. If it's better to go for a single GPU then OK. What GPU do you guys suggest for an SLI build and which GPU for a single card build (and also which RAM card)?

Thanks in advance ^^

 

[Plec]

I'm happy with gaming at 1080p. Do you mean you also suggest overclocking the CPU (never done any overclocking)?

Yes, you have a K series CPU - criminal not to and simple - and will help pep up the system coupled with a new, more powerful gfx card/s.

I was hoping SLI solutions nowadays were stable enough that I could use two GPUs otherwise it's a shape to drop my decent R9 280X, but I'm open to any suggestions.

They are a lot more stable than thay use to be - and DX12 should improve things again. I've been out of the loop with crossfire/sli for a couple of years - didn't enjoy it at all.

I still read conflicting things on the forums too - so my bias is still very much towards a single card solution if someone can afford it (doesn't mean i'm right).

If it's better to go for a single GPU then OK. What GPU do you guys suggest for an SLI build and which GPU for a single card build?

Probably best someone with more up to date crossfire experience advise you with Dual card options - plus i don't want my bias to interfere with your decision.

For a single card solution at 1080p an RX 580 would be a great choice. If you had more money to spend the GTX 1070 would give you more future headroom. Both would allow you play games at ULTRA coupled with more memory and a clocked CPU.

RX 580 and a GTX 1070 examples below:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 Gaming 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £259.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Windforce 2x 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £379.99

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[BusterGendo]

Thanks a lot for the help. I think I'll go for a GPU less than £300 since I also want to pick up some RAM (any recommendations there?).
Also, could you point me to a couple of resources on how to safely overclock the CPU?

Thanks again ^^

 

[Plec]

Thanks a lot for the help. I think I'll go for a GPU less than £300 since I also want to pick up some RAM (any recommendations there?).

As you've had success with Team Group I would stick to the same brand:

Whichever you prefer for your budget - you may hit 2400Mhz (if you feel the extra £10 is worth it)

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-17100C11 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED316G2133HC11ADC0= £109.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan RED 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (TLRED316G2400HC11CDC0= £119.99

​

Also, could you point me to a couple of resources on how to safely overclock the CPU?

Thanks again ^^

Sure, I'll source some later...

 

[Plec]

Also, could you point me to a couple of resources on how to safely overclock the CPU?

Here are 2 very good guides for clocking Haswell with the Gigabyte Z87 boards:

• Clicky 1
• Clicky 2

 

[BusterGendo]

That's awesome. Thanks for everything ^^

 

[Plec]

That's awesome. Thanks for everything ^^

No worries - best of luck with it.

 

[pastymuncher]

Just for future reference, your board cannot do SLI and only does Crossfire at 16x/4x and that 4x slot is also only PCI-e 2.0 (the main 16x slot is PCI-e 3.0). A single card is always the best option anyway and a single GTX1060 or AMD RX580 can easily handle 1080p.