Upgrade help

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Joined
4 Dec 2007
Posts
47
Hye guys,

So I recently won a Nvidia 980ti and I'm wondering what id need to upgrade on my system to efficiently use it. This is my current system, I also want to upgrade my processor to an i7 soon too to prevent bottlenecking with my new card.

- Case: Antec 300 Gaming Case w/ Green LED Fans
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 650W Power Supply
- CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.10GHz Clarkdale
- Motherboard: Intel H61(Socket 1155) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: 500GB HDD
- Graphics Card: Nvidia 560ti Series DX11 Compatible Graphics Cards
- Sound: Onboard 7.1 Audio
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Thanks in advance guys :)
Dan
 
I've not really thought about it tbh. I was just wondering what I'd need to upgrade to get it to work. I'm in America just now and I will be for Black Friday time (I might die) so I can pick stuff up pretty cheap. I intend on getting an i7 so just wondering what else I'd NEED to upgrade to get it running :)

[mod edit]
 
The reason I wanna go up to i7 is to future proof it a bit. Think that wouldn't be worth it? Would I really need water cooling?

Air cooling is absolutely fine and much easier to install/maintain if you're a little unsure of what you're doing.

I'm confused. Why do you think an i5 will bottleneck you?
 
That cooler is more than easy to install, I would even say its most likely easier to install than say a Hyper evo 212, as its part magnetic.

Oh yeah, pre-built loops like that are the exception. I'm talking full water-cooling kits.
 
Nah I didn't think the i5 would bottleneck me I just wanted to upgrade the 2 pieces of kit to the same level. When I originally planned to upgrade I hadn't won the card so I had got told that I needed to upgrade from an i3 as to not bottleneck a better card. I was just going for the best processor as to make it last longer :)
 
I mean if you all think the i5 would be fine then there's probably no point in spending the extra cash. Would the i5 last for the next 3 or so years?
 
You also need another 8gb of ram.
I would get a compatible i7 cpu for your board and if poss overclock it, an extra 8gb ram and stick in the 980ti this should see you ok. I wouldn't bother getting another motherboard.
 
Yes it is true 16gb is now being utilised by top end and newer games. Well kind of. They will use around 8-12gb and you need some for os and other apps so yh 16gb is the sweet spot. Up until now it was 8gb for a long time.
 
Lets be serious, we're talking about a game that also wasn't running correctly on a Titan X with 12gb of vram, that game has the worst port on the planet.

It's not just limited to one game. If you take ram usage into account on two identical machines, one with 8gb and one with 16gb then games such as witchery 3, battlefront, black ops 3 and even battlefield 4 to some extent will run considerably better. It's only a matter of time before games demand more. Why not get 16gb now while it's cheap?
 
I'll see how much I can get for cheap on Black Friday. My aim for this upgrade is to not have to upgrade it for a few years. I'll probably try pick up SSD too now that they are a bit cheaper
 
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