What would you upgrade in my system?

StevieP

StevieP

StevieP

Soldato
Joined
2 Jan 2004
Posts
7,782
Location
Chesterfield
My specs are in my sig and I'm looking at the possibility of getting a 27" or 28" monitor - possibly a 4K panel and I was wondering what the weak point was in my specs for gaming at a higher resolution? (I currently game at 1920x1080)

I know I can overclock my CPU but I've never been that comfortable with overclocking so for the purposes of this, assume I'd be running everything at stock!

Thanks for any pointers....

**** - should have been posted in General hardware, not GD!! - could a mod move this please??
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all of the replies guys!

So in summary we think that the GPU is going to be primary stumbling block to gaming at 1440p (I think I'll kick my 4K dream into touch for the time being!) and the clear choices appear to be either the R9 290 or the GTX970.

So now, and forgive me if this should now become a new thread in the graphics card section, I could do with understanding the difference between these:

MSI Radeon R9 290X LE Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (the one recommended above)

and

Powercolor Radeon R9 290 PCS+ OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (the cheapest R9 290 on OCUK)

As far as I can see from the specs, the cheaper Powercolour card has a higher "core" (1040MHz as opposed to 1020MHz), the memory runs at a higher speed (5400MHz as opposed to 5000MHz) and the only spec that is higher on the MSI card is the "Stream Processors" at 2816 rather than 2560 on the Powercolour - can someone educate me as to what differences these mean in real-world gaming? (ie. why is it worth the extra £52 for the MSI?)

And on top of all this, having read a little about the whole R9 290 vs GTX970 argument, the GTX970 seems to be generally regarded as "better" and from what I've read, is also less power-hungry!
That said, the cheapest GTX970 is the Inno3D GeForce GTX 970 OC 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - same question, is it worth the extra £££??

Thanks for any continued help guys....
 
Lemin said:
970 may not be the best choice if he's getting a 27" or 28" monitor.
Click to expand...

Why?

Vidar said:
I'm no expert but my understanding is Nvidia, like Intel are a leap and bound ahead of their mutual competitor in their respective markets... And it's only if you're planning on mining for bit coins or some other crypto currency that you should consider the AMD card over the Nvidia.

Me personally I would go for the best Nvidia card you can get... either a 970 or if you can push your budget a 980.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-010-GX

This is the one I've got and I'm super happy with it...
Click to expand...

Same question as my post above tbh - I know it's only a tenner or so more than the Inno3D one I linked to but is it worth the extra?
 
Lemin said:
Strange op ignoring my bios post. Check what mobo bios u have. If u have to update it, do it then come here, as these new cards wont work until u have.
Mess it up and its a new mobo on the bill also.
Click to expand...

It wasn't strange - I appreciate the links and may well use them but for the time being your post seemed to indicate that I only needed to update the bios for a 970 to work - which I've not even decided upon!?!?

Thanks for all the advice guys...
 
I'm really not wanting to go down the route of upgrading my CPU, PSU and possibly even the motherboard, especially as the monitor itself will won't be cheap!

So it looks like my best option is to ramp up the frequency on my 2500k and go for either the 970 or R9 290.

Given this route, which would be better suited for gaming at 1440p, ideally without needing a PSU upgrade? (and assuming that my motherboard bios updates OK further to Lemin's advice above!!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom