Build Advice Upgrade advice

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by GMC, 25 Jan 2015.

  1. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    Hi there,

    Been thinking now might be the time for some hardware changes to my rig.

    Have just ordered a new monitor, (34" LG, 21:9, 2560x1080), I watch TV and moves in a 3m screen in 1080p and I don't feel the need for more resolution on the monitor.

    Budget: £400-600
    Main uses of intended build:
    Gaming, Elite dangerous, StarCraft and suchlike. Handbrake transcoding would be good, but I can do that on the htpc if it's not cost effective to cover. My current setup does me fine but I'd like to turn up the graphics settings as far as possible in Elite within the budget.

    Parts required:
    upgrade to sig rig - GPU, CPU (+ cooler), Mobo as recommendations see fit

    Previous build information (list details of parts):
    see rig in signature below

    Monitor resolution:
    2560x1080

    Storage requirements:
    covered by current drives.

    Will you be overclocking:
    no

    Any motherboard requirements (no. of USB, Xfire/SLI, fan headers):
    need 6 USB in rear panel. At least 2 usb3

    Extra information about desired system:
    I have an xonar dg soundcard that I've never got round to installing so would probably be good to stick that in whilst on the bench.

    Any help is appreciated folks. :thumb:
     
    Last edited: 25 Jan 2015
  2. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    nobody has any advice?

    Any comment on the following?
    i5-4690k
    Corsair H55
    Asus z97-k
    Sapphire AMD R9 290 TRI-X
     
  3. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Ditch the 290 and get a 970. Faster, way less power draw. No brainer really at the moment as AMD haven't updated their cards recently (for once AMD and NV aren't releasing cards within a month of each other).

    The rest is just run of the mill decent gaming hardware, which is why you're not getting comments. A 4690K on a Z97 board is fine, the only question being what RAM are you using? 1866Mhz or faster is ideal.
     
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  4. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    Sorry, I've been out of the hardware side for a while and not sure what the current recommendations are. Also never had to worry much about bottlenecking before.

    I was planning to keep the RAM in my current rig - 2x4gb and 2x2gb sticks of 1600Mhz.

    The 970's look like they run a fair bit more expensive, £280ish vs the sapphire r9 290 which I've found for £215. Is the performance 30% better than the AMD? or to put it another way... is the AMD card 25% worse??

    On a related note, if I picked up (either) graphics card first then the CPU bottleneck would only mean that I can't get the most from it right way, right? It would still be better than my HD6850?
     
  5. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    For RAM 1600Mhz will be okay, not quite the sweet spot, but oh well. 12GB is a bit of an odd number ;)

    As to the 290 Tri X, where are you finding £215? Scan are listing the Tri X as £280+, and even their cheapest "on sale" 290 is £230 (for an XFX), with the others averaging £230-240. A 970 is £265 for an EVGA SC ACX. By my maths, that makes the EVGA 970 cheaper than the Sapphire by about £15-20, or £35 more than the cheapest 290.

    As for the performance?
    http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2014/09/19/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-review/8
    The EVGA 970OC ACS scored 58/69 in Crysis 3 according to BitTech. The R90 got 50/62 (average/max). That's a reasonable difference, even at 1080p. Pushing the res to 2560x1440 saw 38/43 against 33/41 - your screen is a bit lower, so you'll see the numbers tick up a bit. Throw in the lower power draw, heat and noise...
     
  6. GeorgeStorm

    GeorgeStorm Aggressive PC Builder

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    Are you looking at 290 cards rather than 290x possibly?

    In general I agree with Cei, rest of the setup sounds decent.
     
  7. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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  8. GeorgeStorm

    GeorgeStorm Aggressive PC Builder

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  9. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    Thanks guys, it is 290 cards I'm looking at rather than 290x.

    Sapphire seem to have the temps under control from reviews it's no hotter than my current card. on the power front, it's also a lot less than the 290x which would take me right into the upper end of my CPU.

    Here's the £215 link - Sshh - don't tell anyone.
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-TR...UTF8&qid=1422282914&sr=8-1&keywords=290+tri+x

    290 make more sense now?
     
  10. mrbungle

    mrbungle Undercooked chicken giver

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    The 290's are within a few % of the 290X so there is no real issue there.

    Cost wise if you can find a 290 for near £200 they are a cracking choice as they really are in the similar ball park of a 970 performance wise.
     
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  11. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    CPU power draw has nothing to do with the GPU - did you mean PSU? If you're continuing it across from your sig build the 650W should be plenty for a 290X.

    £215 is a good price for the 290X, as long as Amazon get stock. I guess it comes down to how highly you're prioritising absolute price/performance. Personally I'd still get the 970, but that's because I cannot abide hot and loud cards. The third party coolers generally have 'tamed' the cards, in terms of dumping heat, but it doesn't stop the basic problem of running hot and guzzling power.

    tl;dr - good buy, your choice!
     
  12. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    Doh, yes i meant PSU, not CPU.

    Cheers, its a 290, not the x but all the reviews seem positive and spec wise the jump does seem to be diving headfirst into diminishing returns. Will have to read up more on the 970 and nvidia software, I know and better and am a little swayed for the inclusion of mantle

    Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
     
  13. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Mantle schmantle. Lots of talk, nothing come of it so far to my knowledge.

    You are absolutely right though, there does always come a point of diminishing returns, it's down to you where your cut off point is.
     
  14. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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  15. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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  16. GMC

    GMC Minimodder

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    See what you mean. Doesn't seem to be much in it between the 2 cards so looking forward to getting exciting deliveries.
    Looking forward to elite not stuttering when I'm bounty hunting in asteroid belts.

    Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
     

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