[Duke of Hazzard]

What I currently have:

Asus P8Z68 Deluxe
Intel i7-2600 @ 3.4GHz (not a k, I know... I was pissed off when I learned this)
ATI HD6970 2GB
8GB RAM

What I want: to run Watch_Dogs and possibly the upcoming AC Unity and GTAV on at least High settings. I know Watch_Dogs is an unoptimized mess, but it looks purdy on High and above, although my PC can't handle it.

For GPU I've settled on the GTX 970... Reasonable price compared to the other options and good performance. (and no, I don't want AMD, I have my reasons for wanting Nvidia including better third-party support, specifically NvInspector)

I will also double my RAM, though I'll get all new chips because, last time I had different chips, two of them crapped on me and I had to remove them.

Finally, I want an SSD for the OS. I will NOT upgrade my HD, though, because it has 2TB capacity and I don't even use half of it despite having tons of music and games in it.

So, what do you guys suggest?

[Rapture Rising]

Duke of Hazzard, on 04 November 2014 - 10:26 PM, said:

What I currently have:

Asus P8Z68 Deluxe
Intel i7-2600 @ 3.4GHz (not a k, I know... I was pissed off when I learned this)
ATI HD6970 2GB
8GB RAM

May i ask was your current PC originally an OEM machine? I ask because my previous PC was a HP Pavillion OEM machine (my brother won it in a competition and gave it to me) which on the website it stated it was a i7 2600k but windows said it was only a 2600.

[Duke of Hazzard]

Rapture Rising, on 05 November 2014 - 03:30 AM, said:

May i ask was your current PC originally an OEM machine? I ask because my previous PC was a HP Pavillion OEM machine (my brother won it in a competition and gave it to me) which on the website it stated it was a i7 2600k but windows said it was only a 2600.

It wasn't. The guy who built it for me was just dumb and got me a k-less 2600.

[Person of Color]

Get an SSD if you don't have one already, keep the CPU, and get a better video card.

That CPU is still plenty fast, bro.

[Duke of Hazzard]

Protected by Viper, on 05 November 2014 - 06:35 PM, said:

Get an SSD if you don't have one already, keep the CPU, and get a better video card.

That CPU is still plenty fast, bro.

Thanks. I wanted to get a new CPU because the 2600, being k-less, is kinda limited OC wise.

What about the mobo?

EDIT: Viper, do you suggest an alternative to the GTX 970? Compared to highend past-gen GPUs, it costs quite a bit less while offering similar performance.

[The Commander]

A SSD and new GPU would be all that's needed for a upgrade here IMO.

[Ronin]

I just upgraded my Studio XPS desktop with an ASUS R9 280x 8gigs of ram and a 750w EUGA bronze power supply. It's the first time I ever tried to install stuff by myself so I'm glad I didn't blow up my pc and everything works fine.

[Person of Color]

Duke of Hazzard, on 05 November 2014 - 07:37 PM, said:

Thanks. I wanted to get a new CPU because the 2600, being k-less, is kinda limited OC wise.

What about the mobo?

EDIT: Viper, do you suggest an alternative to the GTX 970? Compared to highend past-gen GPUs, it costs quite a bit less while offering similar performance.

The only alternative is to wait. If you need Polymer support, Radeons will suck, period. I'm waiting on the new Radeon cards before I sell this 770, if I do. I just have more important things to take care of...like dumping a grand on a new convertible top next spring. And headers. And a tune.

[Person of Color]

Ronan, on 08 November 2014 - 04:23 AM, said:

I just upgraded my Studio XPS desktop with an ASUS R9 280x 8gigs of ram and a 750w EUGA bronze power supply. It's the first time I ever tried to install stuff by myself so I'm glad I didn't blow up my pc and everything works fine.

NEX750B?

I love mine, but the cabling on the newer models feels cheaper to me. I just installed one in a friend's computer. The older model felt like a premium product. It also had more connectivity.

Still, those things are a bargain, and they're made by FSP, who makes very reliable PSU's. I recommend them quite often. Corsair has gone to shit.

What processor do you have?

[Ronin]

I think so, 750 Bronze 2 Hybrid Modular PSU is what it says on the invoice. I wouldn't be the best person to judge whether it's good or not, all I know is it works.
The processor is a AMD Phenom II X6 1090T, stock core speed 3200 MHz, very happy with this setup.
I got the card on Ebay for around 250 euros, the guy had sold a load of stuff and had a 100% record so it seemed like a safe bet.
The card looks to be in mint condition and works fine, apparently he used them for bitcoin mining for a while.
Originally for the pc, I picked the parts I wanted from Dell and had them make it, I would like to give building one myself a shot next, but it won't be for a while as I have what I need at the moment for work and gaming.
Playing Dragon Age Inquisition with most things on Ultra and it's beautiful. Great game by the way, if you like how Mass Effect games dialogue and teamwork play out.

[Person of Color]

I know. I wanna get into DA but I just fucking hate medieval shit. It just doesn't mentally stimulate me at all. I'll just sit back and wait a couple years for my next tatted up space waifu.

[Forge]

Ronan, on 23 November 2014 - 01:11 PM, said:

I think so, 750 Bronze 2 Hybrid Modular PSU is what it says on the invoice. I wouldn't be the best person to judge whether it's good or not, all I know is it works.

it's what i have. solid PSU.

[Person of Color]

Yep, it's my favorite PSU right now. That and the 600B. So cheap, so much quality. The moment EVGA gets a rep for PSU's though they're gonna hike the prices. I'm calling it now.

[Ronin]

Forge, on 23 November 2014 - 08:05 PM, said:

it's what i have. solid PSU.

Cheers, good to know.

[Person of Color]

I recently put an EVGA 600B in a gaming rig that, including a cheap $100 monitor, cost just over a thousand dollars.

$60 power supply, $50 after rebate. Normally I wouldn't do this, but the build and capacitor quality of that unit is awesome for the price, and I came in $10 under budget for the ENTIRE BUILD. It had an i5-4670k and an R9-280X. They use Chinese caps, but they're Teapos, which are very good, closer to the Jap caps in terms of quality. Also it has very low noise and ripple from what I've seen in tests. It used to be you could get a great PSU for $60 and I'm glad to see that EVGA is bringing that back...nothing else in it's price range has a three year warranty. I've also installed two other 600B's, one in a friends machine and one in Coryyne's.

EVGA is making the best PSU's on the market right now, IMO. Once you factor in cost, of course. You can pay A LOT more and get almost no increase in quality. I used a 750G in another build recently, and holy shit, that thing was Seasonic tier, and $30-50 less! Super Flower is an AMAZING OEM.

[Forge]

i've heard Rosewill bronze & higher series stuff is actually decent quality these days. Decently priced and better than anything corsair, antec, raidmax or cool master makes anymore.
they kinda fly under the radar because of the reputation from their junk from over five years ago.

That'd probably be my second choice after EVGA in that price range

[Carl Winslow]

Would the EVGA 850B2 be worth getting? it's pretty nice considering the price point, but the 750 Bronze is literally half the cost. I feel like that's not much of an upgrade though, as I already have a OCz 700w. would it be worth it to go for the 850w instead?

[Robman]

Invest in a $20 watt meter, you ll proabably find your machine uses like 350 watts. A 5-600 watt power supply is likely more than all you need for a normal computer. Paying attention to how many amps are available on the 12v - 5v rails is wise as well.

a 1200 watt power supply is retarded overkill unless you're trying to build your own Watson.

You're not going to notice a performance increase with a larger PSU unless your system has been crashing because your quad SLI setup is starved for amps.
SLI is a good way to piss away money, just buy 1 good video card and call it a day unless you like noise and heat.

[Carl Winslow]

Man I do rendering and stuff with two monitors and shit I kinda need the power.

[Robman]

ok, stab in the dark at your power requirements then.

Providing the specs of your system would be wise. I advise you to go out and buy a 500hp CAT diesel generator after all, more electrical power means faster computer yes?

Seriously though, read up on what the power requirement is for your video card, if you're well above it... you're fine.

Resist the urge to needlessly upgrade your psu because the new one comes in hotrod red with pin stripes.

Blow the dust out of your current psu with compressed air. Do this every 3-6 months and a quality psu will last for eons.

If you have any old psus kicking around, you can turn them into bench supplies and power car stereos in your house n stuff n junk.

[Hendricks266]

I have an upgrade mostly planned out but before I post all the details I'll need to open up my case and confirm what I remember from the last time I opened it.

In the meantime, what are some recommendations for cooling?

[Forge]

Carl Winslow, on 25 November 2014 - 10:38 PM, said:

Would the EVGA 850B2 be worth getting? it's pretty nice considering the price point, but the 750 Bronze is literally half the cost. I feel like that's not much of an upgrade though, as I already have a OCz 700w. would it be worth it to go for the 850w instead?

No. going from a 700w to an 850w is near pointless. If you're convinced you need to something more than 700w, you might as well start looking in the 950-1000w range.

Hendricks266, on 26 November 2014 - 01:12 AM, said:

I have an upgrade mostly planned out but before I post all the details I'll need to open up my case and confirm what I remember from the last time I opened it.

In the meantime, what are some recommendations for cooling?

can't tell if you're being sarcastic because of your vague post.

what is it you're trying to cool? House? Car? Computer component? Cardboard box of cat parts?

[Hendricks266]

I'm going to look at overclocking my i7-920, though I don't know how much that will be possible due to my Gateway OEM motherboard.

So--processor fan?

[Forge]

what i've read on that chip; it'll take over 1.4v vCore to get the top end performance out of it. Lots of heat. Air probably isn't going to cut it. At least not long term.
A good air system if you stay 1.38v or lower - a hyper 212 will work if you have a mid or full atx case
water for anything over that (better safe than having a one-shot toaster)
i don't know much about liquid cooling, but Corsair Hydro series and Cool-Master Seidon series seem reliable. You'd have to see which one will fit your case and is reasonably priced

if you want a good overclock without killing the lifespan of the chip, you can probably get 3.4Ghz on relatively mild volts & bclk settings

those higher volts & multiplier settings are if you want to get that 4.0Ghz (if the chip can get there).

edit:
you should probably wait for the overclock nerd to enlighten us with his wisdom

i tweaked the multipliers and settings on my AMD chip without touching the voltages (except for the ram to 1.65v - because that's the manufacturer's rating). It gave me a 0.9 Ghz boost and didn't change the temps at all (but i started out with a hyper 212).

[Person of Color]

The i7-920 has locked multipliers, so you're gonna have to resort to some trickery.

You may wanna look online for information about your motherboard. Some of those off the shelf systems (Especially the higher end ones) use motherboards from major OEM's and they just have a different BIOS. See if people have had luck reflashing, or if a modded BIOS is available.

I know that Dell has produced XPS systems with overclock settings present in the BIOS, as has Alienware, and since I'm assuming you have a Gateway FX (Hence the LGA1366 chip), it might be worth poking around in there.

Overclocking a 920 is a good bet, and it'll let you skip an upgrade cycle, but if your board ever dies a few years down the road you're pretty much up shit creek unless you can source a good used one off eBay. They're no longer available new as I type this. Just have some money stashed away in case the system takes a shit.