pc build/upgrade

M

Metalhead4ever

Bronze Level Poster
Hello I wish to upgrade or just build from new, what’s your opinion is it better to upgrade or build from new. My pc might be too old now, here are the specs:

Case; COOLERMASTER CM STORM TROOPER - GAMING ENTHUSIAST CASE
Processor (CPU); Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-3770 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard; ASUS® P8Z77-V: PCI-E 3.0 READY, WIFI, SLI, CROSSFIREX
Memory (RAM); 16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (4 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card; 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 690 DUAL GPU - 3 x DVI-I, 1 x mDP
1st Hard Disk; 120GB INTEL® 520 SERIES SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk; 1TB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD1002FAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive; 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader; INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply; CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR
Processor Cooling; Super Quiet 22dBA Triple Copper Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Sound Card; Creative Sound Blaster ZxR 5.1 PCI-E Soundcard
Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64

My pc has faults, The 3 issues I have is, the pc turns its self on randomly. When I turn the pc off the red light on the card reader sometimes stays on and turns itself on when it does.
Also I have a clicking sound, I think it’s the fan and the last issue I have is that my keyboard and mouse disconnects while in use.

as for the games I wish to play obduction, the witness and Quern on max settings.

Here are the specs:

Obduction:
OS: Windows 10 64 bit
Processor: CPU Intel i5-4590 equivalent or better
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970 w/4 GB / AMD R9 290 w/4 GB equivalent or better
Storage: 20 GB available space
Additional Notes: For VR: NVIDIA 980/1060 or AMD Fury (equivalent or greater)

The witness:
RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: 2.4GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: GeForce 780
DirectX: Version 10
Storage: 5 GB available space

Quern:
RECOMMENDED:
OS: 7
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K or AMD equivalent
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 950
Storage: 7 GB available space

Also what monitor would you recommend?
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Are you running Windows 10 now? And if so, had you upgraded or did you perform a clean install?

Your base build seems fine. The GTX 690 is still a fairly powerful card, since it's basically two 680s in SLI. However it is quite limited in VRAM (it effectively only has 2gb) and not all games make good use of SLI.

Your CPU is still quite powerful and shouldn't be an issue in most games.

In your position I'd be tempted to try to fix the issues and just add a new GPU, depending on your budget.
Then, if it turns out that your system's problems can't be resolved or you just really want to upgrade, you can just buy/ build a new PC without a GPU and just add what you buy now into that.
 
M

Metalhead4ever

Bronze Level Poster
Oussebon said:
Are you running Windows 10 now? And if so, had you upgraded or did you perform a clean install?

Your base build seems fine. The GTX 690 is still a fairly powerful card, since it's basically two 680s in SLI. However it is quite limited in VRAM (it effectively only has 2gb) and not all games make good use of SLI.

Your CPU is still quite powerful and shouldn't be an issue in most games.

In your position I'd be tempted to try to fix the issues and just add a new GPU, depending on your budget.
Then, if it turns out that your system's problems can't be resolved or you just really want to upgrade, you can just buy/ build a new PC without a GPU and just add what you buy now into that.
Click to expand...

i do not have windows ten yet, will get it soon. would the graphics GeForce GTX 1060 6GB be good for this set up?
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I would have thought so. You could even consider a GTX 1070, which would be even more of an upgrade. The i7 3770 is still a decent gaming CPU.

e.g:

CPU_03.png
As you can see, it has no problems feeding even a £550/600 beast of a GPU like a GTX 1080.


You might only expect to experience performance drops in a few, particularly CPU-bound, games.
 
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M

Metalhead4ever

Bronze Level Poster
Oussebon said:
I would have thought so. You could even consider a GTX 1070, which would be even more of an upgrade. The i7 3770 is still a decent gaming CPU.

e.g:

View attachment 9766
As you can see, it has no problems feeding even a £550/600 beast of a GPU like a GTX 1080.


You might only expect to experience performance drops in a few, particularly CPU-bound, games.
Click to expand...

As a noob would it be easy to install the card by myself?
 
M

Metalhead4ever

Bronze Level Poster
Oussebon said:
Yes.

A lot of people who buy power gaming PCs will then upgrade the GPU every couple of years. It's quite normal.

There are probably hundreds of videos out there that show how. Here's one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyDxrTHDjXQ
Click to expand...

could you link me to the card GTX 1070 on amazon? (is it this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-STRIX...=UTF8&qid=1487431740&sr=1-1&keywords=GTX+1070)

Also would i have to remove my sound card to make room for the graphics card to fit in the slots?
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
That depends where your sound card is installed. The GTX 1070 Strix is only dual-slot thickness though, so it should be no thicker than your current GPU (some GPUs take up 3 PCI-E slots in size because of giant coolers - the Strix doesn't afaik).

could you link me to the card GTX 1070 on amazon
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what you're asking. There are a lot of different brands and models of GTX 1070.
EVGA has 13 models, Asus has 5, Gigabyte has 8, plus MSI, Palit, Zotac, Inno3D, Galax, and more no doubt.

The Strix is quite popular, but if you google you can find GTX 1070s for £50-70 less and there many not be much performance difference between them.
 
M

Metalhead4ever

Bronze Level Poster
Metalhead4ever said:
could you link me to the card GTX 1070 on amazon? (is it this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-STRIX...=UTF8&qid=1487431740&sr=1-1&keywords=GTX+1070)

Also would i have to remove my sound card to make room for the graphics card to fit in the slots?
Click to expand...

the reason i ask is that when i try to upgarde to a gtx 1070 on pc specialist it says this:
Checking your specification...Your specification failed our initial checks.
We've checked your specification for compatibility. Please see our suggestions below:
The graphics card you have selected is a performance graphics card, and it occupies 2 slots on your motherboard. Unfortunately this means that you have one less PCI-E slot available, giving you a total of 0 PCI-E slots.

You have currently selected 1 PCI-E devices:

Creative Sound Blaster ZxR 5.1 PCI-E Soundcard

Please reduce the selection to 0 PCI-E devices, or alternatively select a lower performance graphics card that occupies only one slot.

PS I thought that the gtx where only down to one pacific brand that’s how much of a noob I am.
 
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Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
the reason i ask is that when i try to upgarde to a gtx 1070 on pc specialist it says this:
Checking your specification...Your specification failed our initial checks.
We've checked your specification for compatibility. Please see our suggestions below:
The graphics card you have selected is a performance graphics card, and it occupies 2 slots on your motherboard. Unfortunately this means that you have one less PCI-E slot available, giving you a total of 0 PCI-E slots.

You have currently selected 1 PCI-E devices:

Creative Sound Blaster ZxR 5.1 PCI-E Soundcard
Click to expand...
I don't know why it says that. But if your system can handle a GTX 690, it can handle a 1070. The upgrade section would appear to be talking rubbish.
 
M

Metalhead4ever

Bronze Level Poster
Metalhead4ever said:
the reason i ask is that when i try to upgarde to a gtx 1070 on pc specialist it says this:
Checking your specification...Your specification failed our initial checks.
We've checked your specification for compatibility. Please see our suggestions below:
The graphics card you have selected is a performance graphics card, and it occupies 2 slots on your motherboard. Unfortunately this means that you have one less PCI-E slot available, giving you a total of 0 PCI-E slots.

You have currently selected 1 PCI-E devices:

Creative Sound Blaster ZxR 5.1 PCI-E Soundcard

Please reduce the selection to 0 PCI-E devices, or alternatively select a lower performance graphics card that occupies only one slot.

PS I thought that the gtx where only down to one pacific brand that’s how much of a noob I am.
Click to expand...
Hi when I upgrade to the gtx 1070 should a upgrade my monitor? I cuttingly have the BenQ XL2720Z 27: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HYX1XCK/ref=pe_385721_51767431_TE_dp_1. Should I go from 1080 to a 1440? Or should I just stick to my current monitor?

kind regards
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I'd probably stick with the current monitor. It's a high refresh rate one so you'll be getting some benefit out of the high FPS produced by the 1070. You can always see how you get on and go for 1440p in the future if you want, but I'd certainly give it a go with your current screen before making a decision.

The GTX 1080 ti GPU is coming out in a week or so (it's been announced it's just not on sale yet). This GPU is really excessive for your needs, but the GTX 1080 is getting a price cut. The GTX 1070 isn't officially getting a price cut, but the lower prices of 1080s may squish the 1070 down a bit. You may therefore want to shop around to make sure you get the best deal :)
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Metalhead4ever said:
Could you recommend a monitor? How much should my budget be? I was looking to spend about £300, would this be a fair budget.
Click to expand...

That budget rather restricts options to the point where you're probably better off with you existing monitor.
As Oussebon says in that case I'd stick with your current and save up to nearer £500 and get a high refresh 1440p Gsync monitor to make the most out it.
 
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