Tips for Gaming Rig UPGRADE

[64K]

what I meant to say is how do they compare?
on the web, I've read that the cards are more noisy, and less performing... less bang/buck is that true? I've read that r9 290s and 290x perform better at high res but not so much at 1080p (which is my main purpose)

I haven't gotten the chance yet, but tomorrow morning I'll check the benchmarks...

*** EDIT: Am I glad I did some reading on the web... I found out the R9 290x dropped to around 350$ in reaction to the gtx 970s... ***

EDIT 2: MORE findings: http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-radeon-r9-290x-oc-95-93519-1246.htm

and I guess you were right about the $$$ upscale... look at what I found:
http://www.amazon.ca/GEFORCE-GTX-VIDADPT-GDDR5-HDMI/dp/B00NJ9BJ8G/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1413538300&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx 970

Taking into account the current exchange rate in Canadian dollars the ASUS GTX 970 would be the equivalent of $429 here in the USA which is a rip off and the R9 290X would be the equivalent of $320. The R9 290X would be a better deal for you obviously.

 

[GhostRyder]

what I meant to say is how do they compare?
on the web, I've read that the cards are more noisy, and less performing... less bang/buck is that true?

What you are referring to is that the reference blower model was a bit loud for people mostly because the expectations from the recent GTX titan cooler made any blower seem pitiful compared to it. The blowers are loud don't get me wrong, but the aftermarkets cool great and leave nothing to be desired temp, noise, and performance wise.

I've read that r9 290s and 290x perform better at high res but not so much at 1080p (which is my main purpose)
I haven't gotten the chance yet, but tomorrow morning I'll check the benchmarks...

What people mean is that the 290/290x both are very well designed to handle up to UHD (still need a pair of them of course up there). At 1080p I can safely tell you even down to the R9 280 (Now 285) will max a game at 1080p so I would not even worry. A lot of times what people mean is at 1080p the GTX 780ti beat the R9 290X at 1080p while the 290X wins at UHD and they break about even at 1440p. All cards at this point pretty much 270X and above (Or 760 and above) can run 1080p Ultra pretty easily.

*** EDIT: Am I glad I did some reading on the web... I found out the R9 290x dropped to around 350$ in reaction to the gtx 970s... ***

EDIT 2: MORE findings: http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-radeon-r9-290x-oc-95-93519-1246.htm

and I guess you were right about the $$$ upscale... look at what I found:
http://www.amazon.ca/GEFORCE-GTX-VIDADPT-GDDR5-HDMI/dp/B00NJ9BJ8G/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1413538300&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx 970

http://www.amazon.ca/GEFORCE-GTX-VI...e=UTF8&qid=1413538300&sr=1-2&keywords=gtx+970
Yea it happens when demand gets unusually high for cards and supply is short. Happened with the 290 and 290X last round to the point where I got my trio luckily (Reference PowerColor 290X OC editions) for $530 a piece on sale on newegg only like 3 weeks maybe more after launch and right after I bought the three (2 separate orders because of the 2 per customer limit lol) the price jacked up to $600. Could have actually sold them for a profit on ebay at one point but chose to hold onto them.

 

[jonathan1107]

What you are referring to is that the reference blower model was a bit loud for people mostly because the expectations from the recent GTX titan cooler made any blower seem pitiful compared to it. The blowers are loud don't get me wrong, but the aftermarkets cool great and leave nothing to be desired temp, noise, and performance wise.


What people mean is that the 290/290x both are very well designed to handle up to UHD (still need a pair of them of course up there). At 1080p I can safely tell you even down to the R9 280 (Now 285) will max a game at 1080p so I would not even worry. A lot of times what people mean is at 1080p the GTX 780ti beat the R9 290X at 1080p while the 290X wins at UHD and they break about even at 1440p. All cards at this point pretty much 270X and above (Or 760 and above) can run 1080p Ultra pretty easily.


Yea it happens when demand gets unusually high for cards and supply is short. Happened with the 290 and 290X last round to the point where I got my trio luckily (Reference PowerColor 290X OC editions) for $530 a piece on sale on newegg only like 3 weeks maybe more after launch and right after I bought the three (2 separate orders because of the 2 per customer limit lol) the price jacked up to $600. Could have actually sold them for a profit on ebay at one point but chose to hold onto them.

so.... Do you think I should grab that R9 290x (that specific model seems to have gotten SOME bad reviews... complaints about artifacts and stuff...) Do you guys know this specific card I linked? Is it a safe buy? or should I wait for websites to "re-stock" the gtx 970?

because ALL the other r9 290x on the websites I use ALL cost around 450$+

EDIT: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-GeForce-GTX-970

 

[GhostRyder]

so.... Do you think I should grab that R9 290x (that specific model seems to have gotten SOME bad reviews... complaints about artifacts and stuff...) Do you guys know this specific card I linked? Is it a safe buy? or should I wait for websites to "re-stock" the gtx 970?

because ALL the other r9 290x on the websites I use ALL cost around 450$+

EDIT: http://gpuboss.com/gpus/Radeon-R9-290X-vs-GeForce-GTX-970

Well if the price is that much different then I would because also the 290x is still slightly more powerful than a 970.

As far as artifacting and such go I have heard some had issues but its not a rampant problem and more of cheap parts on some different cards (Many were because of the Ram and some poor quality ram that did not take the speed they were supposed to run at well). The recent variants from some of the companies that had those issues do not display the problem anymore so do not worry. That Gigabyte is very nice, cool and quiet as well and a very good card to boot. I generally still say that TRIXX/VaporX from sapphire cooler is a bit better overall but Gigabyte Windforce is still also a top dog out there.

For that price comparing the two, I would definitely get the Gigabyte and you would not have any more to worry about than with any other card or company. You get the same warranty in the end as well if a problem did arise but I would highly doubt any problems would arise from that windforce card!

 

[jonathan1107]

Well if the price is that much different then I would because also the 290x is still slightly more powerful than a 970.

As far as artifacting and such go I have heard some had issues but its not a rampant problem and more of cheap parts on some different cards (Many were because of the Ram and some poor quality ram that did not take the speed they were supposed to run at well). The recent variants from some of the companies that had those issues do not display the problem anymore so do not worry. That Gigabyte is very nice, cool and quiet as well and a very good card to boot. I generally still say that TRIXX/VaporX from sapphire cooler is a bit better overall but Gigabyte Windforce is still also a top dog out there.

For that price comparing the two, I would definitely get the Gigabyte and you would not have any more to worry about than with any other card or company. You get the same warranty in the end as well if a problem did arise but I would highly doubt any problems would arise from that windforce card!

well I didn't mean to upset that guy (eidairaman1).... In fact I have a history of making better decisions because I come hear to get some wisdom before I actually spend my money. "with more adivsors, projects succeed"

And this is my last post on this thread actually, because I've gotten all the info I needed, I'm going to link the r9 290x deals I've found to make the best decision (out of em all)
If you got time, take a quick look and let me know if you'D spend the little extra $$ for one of them or strick to the gygabite (at 359$)

1. http://www.amazon.ca/XFX-Double-947...e=UTF8&qid=1413557319&sr=1-4&keywords=r9+290x
2. http://www.ncix.com/detail/club3d-radeon-r9-290x-royalking-9c-94194.htm
3. http://www.ncix.com/detail/club-3d-radeon-r9-290x-20-94997.htm
4. http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-radeon-r9-290x-oc-95-93519-1246.htm (the one we've been talking about)
5. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX50725
6. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9085845&CatId=7387
7. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8883738&CatId=7387 (I lovvvveee ASUS, dont know how good that one is tho)
8. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8857305&CatId=7387
   
9. http://www.1c2c.com/ecuisp/~1c2c/le...t.ca&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=january+2012 (same msi card, better deal tho)

 

[eidairaman1]

Well with the info you have, i already stated what takes up 3 pci slots and what doesnt, the 290 Sapphire I have runs well. As a matter of fact ive never had a faulty sapphire board

 

[GhostRyder]

well I didn't mean to upset that guy (eidairaman1).... In fact I have a history of making better decisions because I come hear to get some wisdom before I actually spend my money. "with more adivsors, projects succeed"

And this is my last post on this thread actually, because I've gotten all the info I needed, I'm going to link the r9 290x deals I've found to make the best decision (out of em all)
If you got time, take a quick look and let me know if you'D spend the little extra $$ for one of them or strick to the gygabite (at 359$)

1. http://www.amazon.ca/XFX-Double-947MHz-Graphics-R9290AEDFD/dp/B00HHIPM5Q/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1413557319&sr=1-4&keywords=r9 290x
2. http://www.ncix.com/detail/club3d-radeon-r9-290x-royalking-9c-94194.htm
3. http://www.ncix.com/detail/club-3d-radeon-r9-290x-20-94997.htm
4. http://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-radeon-r9-290x-oc-95-93519-1246.htm (the one we've been talking about)
5. http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX50725
6. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9085845&CatId=7387
7. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8883738&CatId=7387 (I lovvvveee ASUS, dont know how good that one is tho)
8. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8857305&CatId=7387
   
9. http://www.1c2c.com/ecuisp/~1c2c/lec/plugin/index/framePage.jsp?location=../product/productDetail.jsp?productId=1533702&utm_source=pricebat.ca&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=january+2012 (same msi card, better deal tho)

In order here is what I think about each of those price and cooler attached and an order of what I would pick at the end:
1: XFX DD is great actually this round but still not my favorite of the coolers especially at that price. 5
2: Similar to the PowerColor Turbo Duo which is decent but a little louder than some of the others (Its basically my GPU's from PowerColor but with a dual fan cooler over the reference which is better but not great). 7
3: Great Cooler and great overclock already, good choice in all honesty especially for the price and the bundle. 2
4: Cheapest here and a great value with a great cooler. Not much to say other than a good overall card. 1
5: Funny thing is I have seen and read that this cooler could be the quietest of the whole lot. Not sure how HIS did it but the reviews stated that this cooler is great and keeps the card cool and quiet which shocked me to say the least. Its not the most powerful cooler of the bunch but it manages to deliver quiet high performance and low temps. Greatly recommended for that alone. 3
6: PCS+ is PowerColors top Single one and its a good cooler. The reviews put it around all the other 3 slot coolers but I liked the Sapphire TRIXX/VaportX and Gigabyte board a bit better especially when we factor price in. 6
7: Not very impressed with Asus with this cooler on any of the cards. I have seen it performing pretty poorly overall and a bit noisy sadly which is something that shocked me considering its Asus. The Matrix Variant resolves that but the DC II is not a great cooler with this card (Its not bad its just not one of my top picks). 8
8: Always a great choice, I have a friend who has 4 of these running together and they actually keep cool all the while not being extremely loud (Its 4 so you cannot expect them to be silent of course lol). 4
9: Not sure at all, the name is a bit confusing because its says R9 290 and then 290X so I would avoid personally. 9

 

[eidairaman1]

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4885#pg

 

[jonathan1107]

Well I'm going to post this for future reference just in case:

I came down to a choice between 2 cards:

A-power.com have 1x msi gaming twinfrozr GTX 970 in stock and are price matching ncix.com (419.199$) (shipping is 25$) total 529$ CDN
or I could go with the gigabyte r9 290x at 359.99$ that ALSO comes with free shipping lol... for a total of 377.96$ CDN

so the things that attract me to the msi twinfrzr gtx 970 instead of the gigabyte r9 290x are the following:

- color scheme fits my case better
- generally like nvidia driver support better (although that is my personal experience, not to be considered as a fact but just my perception of things)
- PHYSX and TESSELLATION support (which I know is eye candy, but I do happen to like eye candy)

 

[Frag_Maniac]

I'd seriously consider just getting another 670 to hold you until Pascal, Skylake and 1151. They start at around $190 or so.

There's going to be some major changes with the 2015/2016 component advances. DDR4, unified memory, Dx12. Sure, the Nvidia 900 series supports Dx12, but they won't likely make as good use of it without NVLink and unified memory. Besides, we won't even SEE Dx12 games until these other components release about the time W10 comes around. First Dx12 games are slated for holiday season 2015.

And yes, you can go DDR4 now, but only on the expensive 2011 platform, and we'll no doubt see drops in latency and prices on DDR4 soon. The 1151 platform is going to support DDR4, as well as the Skylake CPUs, which will launch with k series chips. When it comes to platform changes, timing is everything. Don't end up regretting your decision.

Example of CPU usage percentage with i7 875k and 670 SLI setup:
https://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2832654490149255224/

 

[jonathan1107]

well I went with the wisest option, even though I really felt like going with the gtx 970 (msi gaming) and got myself the r9 290x on ncix at a reasonnable price.
I do agree with you though that's it's better to wait for ddr4, 4k, dx 12 and stuff to get proper hardware and optimizations... but the gtx 970 and r9 290x series look affordable to me considering the r9 290x were 600$+ not so long ago... 377$ CDN sounds ok

although I do hate the fact that I don't get physx and tessellation support the way nvidia can provide it but ...
had to make a choice

 

[64K]

well I went with the wisest option, even though I really felt like going with the gtx 970 (msi gaming) and got myself the r9 290x on ncix at a reasonnable price.
I do agree with you though that's it's better to wait for ddr4, 4k, dx 12 and stuff to get proper hardware and optimizations... but the gtx 970 and r9 290x series look affordable to me considering the r9 290x were 600$+ not so long ago... 377$ CDN sounds ok

although I do hate the fact that I don't get physx and tessellation support the way nvidia can provide it but ...
had to make a choice

Well at 1080p you should be good for 2 years which was your plan. Upgrading is a never ending thing if you want to stay at max settings. I think you got a pretty good deal on that R9 290X.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

well I went with the wisest option, even though I really felt like going with the gtx 970 (msi gaming) and got myself the r9 290x on ncix at a reasonnable price.
I do agree with you though that's it's better to wait for ddr4, 4k, dx 12 and stuff to get proper hardware and optimizations... but the gtx 970 and r9 290x series look affordable to me considering the r9 290x were 600$+ not so long ago... 377$ CDN sounds ok

although I do hate the fact that I don't get physx and tessellation support the way nvidia can provide it but ...
had to make a choice

The only slight problem I see with that decision, other than what I mentioned, is that nearing Pascal, and whatever AMD comes up with at the time, a 900 series Nvidia card will likely have better resale value than the 290x.

The resale difference may be a wash considering the up front price comparisons though. Congrats on your shiny new GPU though. I'm sure it will smoke the 670.

 

[jonathan1107]

The only slight problem I see with that decision, other than what I mentioned, is that nearing Pascal, and whatever AMD comes up with at the time, a 900 series Nvidia card will likely have better resale value than the 290x.

The resale difference may be a wash considering the up front price comparisons though. Congrats on your shiny new GPU though. I'm sure it will smoke the 670.

yeah, thanks, I'm gonna go ahead and order the other parts.

 

[jonathan1107]

any recommendations for the RAM to go with the MSI gaming 5 z97 motherboard. I'm trying to get stuff that matches. I've reverted and went with the msi gaming gtx 970 and that mobo along with the i5 4690k. Now I gotta find me that swifttech cooler and some cool looking ram

EDIT: is 8gb fine for gaming? any good CAS/speed ram recommendation? (black and red color preference)

 

[GhostRyder]

any recommendations for the RAM to go with the MSI gaming 5 z97 motherboard. I'm trying to get stuff that matches. I've reverted and went with the msi gaming gtx 970 and that mobo along with the i5 4690k. Now I gotta find me that swifttech cooler and some cool looking ram

EDIT: is 8gb fine for gaming? any good CAS/speed ram recommendation? (black and red color preference)

Black and red I assume based on the motherboard? Gskill Sniper or Gskill Trident X perhaps?

 

[jonathan1107]

Black and red I assume based on the motherboard? Gskill Sniper or Gskill Trident X perhaps?

Gskill trident do have the colors, but I'm not a big fan of the looks... Gskill sniper does have the right colors too, but I don't quite like the looks either... it's probably gonna end up being straight red ram (corsair vengeance that is)

question: Which is better? (considering my mobo choice and CPU choice)

1600 mhz RAM at CAS 9 (or 8 if I'm lucky... perhaps 7)
or 2133mhz RAM at CAS 11 (or is there anything lower)

Corsair Vengeance RED sticks that is.

 

[eidairaman1]

My 2133 gskill rpijaws x run at 9 11 11 31

Gskill trident do have the colors, but I'm not a big fan of the looks... Gskill sniper does have the right colors too, but I don't quite like the looks either... it's probably gonna end up being straight red ram (corsair vengeance that is)

question: Which is better? (considering my mobo choice and CPU choice)

1600 mhz RAM at CAS 9 (or 8 if I'm lucky... perhaps 7)
or 2133mhz RAM at CAS 11 (or is there anything lower)

Corsair Vengeance RED sticks that is.

 

[jonathan1107]

My 2133 gskill rpijaws x run at 9 11 11 31

thats pretty good. considering I'd be running with an i5 4690k, go with super low CAS 1600mhz ram? or 2133 mhz ram with CAS 10-11?

 

[GhostRyder]

Gskill trident do have the colors, but I'm not a big fan of the looks... Gskill sniper does have the right colors too, but I don't quite like the looks either... it's probably gonna end up being straight red ram (corsair vengeance that is)

question: Which is better? (considering my mobo choice and CPU choice)

1600 mhz RAM at CAS 9 (or 8 if I'm lucky... perhaps 7)
or 2133mhz RAM at CAS 11 (or is there anything lower)

Corsair Vengeance RED sticks that is.

Well speed beyond 1600 for gaming (and not using the integrated GPU) gives lackluster returns and makes almost no difference. My advice is too look for 8gb DDR3 1866 at cas latency 9-10 because that is a sweet point in price right now at least around here.

I will say corsair vengeance is awesome ram (current system actually) but my favorite ran of all time comes from Gskill. The trident X series is some of the best ram I have ever used and I have never had one u satisfying set along with the sniper. The trident also allows the top to be taken off easily if that is what bugs you and it becomes low profile.

 

[m&m's]

any recommendations for the RAM to go with the MSI gaming 5 z97 motherboard. I'm trying to get stuff that matches. I've reverted and went with the msi gaming gtx 970 and that mobo along with the i5 4690k. Now I gotta find me that swifttech cooler and some cool looking ram

EDIT: is 8gb fine for gaming? any good CAS/speed ram recommendation? (black and red color preference)

To me, this is not the best upgrade you could have done. A GTX 970 + a 500GB SSD (to get rid of this RAID 0) + another 8GB of ram would have gave you a better overall feeling and better responsiveness. Going from 4c/8t to 4c/4t with a newer architecture wont give you a hell of a difference, you might gain 1 or 2fps in some games, but will lose a lot in anything else that is multithreaded. The beauty of this is that you'll be able to upgrade your mobo, cpu and ram for DDR4 in 1, 2 or 3 years and you'll keep that nice SSD.

Intel Core i5 4690K = $259.99
Crucial MX100 512GB = $239.99

I do understand that you might just want to upgrade for the sake of it, but I wanted to share my taught.

Speaking of ram, anything beyond 1600MHz wont give you any perceptible gain anywhere else then in benchmarks.

 

[jonathan1107]

To me, this is not the best upgrade you could have done. A GTX 970 + a 500GB SSD (to get rid of this RAID 0) + another 8GB of ram would have gave you a better overall feeling and better responsiveness. Going from 4c/8t to 4c/4t with a newer architecture wont give you a hell of a difference, you might gain 1 or 2fps in some games, but will lose a lot in anything else that is multithreaded. The beauty of this is that you'll be able to upgrade your mobo, cpu and ram for DDR4 in 1, 2 or 3 years and you'll keep that nice SSD.

Intel Core i5 4690K = $259.99
Crucial MX100 512GB = $239.99

I do understand that you might just want to upgrade for the sake of it, but I wanted to share my taught.

Speaking of ram, anything beyond 1600MHz wont give you any perceptible gain anywhere else then in benchmarks.

well considering I was running a 1st gen i7 which tends to heat up way more than the i5 4690k (or even the 4790k for this matter), I can run a way smoother overclock and get it at 4.5-4.6ghz instead of maxing at 3.6-3.7ghz on the i7 875k (at way higher temps too) and I gotta say, there aren't many games out there that truly take advantage of the "Hyper-threading" features... so paying for a hyper-threaded CPU for gaming actually means spending 100-150$ more for a little added feature (useful for data transfers, video or photo editing and other heavy and intensive tasks which can take advantage of the HT feature much more than gaming ever does atm)

so yeah, in my mind I'm upgrading 3 generations up and getting a almost 1k hz increase on the clock with better power consumption and better temps, just that is enough to warrant the upgrade. Because you see, many video games are not optimized properly... sometimes they're what people call a "port" and my i7 875k was often bottlenecking my performances (which I'm quite sure was because more stress was put on the CPU because it had to do more work cause the games I play sometimes barely use my GPU cores beyond 30% usage...)

long story short, Yes an SSD definitly would be welcome, they're still quite expensive though... and I can survive the 3-9 seconds more I'll have to spend on loading screens every now and then

 

[ogharaei]

oh ok good. what do you think about the asus mobo (hero vii)
or the msi gaming mobo?

just out of curiosity... as for the evga superclocked... I heard it was quite noisy compared to other cards... How much better is the ACX 2.0 new cooler?

Apparently still pretty noisy:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/24.html

 

[m&m's]

well considering I was running a 1st gen i7 which tends to heat up way more than the i5 4690k (or even the 4790k for this matter), I can run a way smoother overclock and get it at 4.5-4.6ghz instead of maxing at 3.6-3.7ghz on the i7 875k (at way higher temps too) and I gotta say, there aren't many games out there that truly take advantage of the "Hyper-threading" features... so paying for a hyper-threaded CPU for gaming actually means spending 100-150$ more for a little added feature (useful for data transfers, video or photo editing and other heavy and intensive tasks which can take advantage of the HT feature much more than gaming ever does atm)

What I'm saying is that you don't need to spend $100-150 more and even save $260 + Mobo because you already have a decent CPU. I also am not sure that a i7 875K @3.7GHz really heat that more than a i5 4690K @4.6GHz, both needs a pretty good cooling system. Take a look here: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_4670K_and_i7_4770K_Comparison/9.html, using a EK-KIT L360 @4.2GHz, his temps were of 75°C.

so yeah, in my mind I'm upgrading 3 generations up and getting a almost 1k hz increase on the clock with better power consumption and better temps, just that is enough to warrant the upgrade. Because you see, many video games are not optimized properly... sometimes they're what people call a "port" and my i7 875k was often bottlenecking my performances (which I'm quite sure was because more stress was put on the CPU because it had to do more work cause the games I play sometimes barely use my GPU cores beyond 30% usage...)

If only 30% was used it was not caused by the CPU because if it was, the CPU load would be at 100% while your GPU would be at 30%. A lot of reasons could have caused your GPU to only be used slightly, might be because you had some kind of a V-Sync enabled or the game was made this way, for example some games never exceed 60fps whatever the settings, which cause your GPU to be used only at half of it's capacities.

You will see gains with a i5 4690K, but only in some games like Skyrim and SC2. What would have gave you the best performances in most games would have been a GTX 980 + old gen i7.

 

[jonathan1107]

What I'm saying is that you don't need to spend $100-150 more and even save $260 + Mobo because you already have a decent CPU. I also am not sure that a i7 875K @3.7GHz really heat that more than a i5 4690K @4.6GHz, both needs a pretty good cooling system. Take a look here: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_4670K_and_i7_4770K_Comparison/9.html, using a EK-KIT L360 @4.2GHz, his temps were of 75°C.



If only 30% was used it was not caused by the CPU because if it was, the CPU load would be at 100% while your GPU would be at 30%. A lot of reasons could have caused your GPU to only be used slightly, might be because you had some kind of a V-Sync enabled or the game was made this way, for example some games never exceed 60fps whatever the settings, which cause your GPU to be used only at half of it's capacities.

You will see gains with a i5 4690K, but only in some games like Skyrim and SC2. What would have gave you the best performances in most games would have been a GTX 980 + old gen i7.

yup it all makes sense, and yet, indeed the i7 875k was indeed holding me back... the i7 875k refused to be stable beyond 3.7ghz, heat gets out of hand even though I've been using an all in one water cooler, and yes, with some of my tests, v-sync off there have been times when it felt like too much weight was put onto the CPU... (which is a known issue with games like skyrim which is a very CPU bound game... for instance)

So yeah, it should be noted that the only item I have ordered up to now is the MSI gaming gtx 970, which certainly is an upgrade from my gtx 670. I could indeed have gone with another gtx 670, but god knows sli or CFX can't always yield 2x performance (scaling is as unpredictable as the weather when it comes to games lol...) I have had 2x radeon 6950 in CF-X in the past and I hated the experience, never again... I'd much rather have a single strong gpu than multiple ones that heavily depend on driver support which God knows ain't always there. Just thinking about the witcher 2 and the awful scaling issues brings some frustration back lol...

And of course @ 4.6ghz I do expect the temps on the i5 4690k to be high at times, that's still 900mhz more speed on the CPU... and knowing myself, I'd rather OC to 4.4ghz if it means cooler temps. I do think that @ the time when I first purchased my gear, I didn't know what I was doing...

Getting an i7 when gaming was my main purpose, should have saved 150$ and put it on a better GPU than what I got at the time... should also have invested in a better cooler had I known... but I was quite the amateur. Now you might think a lot of things about my choices, but in the end, isn't it a question of personal preference? Some people keep the same computer untouched for 10 years + and some poeple like me LOVE upgrading every 2 year... I happen to very much like computer hardware, if upgrading more often means more time spent studying and acquiring knowledge about it, then so be it