Looking for some suggestions on an upgrade

TheRagnarok · Oct 17, 2014

Well hi folks!
I haven't put anything into my pc for almost a year and am looking to upgrade in the gpu area
Here are the specs:

Asus P9X79-WS
Intel i7 3820 stock
Corsair H110 AIO water cooler
8 gb (2x 4gb) Gskill snipers 1066 ddr3
Seasonic X-850 Gold PSU
XFX 7970 DD 3gb w/ Arctic Cooling 7970 a.m. cooler
128gb Samsung SSD
640GB WD Black HDD
Samsung 2TB 2.5" (pulled from Seagate exteral)
Lite-On iHAS124 W DVD Writer
All of this crammed into a cheap Xigmatech case ($20)

I was thinking just get another 7970, but I heard about problems with crossfire and microstuttering.
Looking to either sell this card and get a current gen card or just crossfire.
Any and all input will be appreciated! Thanks.

Locksmith · Oct 17, 2014

GTX 970 dude..
then get another and SLI

these cards are wicked..

i had a 7970 and the diff with upgrade is amazing i think..

not played with a nvidia for years until now.

970 will OC GPU @ 1524Mhz Stable at 63C and Ram at 8000Mhz OC..

Boeing707 · Oct 17, 2014

What is your budget?
Anyway get a new case first

eidairaman1 · Oct 17, 2014

Another 7970 would be plausible

rtwjunkie · Oct 17, 2014

By "crammed" I'm thinking free space and cooling could become a long-term problem for you? Probably, getting a new, more spacious case with good airflow would be a good idea. This will also give you more options when upgrading to larger and/or hotter components.

As to your GPU, is there anything wrong with your GPU? Is it not doing everything you want? Or do you just have the upgrade itch?

EDIT: Actually, looking at TPU's own review of your case, it appears to be quite a good case. The only downside I see is long GPU's will intrude on the HDD area, and with SLI that's at least 2 HDD's you can't use. Otherwise, I like that case!

TheRagnarok · Oct 18, 2014

A 970 has crossed my mind (buddy just built his pc around one) But a 980 would be over the top! And this 7970 is an RMA replacement (new), XFX has excellent warranty returns but crappy cards.
I also used to be and Nvidia supporter from XFX 8600 GT, XFX 8800 GS RMAed to 8800 GT), finishing with an XFX GTS 250 2GB being my last Nvidia card since I stuck with XFX and their move to AMD.

Not wanting to spend more than $300-$400 on a new card, and if I can get $150ish from the 7970 ill be happy.

My GPU is fine but I just want to be ready for Star Citizen (un-optimized as it is, but still scary), War Thunder, and my half-untouched-ever-growing Steam library.
I really just want to future proof thins thing w/o spending too much.
And this case is ok, I just hacked on it a bit to get the AIO cooler on top.

I didn't insert quotes so if sloppy looking, my apologies.

Jetster · Oct 18, 2014

You could go with the crossfire but keep them cool. A 200mm fan on the side would do if you could mod the case A cramped case is not ideal. A 970 would be a nice upgrade

jasmeencress · Oct 20, 2014

In my experience To avail the option, you should have at least 4GB RAM and better GPU at minimum Nvidia GTX260.
Your processor should handle these games, I had E5200 (2,5 GHz) and games worked fine

Frag_Maniac · Oct 20, 2014

I'm in almost the same boat as you, except for having a bit weaker CPU. I've decided to wait until Pascal, Skylake and 1151. The way I see it, being little more than a year away, those components just bring too much to the table to not want to time a full system upgrade at that juncture.

System Name	Ragnars Rig
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3D
Motherboard	ASUS Pro WS X570-ACE
Cooling	3x140 Copper Rad, Koolance CPU-380I Waterblock, XSPC X20 750 Pump/Reservoir, EKWB GPU Waterblock
Memory	G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3600MHz
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING
Storage	Samsung OEM 500GB PCIe NVME, Samsung EVO 500GB SATA SSD, 2TB WD Black, 4TB WD Black
Display(s)	DELL S2716DG 27" 144hz, Vizio D50U-D1 4K 50" 60hz,
Case	Fractal Design R5 Black w/Window
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G533 7.1 Wireless Headphones
Power Supply	Seasonic SSR-1200PD 1200W PLATINUM
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe w/ Cherry MX Reds
Software	Windows 10 Education x64

System Name	Raptor Lake
Processor	13900KF
Motherboard	Rog Strix Z790-E Gaming Wifi
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420
Memory	32GB DDR5
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 3080 ti Suprim X
Storage	Samsung 970 Pro SSD(512) NVMe + 850 evo ssd (500) WD 2GB NVME pcie4
Display(s)	Samsung Neo 32inch curved 240hz
Case	THERMALTAKE CORE X2
Audio Device(s)	Rotel 1572 mk ii
Power Supply	1000W
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Steel Series Apex Pro
Software	windows 11Pro x64

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Ragnars Rig
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3D
Motherboard	ASUS Pro WS X570-ACE
Cooling	3x140 Copper Rad, Koolance CPU-380I Waterblock, XSPC X20 750 Pump/Reservoir, EKWB GPU Waterblock
Memory	G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3600MHz
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3 ULTRA GAMING
Storage	Samsung OEM 500GB PCIe NVME, Samsung EVO 500GB SATA SSD, 2TB WD Black, 4TB WD Black
Display(s)	DELL S2716DG 27" 144hz, Vizio D50U-D1 4K 50" 60hz,
Case	Fractal Design R5 Black w/Window
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G533 7.1 Wireless Headphones
Power Supply	Seasonic SSR-1200PD 1200W PLATINUM
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe w/ Cherry MX Reds
Software	Windows 10 Education x64

Looking for some suggestions on an upgrade

TheRagnarok

Locksmith

Boeing707

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

TheRagnarok

Jetster

jasmeencress

New Member

Frag_Maniac

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Space Station
Processor	Intel 13700K
Motherboard	ASRock Z790 PG Riptide
Cooling	Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 6400 2x16GB @ CL34
Video Card(s)	PNY RTX 4080
Storage	SSDs - Nextorage 4TB, Samsung EVO 970 500GB, Plextor M5Pro 128GB, HDDs - WD Black 6TB, 2x 1TB
Display(s)	LG C3 OLED 42"
Case	Corsair 7000D Airflow
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V371
Power Supply	SeaSonic Vertex 1200w Gold
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3
Keyboard	Bloody B840-LK
Software	Windows 11 Pro 23H2