Upgrade planning

[Deroven]

Good mornin'!

I figured I've dragged my feet long enough about making this post. It's been in the works for the... uh, past month or so but never really got the train of tought to a point where I'd register and make it. Well now that I finally regged, let's do this.

SItuation
The build isn't yet antique but at the same time I can't seem to drag the sliders up as much as I want or were used to. So I'm starting to weight the options seeing how here in Finland we just got tax refunds.

i7 3770K at stock (More of this later, trust me it'll get OC'd.) coupled with a AIO Kühler 620
Asus gtx 680 TOP
Asus Sabertooth Z77
16gb of Kingston HyperX Blu, @1600 (4x4)
750W psu, Fractal.
And it's all built in a Define R3.

 

What I'm looking at?

To set up a bi-yearly update schedule. A sort of a tick-tock system much like Intel's, but instead ticks being GPU's and tocks being CPU's, motherboards and assorted other purchases. Each tick 'n tock would have around 500-800€ budget allowing me to maintain somewhat good system for relatively sane price. Whereas I'm aware that 680 is adequate for 1080p as it is, and in all likelihood for quite some time still, but adequate isn't enough (And I want to go 1440p Soon™). Far as the remaining parts after every update is, I figured I'd enter them into a burn cycle of sorts. So update GPU now? OC the CPU and make it suffer. If it gives in, update time came a bit earlier. If it doesn't? I figured I'd be able to offset the generation gap by burning the part's lifespan. Is this feasible? Perhaps do this with the GPU after CPU update as well, and memory? Mmm, I'll see what I can get myself into doing but again... Please share experiences if you have any.

So as for the first update, I figured I'd keep everything else intact and swap the 600 series to a 900 series, namely 980. But that's where I ran into first hitch. There's too damn many of them and worse still, getting them to Finland is a pain. Our stocks seem to be quite bad and since 900's are quite new there isn't a lot of user experience so I figured I'd ask around the Internet™ for some user-experience with their respective makers. I'll list the options I've looked into in the order that I'd currently rank them, if you know anything of any of them, please let me know what you think about their products, build quality, longevity, possible OC's you've done?

1 - GALAX GeForce GTX 980 "Hall of Fame Edition"
So far seems to be the best option far as raw power is considered, and it is. But at the same time I worry since GALAX seems to be a merger of two companies (Galaxy & KFA2) I've got no previous experience either. I've never even seen them or GALAX before looking into the 900's so... I'm cautious, to say the least.

2. EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Classified ACX 2.0
Not much behind 1., but from more reputable brand albeit at higher price. Nothing much to say here, it's an EVGA factory OC, what can I say?

3. ASUS, Strix?
Now I am somewhat of an asus fanboy. I'll freely admit it as I've never had an bad asus experience even if some do doubt them and even on these forums there's been a bit this and that about them. But you know, I'll be a fanboy until I get burned personally. Y' know, human nature 'n all that. Having said that, since my 680 I haven't really been keeping up with them. And only the Strix seems to be popping up in any of the stores I visit. Have they done away with TOP and other tiers?

4. MSI/Gigabyte
I'll admit I've never even used these in any of the builds I've done so I've no good or bad experience. Generally both compare favourably far as references go but that's all I know. Enlighten me?

 What I'm not looking at (Afraid of?)

The next gen of GPU's popping off month or two after I've upgraded. I've heard all sorts of rumours and where I'm sceptic of good 'ol Cap'n jack, I should hope next gen of Nvidia cards is a year or so in the future but if captain decides to put up a good fight we might be seeing another 780ti style of launch mid-way in just to keep that flagship at top?

Additional notes

As might be obvious I've not had much experience in a long-term solution like this, nor in OCing stuff. I've always just thrown too much at the wall and seen what sticks so I'm finally trying to be financially responsible and plan this ahead. It'll probably not work all that well too long into it 'cause I might just go nuts 'n buy stuff on impulse but... I'm trying!

Thank you if you took the time to read it, and even more so if you took the time to response.

- Leo

[AlRayes_BRN]

I got the 980 Classy, looks really nice with my build (red and black) .. still in shipping though

Dont upgrade your CPU now, wait atleast for broadwell

[Excon]

WElkl there really is no reason to upgrade your CPU, the 3770k is still a power house. Are you using the 620 now or planning on buying it? If you havent already bought it maybe get something else that will elt you push the CPU further as for GPU. Im not to familiar with Finnish retailers. Ive helped a few friends in Sweden though. The 970s seem to be a lot more popular and running 2 in SLI is very powerful and you could max any game at 1440p. Depending on costs that would be the better way to go in my opinion. As for brands for the GPU, really comes down to costs. All of them are top tier, I personally dont think you have any needs for the Galaxy HoF or Evga Classified

[Deroven]

I got the 980 Classy, looks really nice with my build (red and black) .. still in shipping though

Dont upgrade your CPU now, wait atleast for broadwell

 

 

WElkl there really is no reason to upgrade your CPU, the 3770k is still a power house. Are you using the 620 now or planning on buying it? If you havent already bought it maybe get something else that will elt you push the CPU further as for GPU. Im not to familiar with Finnish retailers. Ive helped a few friends in Sweden though. The 970s seem to be a lot more popular and running 2 in SLI is very powerful and you could max any game at 1440p. Depending on costs that would be the better way to go in my opinion. As for brands for the GPU, really comes down to costs. All of them are top tier, I personally dont think you have any needs for the Galaxy HoF or Evga Classified

For the CPU; As I said I won't be upgrading it, but rather I'll be entering it to the burn phase. CPU and accessories will be in turn next year. 620 is currently in use.

I have considered 2x 970's but most coolers wouldn't leave that much of a space between the cards in the Sabertooth for adequate airflow I think? I'd have to find SLI benchmarks with temps of both cards. Might look into it a bit more but then there's the whole issue of SLI profiles and all the other fiddling that comes along with SLI setups. If you have experience with them by all means, do the profiles get updated on launch? Are there cases where profiles for modern cards exist but those in previous or even one before that have came in later than current gen? These are somewhat important questions, especially the later one, if I'm to even consider SLI setup. Not to mention how's the overclocking SLI cards, as I've understood they need to be running on a similar settings which would mean that my luck in the silicone lottery would limit me to the weaker of the two?

Then to return to the airflow; The issue becomes the case airflow. As it stands my Define R3's over-pressurised trough the front filters, it's just a guess but 2 GPU's would mean I need a new case to keep the setup on a positive pressure, or alternatively higher airflow (More noise) fans? As it stands I can just clean the filters once a month and I've yet to find dust inside the case. I'd hate that to change.

As for Finnish retailers, they suck beyond everything and anything you could envision. I was considering buying trough online retailers or alternatively buy it in US to an US address and then have a friend ship it over (Handily this might prevent me from paying double-taxes, first VAT on US and then here once it arrives to customs). But as for acquiring the card it'll have to wait for the decision to be made.

And no, I'm not joking about the sucky part, none of the high-end factory OC's are available at Finland. Or well, I suppose I -should- mention Inno3D but... Ain't snowball's chance in hell I'll trust a company that I can't find any information about. 

But I suppose that's why I'm asking here. If people have personal experience then I'm eager to hear it. Having said that I might not say no to SLI if I could get 2x 970's with decent specs and a case for a price of 980, but I doubt that's happening. 

[Excon]

@ Deroven , I'll try to cover all that.

 

1. The Z77 Sabertooth actually have optimal spacing for SLI cards using the top 2 PCI-e 16x slots.

2. For temps you can usually expect 5c higher on the top card. Some are a few degrees higher, some lower.

3. SLi profiles? Not sure what you mean, at this point SLI is plug and play with virtually no issues and great scaling. You can expect 90% scaling on your second card. For the games that dont have SLI support a single 970 is more than powerful enough anyways. Its pretty strait forward and a lot of issues from 3-4 years ago are gone.

4. Overclocking cards is limited to the lowest card but it seems like basically every 970 wins the lottery hitting over 1500mhz on the core.

5. The Define series has good enough airflow that you have nothign to worry about. The 970s are so power efficient and run so cool that heat is hardly an issue

6. Yea I havent had great experiences with retailers in that area. I think you would be better off goign through Amazon.co.uk though. Shipping rates from US to Europe are ridiculous. I cost me 150$ to send a GTX 670 from New York to Romania.

7. Inno3D is a European GPU manufacturer, dont know much about them because I never deal with them but from what I know they are decent.

[Deroven]

Huh, I've understood that even today stuff like 980's and alike suffer at day 1 or so gaming, where SLI doesn't work properly. I suppose I could be mistaken but... 

5.
Sufficient airflow doesn't mean good. And as I said, adding a card that'll still exhaust somewhat might force me to adapt the current setup. By that I mean force more air trough the front filter and perhaps tailor an filter for the side intake, just over the graphics card. But that really shouldn't be a huge issue (And it'd be a project for me to do, so I get to fiddle inside my computer! Yay  :wub: ).

But at the same time I can't help but to wonder if I'll ever arrive at a junction where I need more GPU horsepower before next update, where I could just go pick up a 2nd 980 down the line should I go with one now, of course all the other concerns included if I do that.

Well I'll take it into consideration. It'd be my first dual-GPU setup so I suppose it has that going for it, as well. Now... I'll edit this to the OP as well but...

Let's imagine I do go with dual GPU setup, what type of a cooler would be optimal? The logical thinker in me thinks that it oughta be a leafblower, so it'll make sure to exhaust the hot air and not seep into other components, namely CPU. Also furthermore; if blower, the side panel vent should be intake I assume. Should it be outlet if they are cards like strix or windforce, to exhaust from around the GPU more effectively?

I know I might come trough as a bit paranoid, but it's not that. I just enjoy my dust free interior and to a degree it might be because over-engineering this stuff is fun. You should see me at KSP.  B)