Upgrading my GPU

[Matthew Green]

So here is my predicament,

I am not the most wealthy of individuals but i will more than happily wait and save money if this would be the best solution. as such. I'm not going to say that there is a budget on this but would say I'm not looking to spend all my money nor do i plan to sit there and run benchmarks all day...

 

My aim here is to get the best performance increase whilst keeping in mind when these components would need to be upgraded in the future to be able to run the latest games, at high setting, at high fps.

 

The decision I'm trying to make, and would appreciate any advice or maybe tips on what i may have overlooked, would be how to upgrade specifically the graphics potion of my system to which i have narrowed down to two options i found to be decent. i am by no means restricting my options to these and am very open to other solutions. but though some basic research, have found what i think to be alright options.

 

Option 1: Buy another GTX 970 i can run in SLI with my current one. Meaning an approximate price of around £250 (I'm British and as such am going to use GBP as a currency here)

 

Option 2: Invest in a 1000 series GTX card such as the GTX 1080 (Not a fan of AMD.. no grudge, just a preference. And my setup is lit up green). This would mean me forking out the handsome fee of  £600-£650 from what ive seen

 

From my research I've pretty much found that SLI compatible games are going to run quite similar in both of my options but games that do not support SLI are going to take a noticeable hit if only running on one GPU. The deciding point seems to be that option 1 gives the benefit of price (which also means i can actually get into doing this quicker) and the great look of running an SLI setup that i have always adored. Then the option of spending more money, getting a GTX 1080 as an example which is going to run slightly better all the time and considerably better in non SLI games..

also as a side note for the far future. The idea of dual GTX 970 setup means when they are outdated i need to replace them whereas having a single 1080 might save me money in the long term allowing me to run that in SLI with a second one instead of outright having to spend the money to buy two of them. It may also be necessary to note, i don't (and i would assume nobody definitely does) know how many future games i might want to play may or may not support SLI so this could be a big problem if they don't with my first idea

 

My current setup includes:

Asus P8Z77-V LX  LGA1155 Motherboard

Intel i7-3770 Processor

Asus Strix GTX 970 GPU

HyperX 16gb ddr3 1333MHz Ram

Coolermaster 700w GX Lite PSU

 

just a couple things people might mention which i feel isn't necessary to discuss:

1) Power supply, i understand i will need a better power supply and will be buying a PSU that would give enough power for pretty much anything out there today as a 'futureproofing' attempt so this is not a necessary discussion point.

2) I think the idea of the performance I'm looking for right now is pretty much answered by what my current rig is and that it is currently is serving me how id like it to now but i plan to get a higher hertz and higher res monitor aswell as my current games library not the latest or most demanding of games out there.

 

 

Thanks in advance for any help anybody would be so kind to give and sorry if there are newbie mistakes here. id say I'm relatively tech savvy and have built my current system from scratch. but have had my fair share of times ive sat down and though "damn your stupid.. why didn't you check that"... so yeah, Thanks

[DocSwag]

There really are just too many problems that arise from sli. I'd suggest you get a 1070 instead of a 1080, since the 1080 costs 60% more for 25% more performance (1070 has better bang for the buck) and sell your current 970. In well supported games 970 sli is about the same as a 1070, and in not well optimized games 970 sli is considerably worse not to mention the worse frame times. As well, your mobo doesn't even support sli so you can't get 970 sli anyways .

[Numbafieve]

I actually have a nearly identical setup to yours with half the RAM.  I went from an R9 390 to a 1070 not too long ago and it has been perfect.  Im running triple 1080p monitors at 60fps in every game i own.  I think you should just sell your 970 and go to a 1070.

[Matthew Green]

4 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

There really are just too many problems that arise from sli. I'd suggest you get a 1070 instead of a 1080, since the 1080 costs 60% more for 25% more performance (1070 has better bang for the buck) and sell your current 970. In well supported games 970 sli is about the same as a 1070, and in not well optimized games 970 sli is considerably worse not to mention the worse frame times. As well, your mobo doesn't even support sli so you can't get 970 sli anyways .

 

I'm sure that when i eventually get round to a new GPU setup i would have upgraded my mobo which will support sli as its a long term goal for me to have (at some point, whenever that may be). and even with a 1070 which i found to cost around £400-£450 i reckon i could pick up a 970 for £200-£250.. half (aroundabout) price.

and please dont take this as me trying to defend the SLI idea because of me just wanting it, i just see the price difference and if i can get it to work, similar performance. and want to know what the advantages as well as the disadvantages of any different ideas might be.

and as i said in the original post im not one for selling my hardware but generally donating it or keeping it... (i understand this is quite a silly thing to do but its just what i do.. its served me well and needs to go to a good home )

[Matthew Green]

2 minutes ago, Numbafieve said:

I actually have a nearly identical setup to yours with half the RAM.  I went from an R9 390 to a 1070 not too long ago and it has been perfect.  Im running triple 1080p monitors at 60fps in every game i own.  I think you should just sell your 970 and go to a 1070.

Very nice to know that especially since we run similar setups..

Have you ever tried streaming any of your games ? because without anybody telling me how hard it is to make it as a streamer, i like to stream a lot of my games anyway and do not like the idea of sacrificing my own gaming experience in terms of graphics and performance to do this..

[Numbafieve]

I dont know about your internet connection but i have 15MBs down and like 12MBs up.  I was able to stream my entire 5760x1080 resolution with no problem at all besides one of my friends computers seperating it into RGB.  But it did stream nicely.  I hardly see above 70% CPU usage when i do that.

[stealth80]

29 minutes ago, Matthew Green said:

So here is my predicament,

I am not the most wealthy of individuals but i will more than happily wait and save money if this would be the best solution. as such. I'm not going to say that there is a budget on this but would say I'm not looking to spend all my money nor do i plan to sit there and run benchmarks all day...

 

My aim here is to get the best performance increase whilst keeping in mind when these components would need to be upgraded in the future to be able to run the latest games, at high setting, at high fps.

 

The decision I'm trying to make, and would appreciate any advice or maybe tips on what i may have overlooked, would be how to upgrade specifically the graphics potion of my system to which i have narrowed down to two options i found to be decent. i am by no means restricting my options to these and am very open to other solutions. but though some basic research, have found what i think to be alright options.

 

Option 1: Buy another GTX 970 i can run in SLI with my current one. Meaning an approximate price of around £250 (I'm British and as such am going to use GBP as a currency here)

 

Option 2: Invest in a 1000 series GTX card such as the GTX 1080 (Not a fan of AMD.. no grudge, just a preference. And my setup is lit up green). This would mean me forking out the handsome fee of  £600-£650 from what ive seen

 

 

My current setup includes:

Asus P8Z77-V LX  LGA1155 Motherboard

Intel i7-3770 Processor

Asus Strix GTX 970 GPU

HyperX 16gb ddr3 1333MHz Ram

Coolermaster 700w GX Lite PSU

 

j

Ive just upgraded from a 970 SLI rig to a 1080 and I can tell you the performance is great in most games (only Just Cause 3 had zero SLI support). Now, 970SLI will get no where near a 1080 in performance, it would struggle to keep up with a 1070 (it sits between 1070 and 980ti). I didnt see (or you didnt mention) what resolution you'r playing at. If you're playing at 1080P and on a budget, get the 1070, it's a great card. The issue with 2x 970's is the vram, you still only get 4gb and games are wanting more, so I would shift the 970 on now (as I did with 2) whilst it still holds some value and grab the 1070. If you can save the 1080 is a beast of a card, I bought the Palit Gamerock Premium 1080 which seems to be EU/UK only, it's a beast of card often beating the EVGA FTW for much less £££ (around £620 last I looked, I got mine for £579 in november) 

 

The PSU, I dont like coolermaster PSU's, id go corsair, EVGA or Fractal Design

[Matthew Green]

2 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

Ive just upgraded from a 970 SLI rig to a 1080 and I can tell you the performance is great in most games (only Just Cause 3 had zero SLI support). Now, 970SLI will get no where near a 1080 in performance, it would struggle to keep up with a 1070 (it sits between 1070 and 980ti). I didnt see (or you didnt mention) what resolution you'r playing at. If you're playing at 1080P and on a budget, get the 1070, it's a great card. The issue with 2x 970's is the vram, you still only get 4gb and games are wanting more, so I would shift the 970 on now (as I did with 2) whilst it still holds some value and grab the 1070. If you can save the 1080 is a beast of a card, I bought the Palit Gamerock Premium 1080 which seems to be EU/UK only, it's a beast of card often beating the EVGA FTW for much less £££ (around £620 last I looked, I got mine for £579 in november) 

 

The PSU, I dont like coolermaster PSU's, id go corsair, EVGA or Fractal Design

Although due to an overlook, not being uninformed i had completely forgot VRam existed... derp

and as for the PSU.. that thing was on sale for about £40.. i knew it wasn't great but my previous PSU (unbranded) just died one day and i use my pc for more than my downtime so it needed replacing on a very strict budget. i plan to get a corair PSU in the future and that would be changed before anything else really due to its infuriating coil whine if i dont have a headset on (cant hear it at all with a headset).

but alas i will make sure to keep an eye out for offers and deals on all the cards i like.

that has helped me a lot though so thanks

[stealth80]

12 minutes ago, Matthew Green said:

Although due to an overlook, not being uninformed i had completely forgot VRam existed... derp

and as for the PSU.. that thing was on sale for about £40.. i knew it wasn't great but my previous PSU (unbranded) just died one day and i use my pc for more than my downtime so it needed replacing on a very strict budget. i plan to get a corair PSU in the future and that would be changed before anything else really due to its infuriating coil whine if i dont have a headset on (cant hear it at all with a headset).

but alas i will make sure to keep an eye out for offers and deals on all the cards i like.

that has helped me a lot though so thanks

What resolution is your monitor ? 

[Matthew Green]

1 minute ago, stealth80 said:

What resolution is your monitor ? 

i currently only have 2 1920x1080 monitors both at 60Hz

 

i know this wont be a problem to run but i do very much want to have better monitors very soon as these are both at best.. pretty bad

this isn't what id have when i get the new GPU setup, i would assume at the least 2 ultrawide  3440x1440 or maybe even going for some fancy 4k stuff

probably 2 monitors due to the room i have..

[App4that]

If you get a second 970 make sure it's the same model. I had a similar predicament awhile back and bought a second 980ti. I tried a Hybrid and a Classified in SLI and my PC promptly shit the bed.

 

I returned it and got a second Hybrid, best move ever. You don't have the swag of having the latest thing, but you also spend less and don't have to go through the headache that is selling used parts. 

[Matthew Green]

2 minutes ago, App4that said:

If you get a second 970 make sure it's the same model. I had a similar predicament awhile back and bought a second 980ti. I tried a Hybrid and a Classified in SLI and my PC promptly shit the bed.

 

I returned it and got a second Hybrid, best move ever. You don't have the swag of having the latest thing, but you also spend less and don't have to go through the headache that is selling used parts. 

thanks for mentioning that. This is something I've considered aswell as it probably being solved before it would be a problem because id want my two GPUs if i had multiple to be looking the same

[stealth80]

25 minutes ago, Matthew Green said:

i currently only have 2 1920x1080 monitors both at 60Hz

 

i know this wont be a problem to run but i do very much want to have better monitors very soon as these are both at best.. pretty bad

this isn't what id have when i get the new GPU setup, i would assume at the least 2 ultrawide  3440x1440 or maybe even going for some fancy 4k stuff

probably 2 monitors due to the room i have..

if you're planning 4k, grab the 1080 it will play any game now at 4k 30FPS + and will allow you to add another when games want more 

[DocSwag]

9 hours ago, Matthew Green said:

 

I'm sure that when i eventually get round to a new GPU setup i would have upgraded my mobo which will support sli as its a long term goal for me to have (at some point, whenever that may be). and even with a 1070 which i found to cost around £400-£450 i reckon i could pick up a 970 for £200-£250.. half (aroundabout) price.

and please dont take this as me trying to defend the SLI idea because of me just wanting it, i just see the price difference and if i can get it to work, similar performance. and want to know what the advantages as well as the disadvantages of any different ideas might be.

and as i said in the original post im not one for selling my hardware but generally donating it or keeping it... (i understand this is quite a silly thing to do but its just what i do.. its served me well and needs to go to a good home )

Oh lol I missed the part where you're you said that you don't like selling hardware .

 

And no worries. I didn't take it as you defending sli . I just understood it as you asking a question.