Hello, (New to the forum but have been reading a lot of them and think you all give pretty good advice so am hoping for some here)

I’m upgrading/building a new gaming rig. I want to be able to play games like Skyrim(lots of mods), The Witcher 3, Fallout 4 (when it comes out) and other open world RPG’s, sports games and RTS like Rome Total War 2, Civilization series. I also do some heavy photo editing in photo shop and Gimp. I’ve attached the current specs for my computer and upgrades I want. My questions are as followed:

• · Should I completely scrap my current build and go new?
• · Or can I upgrade in pieces? Is my motherboard compatible with the graphics card? Should I move over to Intel or stick to AMD? Should I go dual-graphics cards or single?
• o If I can upgrade, please make recommendations for things in similar price ranges to what I have listed (+- $100). If I pick something that is overkill for what I need, please let me know. I want to make this as relatively future proof as possible with the reality that I don’t game nearly as much as I used too but if a game comes out (next 3 years) like a new Elder Scrolls game, I want to be able to play it.

I don’t have any intention of going 4k gaming and am perfectly happy on 1080P monitors. I would like to keep my upgrades around $800 in cost, if it will go over that, then I will just save to buy a brand new gaming rig.

Current Build:

Case: ARC CS-501 Gaming Case – Black

Memory: Crucial 32GB kit (8GBx4) DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V 1024Meg x 64

SSD: Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" Internal SSD

HDD: WD 2TB 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s

Power Supply: 800 Watt

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 -- AMD 970

Processor: AMD FX-8150 CPU (8x 3.60GHz/8MB L2 Cache)

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7770 - 1GB - CrossFire Mode (Dual Cards)

Planned Upgrades:

Processor: Intel i7-4790K Processor (8m cache, up to 4.40 GHZ) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KPRWAX8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=LRY9VJK7IH12&coliid=IFAPR3ZUF9DIT

GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 Gaming GDDR5 4GB (single with option of going dual in the future if needed) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NH5T1MS/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=LRY9VJK7IH12&coliid=I3W2G4UYIX54G&psc=1

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-797x-UD3H-BK http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K872IT6/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=LRY9VJK7IH12&coliid=I28QXW1COSSTN0

Thanks for your help!

Why you have 32gigs of RAM is beyond me with this system but thats besides the point.

Honestly just upgrade your proc and video card and you should be fine. Check to see if the AMD FX8350 is compatible with your mother board. As for the videocard a 970 would be great but since you are only doing 1080p, a 960 or AMD equivalent would suffice.

Everything else should last you a few more generations.

Forgot to mention, RAM speed is very important on AMD builds like 1866mhz or 2133mhz RAM speed.

Your upgrade plan looks great. Although, if you can afford it, go with the 980ti. I just bought a 970 a few months ago and I am regretting it now. I would also look at the 5820k which is a hexacore i7. It's faster than the 4790k but the motherboards are usually more expensive.

Do not get the 960 and do not get an AMD processor if you really want to future proof.

I'd cut the 32gb of ram down to maybe 16 gb and just go for the i7 now. You can always add the other 16gb later, if you truly need it.

Probably should also invest more in a GPU. 1GB of VRAM is really not good for modern games even at 1080p, ESPECIALLY if you want to mod the crap out of Bethesda games as texture packs can eat Vram for breakfast. I'd say to go for either a 970 or if you have the cash, a 980 ti. (Both of which currently come with a free code for the new Batman game, if that interests you)

Edit: Oh! And you mentioned "800 Watt" for your PSU. Make sure that it's a really high quality one and not one of those cheap pieces of shit from no-name companies in China. Any 80+ Gold Certified should be fine.

@jimtaylor: Is there any reason you need an i7? A high end i5 is more than enough for gaming. If you're doing something like video encoding that can take advantage of more threads, go ahead, but otherwise I'd take it down a notch. Also, you have an unlocked CPU and overclocking motherboard, but no aftermarket cooling. I'd recommend you either add in some cooling, or save a bit and forget about overclocking (I'd probably go with the latter, OCing doesn't really do much for the investment these days).

Also, the MSI Gaming 4G 970 and Asus Strix are generally considered to be the best. There's not a huge difference, but if you can get one of those for the same price, you may as well get it.

I'd go with an Asus or Asrock motherboard, too. Gigabyte have been caught revising motherboards to use lower quality parts and remove features after they've been reviewed and not announcing the changes. Might not be an issue with that particular motherboard, but they're kind of a scummy company and Asus/Asrock make better boards with (in my experience) better warranties anyway.

Well defo do not choose an amd CPU, trust me i had my time with them and they are not worth it. The i7 that you choose is good though.

Regarding your gpu a 980 would be great IF you can afford it. If not a 970 is still good. However make no mistake you will need to change your mobo cause it will not be compatible with the CPU. I would say that the psu is also good but still, just to be careful go and open a topic on toms hardware to see if the amperage is enough.

Sometimes even though the psu may have a high wattage it can be still not good enough due to the amperage.

@pcorb Nope, no reason. Just saw that it was highly rated and very strong. Which I-5 would you suggest? I forgot to mention that part, I do have a Liquid CPU Cooling System [AMD] - Standard 120mm Fan plus another 120mm fan on the chassis. Internal PC temp never goes above 71F from what I've recorded when playing games. Do you think I would need more? Okay, thanks for the pointers on Asus and Asrock and on the MSI and Asus. I will look into those. I also heard to wait on the processor because of skylake and zen this next year...? Any logic to that?

@hmoney001 I got the 32gb and SSD for free so I wasn't going to say no. My dad is an IT guy and his office had a ton left over that they were going to throw out so he gave it to me. I figured, might as well, it can't hurt. Would I see much of a difference upgrading to the 8350? (It is compatible, I checked) I thought about that but I figured if I am going to go through the hassle of upgrading, why not do the Intel since from every benchmark I can find, Intel seems superior? RAM Specs: DDR3 PC3-12800 • 8-8-8-24 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1600 • 1.35V • 1024Meg x 64 • Low Profile •

Also, does anybody have any opinions on the Radeon r9 290x? Sorry, another. Is my motherboard even compatible with the 970 or 980? I know they can go back to 2.0 PCI so I am not concerned about that but the power pins I am. Don't you need an 8pin and a 6pin?

1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16)
2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
3. 3 x PCI Express x1 slots (All PCI Express slots conform to the PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
4. 2 x PCI slots

1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
3. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
4. 1 x CPU fan header
5. 2 x system fan headers
6. 1 x power fan header
7. 1 x front panel header
8. 1 x front panel audio header
9. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
10. 3 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
11. 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header
12. 1 x IEEE 1394a header
13. 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
14. 1 x serial port header
15. 1 x clearing CMOS jumper

If the ram was free more power to ya.

As for the 290x they are plenty fast. Not as fast as 980ti but definitely faster then a 970.

I dont understand why people hate on AMD procs. Yes they are slower then intel but they are plenty fast for games.

@jimtaylor: The top i5 is the 4690k right now.

At any rate, on GPUs, wait to see what AMD is going to announce on the 15th at the PC Gaming Show during E3.

@pcorb: Can't speak for AsRock but I'd like to vouch for Asus' customer service. I had to deal with them once (for a tablet, but I'm sure they're great with PC parts as well) and despite the fact I was obviously transferred to someone in Taiwan, they were fairly easy to understand, courteous, and fixed everything I wanted them to fix and nothing more and nothing less. (Fairly quickly, too)

Sorry if that sounds like a pointless addition, but I figured I'd mention that I think their customer service and warranty business is great, at least from my experience. Bad customer service is definitely something that influences my choice in a brand!

Also I legit think the Strix design for their graphics cards is like, the sexiest thing ever.

@mb Perfect. I guess I should also give a timeline of what I was planning. It sound like I don't have to scratch my build so my upgrade plan was something like this.

GPU Upgrade - July 2015

Motherboard Upgrade - August 2015

CPU Upgrade - October 2015

2nd GPU Upgrade (if needed) - January 2015 - On this note, I have heard that if I have no plan on running multiple monitors or pursuing 4k gaming, that having dual 970's or dual 290x's is redundant and a waste of money. At that point, I would be better off saving and upgrading other components in another year or two.

@hmoney001 In all honesty, I have had no problems with my AMD processor until playing some more recent games. Also the photo editing and stuff I do seems to work fine. There is a bit of lag which I would love to have go away but would I want to spend $500 for my convenience? not really.

To put it simply what I want is a gaming rig that can run games like GTV 5, Skyrim, Fallout, The Witcher, Total War, Civilization, Galactic Civilizations 3 (Game is MASSIVE!!!!) NBA 2K very smoothly and at high to ultra graphics. The photo editing and other stuff is just for fun and not a deal breaker. I want it to run beautifully on a 32inch or larger 1080p screen without dual monitors or a lot of other programs running besides the game. I have had dual monitors in the past and don't utilize them. I have a laptop that I use for watching netflix/hbo go/game guides/etc... when I need it. Also, I would like it to be able to have some future value and so isn't just a quick fix to be able to play The Witcher 3. When Fallout 4 comes out, I hopefully don't want to have to upgrade again. (I know you guys can't predict this but looking at history and the relative increase in pc requirements, maybe an educated guess is great)

@turtlebird95: I actually prefer ASUS to MSI. What you say about ASUS is even more to the point. I had a MSI GTX 660 Ti Twin FrozrIII and the fans crapped out on me. Filed an RMA with them, never got a response. Emailed them a couple more times over a month and a half, and I STILL haven't heard back from them. A friend had the same experience with MSI as well.

I ended up buying and replacing the Heatsink on my GPU with Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo II and it runs much quieter and cooler than the garbage fans MSI put in the Twin FrozrIII. Only MSI product I have ever bought. Only MSI product I will ever buy. I've never had an ASUS product just die like that a year after purchase, and the fact that you vouch for their customer support is reassuring to say the least.

@majortoms: Same here, I've had both MSI and Asus products and I'm much more a fan of Asus than MSI now. Had nothing but issues with MSI customer service and their RMA process in the past, I just gave up trying to get one of my 6950's serviced when it was still under warranty. I'll never buy anything from MSI again because of that. My experience with Asus service, however, has been the exact opposite. They are responsive, fast, and actually seem to care about their customers.

For PC stuff, I like: Asus, EVGA, Corsair, Noctua, and Cooler Master.

@mb: @majortoms: Those kind of experiences really make me consider getting a new motherboard and switching brands. The one I've got now is a lower end one from msi, and while I have no complaints about it, it's a bit unsettling to know that should anything go wrong, I probably can't expect much from their customer service.

But yeah, Asus support was fantastic for me and I'm pretty sure if you ever have any issues they'll take care of you too. Probably the most satisfying customer service I've ever received, and they didn't even bug me about taking any surveys! (Though I gladly would have, and left some pretty positive feedback)

@turtlebird95: Both of my PCs have Asus motherboards and GPUs in them right now. At this point I don't see any compelling reasons to go with any other company for my next upgrade or build, although EVGA's Step Up program for GPUs is attractive.

I've also had great experiences with Corsair customer service. They recently replaced a PSU for me for free that was eight years old and a full year outside of it's warranty period. Cooler Master is good, too. I contacted them asking where I could buy some replacement wheels and a side panel for my HAF 932 case since they didn't have any up in their store, and they ended up giving me the wheels and front panel mesh for free and the side panel with window for $20. I didn't even ask, they just did it.

After the advice here, here are my current two possible upgrades pending E3.

Upgrade 1 Model Price Link

CPU: i5 4690k $235.99 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-Processor-BX80646I54690K/dp/B00KPRWB9G/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1434051696&sr=1-1&keywords=i5+4690k

Motherboard: MSI ATX Z97-G45 Gaming $137.95 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DDR3-Motherboards-Z97-G45-GAMING/dp/B00K23BYCI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434052747&sr=1-1&keywords=motherboard

GPU: MSI GTX 970 Gaming $329.99 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NN0GEXQ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=LRY9VJK7IH12&coliid=I23CMRFAF74CTW

Total $703.93

Upgrade 2 Model Price Link

CPU: AMD FX8350 $169.99 http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD8350FRHKBOX-FX-8350-8-Core-Processor/dp/B009O7YUF6/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434052333&sr=1-4&keywords=amd+processor

Motherboard: None

GPU: Sapphire Radeon R9 290x $314.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202145

Total $484.98

Upgrade 3 Model Price Link

CPU: i5 4690k $235.99 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-i5-4690K-Processor-BX80646I54690K/dp/B00KPRWB9G/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1434051696&sr=1-1&keywords=i5+4690k

Motherboard: MSI ATX Z97-G45 Gaming $137.95 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DDR3-Motherboards-Z97-G45-GAMING/dp/B00K23BYCI/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434052747&sr=1-1&keywords=motherboard

GPU: MSI GTX 980 Gaming $519.99 http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GTX-980-GAMING-4G/dp/B00OD38516/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1434052973&sr=1-1&keywords=MSI+GTX+980

Total $893.93

@mb Any recommendations for ASUS motherboards and GPU?

@mb: Oh wow, that's pretty damn cool of them! That's really good to know, as I have some Corsair products in my current rig. (And probably going to get a Cooler Master heatsink and maybe some extra case fans, because why not)

For intel mobo the ASUS Z97-A is a good ratio of price/performance. As for GPU go with what your budget allows or the one that has the better overclocks.

I would personally just upgrade the GPU and see from there. You have a lot of good stuff still.

@crazybagman: Upgrading the GPU first is definitely the sensible route, but the FX-8150 wasn't exactly what I'd call "good stuff" 4 years ago. It's definitely not today anyway.

@pcorb compared with what Im gaming on now(an athlon 2 x4 at 3.2ghz) trust me it is. When I said that I had my deal with amd's I meant it. My cpu supposedly has 4 cores but in reality its not like that. Anyways his fx is still pretty decent.

Also why I dont really like amd cpus regarding gaming is because usually their performance per core is bad so they add this many cores in order to compensate.

You could go with the AMD FX 8350 and an Nvidia GTX 970/980... I went with a AMD FX 8320 clocked @4.2ghz and a GTX 980 and I have been glad I did, I personally think AMD CPUs are under-rated and with the power of a 980 I have been more than satisfied with the type of performance I get outta it... As already pointed out, your system is a beast really and only needs a CPU/GPU upgrade, rest of it is just perfect really...I'm currently using an ASRock Extreme 3 990FX motherboard and been solid for a year and a half now and I'm able to max out games Far Cry 4, Witcher 3 and GTA V.... Didn't see you mention the brand of your 800WATT PSU OP, but so long as its not a crappy ass branded one that should be enough for anything.

Sadly, I did some research on my PSU and it is shit. IBUYPOWER really skimps on that, I realize now. So I need an upgrade at that spot too. Anybody have any suggestions for power supply units?

Look for semi-modular or full modular, efficiency of 80+ Gold or better (although Bronze is fine), and enough wattage to give you some upgrade room later on if you think you might need it. Some good brands are Corsair, EVGA, and Seasonic.

What's your budget for a PSU? That sort of will determine everything.

@mb: I don't want to spend more than $180 on the PSU

Holy cow...that is a lot. Are you thinking another 850W, or do you want to go higher in case you want to add more GPUs down the road? You could go with something like this EVGA 850W 80+ Gold fully modular PSU:

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20850xr

@mb: I am aiming for 850w in case I do decide to go SLI in the future or upgrade the GPU again.

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-power-supply-220g20850xr

and further info at EVGAs site:

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=220-G2-0850-XR

I recommend Seasonic Powersupplies.

At this point in the game, with power consumption of components greatly decreasing, I don't think anything above 850W is really needed. If you wanted to play it safe, grab a 1000W PSU, but with most builds out there you should more than fine with 850W. I'd use the extra money to just get a Gold certified PSU or better. As for the overall build, I'd steer away from AMD. Albeit that the multi-core processor sounds enticing, most software out there doesn't utilize the full 6 or 8 cores that an AMD processor contains. You'd be better off spending the extra money you'd put into a higher PSU and get an i7-4770K. That's the best processor around, and most future proof. If you're going to be doing a lot of editing, go for higher VRAM on the card. If you've got some extra cash to burn, grab yourself the 6GB 980, but a 970 will do. Otherwise, good choices on the planned upgrade. I'm a fan of ASUS motherboards, I've been using them since 2000 actually.

@theevanshead: Did you just respond to me by mistake with that? You just recommended exactly what I did. Also, why 4770k and not a 4790k? Why an i7 for games at all?

@mb: I was simply reiterating what you said, that's why I agreed with you. As for the processor, games are becoming more and more demanding, and from experience of purchasing a high end i5 3 years ago, I love the processor but wish I bought the i7 instead because of have more capabilities to emulate and even better multitasking performance.

@theevanshead: Games don't really perform better with an i7 over an i5. There are very few exceptions to this. Things haven't changed. The i5-4690k is just as good for gaming as an i7-4790k.

From experience: the i7 really isnt necessary, nobody is really implementing hyperthreading in meaningful enough ways in games, and I havent been multitasking enough to notice a slowdown. Or if they are, my overclock or my GPU are picking up the slack. The best gaming CPU still seems to be whatever i5 k series Intel is selling for $240.

For PSUs: You want your actual usage to be about 60% of capacity to maximize its lifespan.

(I have an i5 3570k clocked at 4.3Ghz)

Well if you go intell you obviously have to buy a entire new board, but if you stick with AMD then a 8350 should fit that fine i believe. I game with one and can play skyrim modded out , and witcher 3 with my 7950. When i upgrade it'll just be the graphics card and possibly case and psu, but your 800watt should handle any single card.

Did you mean efficiency here and not lifespan? I don't think there is any evidence indicating that running a PSU towards the higher end of it's capabilities is going to reduce it's lifespan, is there? These things typically have five or seven year warranties anyway.

Okay! So updated time. I am going to start off by asking for an opinion on a certain matter. I have the opportunity to purchase a used (less than 2 months, never OC) MSI GTX 980 OCv1 for $360 or a EVGA GTX 970 SC for $255. Which one do you go with?

Upgrades:

EVGA Gold+ G1 Fully Modular 1000 watt power supply for a killer deal of $112.

Cooler Master Hyper EVO 212

The 980 is the better buy in the long run.

Good deal on the powersupply and that cooler is one of the greats for how cheap it is.

I just got an MSI gtx 980 and i love it, if you can get it for $360 don't even hesitate IMO.