[DIY] Help on upgrading/building gaming rig

[willardpwl]

Before I start I would like to say I've been a lurker for quite some time and alot of posts/comments have helped me along the way with issues and questions on my current build with me having to post.

That being said, I have recently bought a Palit 970gtx Jetstream edition on lazada.sg @ SGD$478.00 ( Mastercard Monday ) and need some extra help now.

My current rig is as follows:
Intel i5 2500k
ASUS p8h67-mLE
500gb HDD
4gb ram ( no idea what brand )
Geforce 450 1gb ( no idea on brand too )

The rig was built by a retailer in Funan about 2 years ago.

Question

1.) Assuming I go the upgrading options, I understand that my RAM has to be increased to 8gb at least to play newer games. But will my CPU and mobo bottleneck my GPU?

2.) I was googling around and saw that the 970gtx has some issues on performance, has nVidia fix it with driver patches?

3.)If building a new rig, my specs will be -
Intel i5 4690
ASROCK z97 extreme 4
8gb x 2 Corsair Vengence CL9 ( Same for upgrade )
Palit Geforce 970 Jetstream ( Same for upgrade )
WD Green 3TB 7200rpm 64mb SATA3

What will be my performance gains in terms of FPS on say GTA V by estimation/Dragon Age Inquistition? Is it worth the value for the performance?

4.) Not a very tech-savvy guy, but will the WD Green work with my current mob? ( ASUS p6h87-mLE)

5.) Any alternative recommendations for RAM and HDD?\

6.) What would be my safest bet for PSU?

7.) I've check pricelist as of 22nd November for both tradepac and PC Themes, which I have been seeing many of you(s) here recommending, but I am open to been informed of any other offers and of course if someone could tell me does the price stand till this Sunday it would be appreciated.


And before anyone asks, no, I do not plan on overclocking my PC as I don't really know how and don't feel comfortable with it. The reason why I got the jetstream is because of color. Same goes for WD Green and if new build, the Extreme 4. I'm a gold, blue, green, red kind of guy

Really appreciate any help guys!! Thank you!!!

 

[Alternative X]

1) Your i5-2500K and your motherboard will not present any bottleneck with the GTX 970 whatsoever. Even if there is (in the distant future), just OC your CPU to eliminate CPU bottleneck. An upgrade would be much cheaper. (Also, why buy a OC capable setup if not overclocking? )

2) Your motherboard has SATA ports, it will work with any modern HDDs in the market. Also, most HDDs are silver in colour. Only the sticker on the WD Green is actually green, no point buying HDDs by colour. Would suggest that you buy WD Reds or a Toshiba instead for better performance and durability.

3) Just get a single stick of 4GB RAM for your RAM upgrade. However, if using 2X2GB RAM kit, then get a 8GB RAM stick or a 2X4GB RAM kit. 8GB RAMs are good enough for gaming unless the game has memory leak issues.

4) Get a Superflower HX 600 for your PSU.

5) No SSD? Get a Crucial MX100 256GB SSD and enjoy faster boot times if you install your OS in it and faster load times if you install games in it.

 

[willardpwl]

Thanks bro for your help!

But an apology, I just double checked my CPU. It is a 2500, not 2500k. Does that make any difference?


1.) Just for the looks bro, that was my main reason of choosing Palit Jetstream instead of Zotac Twin Fan 970.

2.) No colored HDD? What would be the cheaper alt between the WD Red and Toshiba? Any particular difference/s and which model of Toshiba?

3.) I've heard that RAM needs to be the " same " in order to be fully utilized? The clock speeds in particular?

4.) So basically a 600w PSU would do?

5.) I could bear with the lack of SSD for now... What I can't bear with is not medium settings in games and still facing stuttering issues.

6.) Most importantly, will this rig be able to run DA:I on ultra 1366 x 768 and/or 1080p? I know, I know, small resolution, but am I really losing out much when compared to higher res?

 

[Alternative X]

1) Not much difference between the 2500 and 2500K, just that you can't OC only.

2) Toshiba is cheaper, but WD has 3 year warranty when compared to Toshiba's 2 years. Toshiba's HDDs only has one model in the Singapore market, the 7200RPM model, only WD's HDDs has many varieties.

3) Not really, you can run mixed RAMs, just that the computer will run the RAMs at the speed of the slower RAM and that you will not be able to run RAMs in dual-channel.

4) A GOOD quality 600W PSU. Do not just randomly get any 600W PSU, bad quality PSUs can easily cause problems in your system and/or kill your components quickly.

5) The GTX 970 is capable of playing DA:I at max settings in 1080p, 1366X768 is a cakewalk for any decent performing GPU today. Also, are the 'stuttering issues' occuring when gaming in 1080p? If so, that is not stuttering, that is just sub 30 FPS performance from trying to game on a old GTS 450 as the GTS 450 is about on par with entry level graphics, and is not very good at playing modern games at 1080p. Lowering in game resolutions should solve the problem.

 

[willardpwl]

Thanks bro! I think I am all set for my purchases then.

Rig Upgrade:
Intel i5 2500 3.3ghz. - Reuse
ASUS p8h67-mLE - Reuse
Crosair Vengence Pro 1866mhz CL9 ( 2 x 4gb ) - SGD$135.00
Palit Geforce 970 GTX Jetstream Edition - SGD$478.00 ( Lazada )
Toshiba 3TB 7200rpm - SGD$138.00
Superflower HX 600M Gold - SGD$99.00


All buy from PC themes except GPU. Does that build get a green light for 2 more years of gaming at high to ultra settings?

Just a few more question

1.) Is 600 watts enough if lets say I were to upgrade to i5 4690?

2.) I just remembered this baby named CPU-Z, should have used this to check my specs.

Brand - Kingston
Max Bandwith - PC3-10700 (667mhz ) DDR3

What is my clock speed now? because 667 is very very low, and 2001 doesn't seem right looking at the market of RAM.

 

[Alternative X]

1) 600W is still enough.

2) That RAM is DDR3-1333 RAM, there are still DDR3-1333 RAMs avaliable. Upgrading to DDR3-1866 RAMs is only going to make your rig respond a few milliseconds faster only, no point getting 'faster' RAMs.

Besides, your motherboard only supports up to DDR3-1333 RAMs, any faster RAM will be automatically downclocked to this speed anyway unless you OC your RAMs.

Just get a single stick of 4GB ValueRAM or 2X4GB DDR3-1600 RAM kit and save some $$$.

Other than that, yeah, it should be good for another 2 years of gaming, regardless of how 'slow' your RAM is.

 

[willardpwl]

Thanks bro alternative! I am all set then! Thanks for your help again!!

 

[willardpwl]

Hi guys, sorry for the trouble but I just received my Palit card and I've noticed it's quite huge and looks heavy too.

My question is, will the pcie pins be able to hold on to the weight of the card if there is no supports? I'm afraid of the pins being " bent " overtime.

 

[shadow84]

Hi guys, sorry for the trouble but I just received my Palit card and I've noticed it's quite huge and looks heavy too.

My question is, will the pcie pins be able to hold on to the weight of the card if there is no supports? I'm afraid of the pins being " bent " overtime.

Yes, it can still support. Dun forget there are 2 more supports at the pcie brackets on the case itself.

 

[willardpwl]

So the two "clips" is will be enough?

 

[deepblue_82]

So the two "clips" is will be enough?

yes yes yes..............

 

[deepblue_82]

yr card is should be able to play any game at max settings at the moment..

 

[willardpwl]

You mean my GTS 450?

Thanks for the help again bros. But... bear with me just once more, I just want to be really really sure when I build my rig

So here goes.


1.) Any good casing to recommend for my build? Will be upgrading to the asrock extreme 4 mobo and sli-ing my 970 around next year so need to factor that in.

2.) I did some research around about buying fans for my rig but can't seem to find anything that's being concrete. So my question is, are fans a necessity?

3.) Looking to make my rig quieter as well, so recommendations on casing/fans would be greatly appreciated!

4.) Will stock fan for the i5 4690 be enough?

 

[Goodshot]

i didnt see any diff between 2500 and a 4690 . actually all ur parts are good enough except gfx card . Just get a gtx970 done , btw a few fans at 1000rpm will be quite and cool . But with a correct blowing direction

 

[Alternative X]

You mean my GTS 450?

Thanks for the help again bros. But... bear with me just once more, I just want to be really really sure when I build my rig

So here goes.


1.) Any good casing to recommend for my build? Will be upgrading to the asrock extreme 4 mobo and sli-ing my 970 around next year so need to factor that in.

2.) I did some research around about buying fans for my rig but can't seem to find anything that's being concrete. So my question is, are fans a necessity?

3.) Looking to make my rig quieter as well, so recommendations on casing/fans would be greatly appreciated!

4.) Will stock fan for the i5 4690 be enough?

1) What casing are you currently using?

2) Depends on what temps are you getting for your parts. If you think that your SLI setup is running at temps that are too hot for your liking, can always buy some fans in the future.

3) How quiet do you wish your rig to be? There are quite a variety of parts for the silent freak, ranging from passively cooled heatsinks, passively cooled PSUs, silence oriented fans, casings with noise dampening foam etc. The only thing is, how much are you willing to pay for them? Silent things are not cheap, you know.

4) The stock Intel cooler will do as you are not overclocking anyway.

 

[willardpwl]

1.) Not sure on the casing leh... but is by CM one.


2 - 3.) Well actually I don't seem to have overheating issues as of now, but was just thinking of adding fans as there wouldn't be much harm on it right?