Upgrade advice (2015 mid-range PC)

Hey guys -

I'd love to get some advice on what to upgrade on my system, and in what order:

I intend to purchase in ultra-wide monitor and am not that bothered with VR in its current state.

GTX970

16 GB Ram

i7 4790

Thanks!

Spears

RAM is OK, processor is OK, the graphics card would be the first item that I would improve ... but I would wait until the crypto-coins fad bursts, at that point there should be a flood of second hand 1070 and 1080 cards at more reasonable prices than today.

4790 "K" or not K ?

for a very fast gpu u need a very fast cpu to feed it !

a 1080 or Ti needs beyond 4G, better towards 5G cpu speed.

keep that in mind

I'm running a 2500k and bumped my 8GB of 1600mhz RAM to 16GB and put in a GTX 1060. With high everything, shading OFF, I get mostly 60fps above 500m, 30fps on the deck over towns but it does go to 18fps stutter-city if I'm over a huge forest looking sideways on the deck. However, that's at 2560 x 1600 resolution on the 30".

4 F86 vs 5 Mig15 over mountains, smooth as silk (60fps the whole way).

I have a GTX 1080 inbound.

Afterburner shows all four CPU cores hitting 100% occasionally, but not attended by anything visual on the screen. Most of the time they're fluctuating below 50%.

The game was playable with the same settings with my old GTX 780 and 8GB of RAM. Go figure. :)

Thanks for the advice guys.

BitMaster - it's a K

Siggi - yeah, my system actually performs good in DCS but it still stutters, but in X-Plane it's not holding up as well.

I also have Windows 8.1 and am thinking of buying W10.

I mean, you don't have to buy a complete new PC, unless you got extra money and dont care, thats fine too. If you somehow want to stay low budget, you could overclock your CPU, the "K" allows this and just get a better GPU, that you could even use in a later built if you choose to replace the board-cpu-ram combo anytime later.

Overclock that CPU to 4.6 or better ( may need better cooler 115x socket )

Get a better GPU, 1080 or 1080Ti ( expensive enough for now )

edit* if you tell us your ingame resolution and monitor specs, advices are lot more helpfull. For 1080p and a 60Hz screen you dont need any 1080, Ti or not, whereas with 4k you need at least a 1070 or much better a 1080 or Ti. If you tinker with VR, the requirements are even higher for the whole system. I would then defo pick a 1080Ti, if you can afford the current prices.

And what is the MoBo? The CPU cooler?

@Demon, @BitMaster - thank you for your advice.

My CPU cooler is: Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-1150]

Mother Board: ASUS Z97-K [2x PCIe x16]

I feel like the GPU (sub 3.5gb) GTX970 is causing a bottle-neck

@Demon, @BitMaster - thank you for your advice.

 

My CPU cooler is: Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-1150]

Mother Board: ASUS Z97-K [2x PCIe x16]

 

I feel like the GPU (sub 3.5gb) GTX970 is causing a bottle-neck

There's nothing wrong with your system, but if you want more, the graphics card is what needs upgrading first, as others have pointed out. But I would wait until later in the year, because Bitcoin miners have driven graphics card prices up (and stocks down) recently and graphics cards release around August, if I remember correctly, so that will probably be the time to upgrade (when they are re-stocked, old models drop in price and new models are available). Go outside play this summer!

As Bit said.

Overclock the CPU higher as you can should be your first move.

What is your resolution?

4790K turbo boost spec:

4790k with 4 cores fully active= 4.2Ghz

4790k with 3 cores fully active= 3 cores @ 4.3Ghz, 1 core @ 4.0 Ghz

4790k with 2 cores fully active= 2 cores @ 4.4Ghz, 2 cores @ 4.0Ghz

Demon: 1920 x 1080, but... soon it will be 2560 x 1080. Thank you, now I'm researching the overclock options.

D.Va - thanks, I agree. Will my CPU drive a 1080 ti though?

p.s. I get outside a lot all summer, that's why I live in the PNW!

At that resolution the GTX970 should be ok. Bit?

Yes, the 3.5GB usable :mad: of RAM of the GTX970 4GB. Maybe short of Vram? Run MSI Afterburner Monitoring to look at your utilisation.

I had/have a 980GTX and that was plenty for 2560x1440 with highish settings, nice fps etc..

The 970 "should" deliver the same or better experience in FullHD and run 2560 still at nice settings.

In the long run, the 4GB will be your show stopper, not the GPU itself foremost imho.

2560x1440 and HIGH/ULTRA settings tax 10.5GB of my 11GB as of now with 2.5u3. Take that as a landmark. If there had been a 16GB GPU around, I would have got that one. VRAM is crucial and I am not sure if 11GB is all that DCS will ever need in all sceanrios up to 2560.

4k ...well..if QHD swallows 10.5GB, imagine where 4k would be if there was a card with that much VRAM. It can only take what is there, so with a 11GB you will never see 16 or 32GB VRAM usage, but you will, in a few years from now, hands down. RAM and VRAM, get all you can afford is my best advice. 32GB and 11GB is max for now that makes sense but this will shift upward, as it has always done, years go by fast.

I very much appreciate the attention and advice. Thank you.

He should not use more than 3.5GB of Vram: https://www.pcgamer.com/why-nvidias-gtx-970-slows-down-using-more-than-35gb-vram/

The GPU is the weak link in that system. This is true regardless of if the CPU is overclocked or not when using a normal 2d monitor. In VR, the CPU would be a problem without overclocking. GPU stocks are starting to recover a little, it is now possible to buy a GPU at non-scalper prices if you check the major online retailers daily. They still have elevated pricing though. The MSRP on the GTX 1060 6GB is $300 instead of the previous $250. For you, I'd recommend a 1070 or higher, which sadly are very hard to find still. Another option is grabbing a GTX 980 TI. They aren't absurdly expensive and should do ok.

To give an idea of not the fastest CPU and RAM, with a GTX1080G1.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjx8YF3gpJA&feature=youtu.be

Wow, i dont understand how he can get that smoothness flying, when i fly and look to the sides the trees and buildings pass along in stutters!

Wow, i dont understand how he can get that smoothness flying, when i fly and look to the sides the trees and buildings pass along in stutters!

You're running a 4K monitor AND two side monitors. I'm not surprised you're stuttering.

Actually i have found the culprit of the scenery stuttering, it was my 4k monitor overclock, ive put it back to its native 60hz and now the sim is butter smooth like in that video above, i cant believe what a difference, DCS 2.5 is a marvel , everything at full and its just incredibly smooth!

By the way, my two other monitors are just getting me some shade, i am not using them, only 4k.