[GhostLoad]

Well I'm back after a few months of watching card prices and trying to decide if I should pull the trigger or not.  I bought Fallout 4 this morning and since I can't run it super smooth on ultra settings, I think it's time for an upgrade.  Do you think that upgrading just my video card will be able to max it out (along with future games for a while, of course)?  None of my components have changed since I last posted.  Thanks.

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Gday.

Good to see you back.

I would say no to upgrading your present hardware for gaming.   Skylake brings very little to gaming performance and you don't reallyy need the extras that come with the Z170 MBs.

There are many postings with regards upgrading their i5 2500k CPUs and except for the occasional D Head, the census is stay with the i5 2500k as it does not cause a bottleneck.   SB regarded as the best CPU ever to overclock if required, and very easy to do so, even on air.   Go for the best GPU you can afford and a SSD for OS and programs, keeping a HDD for storage.

> http://www.ocaholic....id=1129&page=14

>

 

 

You will need a banchmark tool for your existing and the future card. > http://www.guru3d.co...k-download.html

 

The resolution you play on as well as game setting determines how many fps you get.   Also the refresh rate of the monitor, a 60Hz one will only ever display up to 60 fps even  if a card pushes out 200.

Fallout 4 is capped at 60 fps, >http://www.gamersnex...all-resolutions

> http://www.theverge....est-ps4-pc-xbox

  

[iammykyl]

Gday.

Good to see you back.

I would say no to upgrading your present hardware for gaming.   Skylake brings very little to gaming performance and you don't reallyy need the extras that come with the Z170 MBs.

There are many postings with regards upgrading their i5 2500k CPUs and except for the occasional D Head, the census is stay with the i5 2500k as it does not cause a bottleneck.   SB regarded as the best CPU ever to overclock if required, and very easy to do so, even on air.   Go for the best GPU you can afford and a SSD for OS and programs, keeping a HDD for storage.

> http://www.ocaholic....id=1129&page=14

>

 

 

You will need a banchmark tool for your existing and the future card. > http://www.guru3d.co...k-download.html

 

The resolution you play on as well as game setting determines how many fps you get.   Also the refresh rate of the monitor, a 60Hz one will only ever display up to 60 fps even  if a card pushes out 200.

Fallout 4 is capped at 60 fps, >http://www.gamersnex...all-resolutions

> http://www.theverge....est-ps4-pc-xbox

  

[GhostLoad]

Yeah the only part I'm thinking about is the GPU right now anyways, so that's reassuring.  I'm still juggling which card to get lol.  It seems like this GPU upgrade will be a pretty pricey one.  >.<

[iammykyl]

Gday GhostLoad.

How is the upgrade going, bit the bullet yet?   A update would be appreciated.  

 

Thanks. 

[GhostLoad]

I think I'm gonna keep an eye out for black Friday/cyber Monday deals, and see if I can snag a GTX 980 for a good price.

[iammykyl]

Thanks for the update  

You might be lucky, the average price of a GTX 980 has only come down by about $30 in six months..

 

Good luck.

[GhostLoad]

Thanks lol, I'm hoping I do.  Do you think it might be worth it to go with a GTX 970 instead, if it's cheap enough (on sale)?  If so, how much cheaper do you think it'd have to be in order to be wroth going with the lesser of the two?

[iammykyl]

I would choose a card on display size and the resolution you play at.  Great to play on ultra setting, but not essential, more important to have good sustainable fps.

24" 60Hz display @ 1080P, I would go the 970 and if $$ available, a 250GGB SSD.

27" +, 120/144Hz dispay or 4K Res, I would go the 980. 

 

One game tested, > http://www.gamersnexus.net/game-bench/2195-assassins-creed-syndicate-gpu-fps-benchmarks 

[GhostLoad]

That's really food for thought iammykyl.  I've got 2x 24" monitors.  Do you think I'd be able to get a nice long (time wise) haul out of the GTX 970 then?  I'd really like to run at ultra with good FPS as well, of course.  I don't think I'm going to be going bigger on my monitors for the foreseeable future, and I've no intent on playing at 4k resolution.  I just don't have the desk space for it unfortunately lol.  Also, I was unaware of a FPS boost from putting my main games on an SSD, which is why I'm guessing you're suggesting it?  Oh and that link of yours was 404'd when I clicked it.


EDIT:  Also, what's the difference between these 4 GTX 970 cards?  They essentially are all the same (spec wise) but vary in price from $290 to $350.   

http://www.newegg.co...-088^14-487-088

Edited by GhostLoad, 28 November 2015 - 09:55 AM.

[GhostLoad]

Well, suddenly I feel like an idiot for not pulling the trigger on this (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814487077) EVGA GTX 970 while it was in stock at $299.99  

Edited by GhostLoad, 29 November 2015 - 04:23 AM.

[iammykyl]

Ya, you have to be quick when see the bargain.

Are you within a reasonable distance of a Macro Store for pick up only specials? > http://www.microcent..._Silent_Cooling

[GhostLoad]

Nope, I'm not.  And I kept waiting because I wasn't sure what the heck the difference was between those cards (looked online for more info to no avail) and didn't wanna make the right purchase.  Le sigh....

I'm praying to the GPU-Gods that there will be a good Cyber Monday sale somewhere today....

Edited by GhostLoad, 30 November 2015 - 02:17 AM.

[iammykyl]

Goes for all cards.   A stock refernce card, say by AMD, is designed with stock cooling solution, a ref clock speed/boost speed/amount of vRAM, number of video ports, cheapest.   When say, Asus, produces the card, they will factory overclock the clock and boost speed, may up the vRAM, add their own custom cooling solution and usually give more, or different configuration of video ports.

 

You normally pay more for a higher factory o/c card, or a better cooler, or any combination of features effect the price.  Major brands perform very close to each other,  but there is nearly always a few that stand out. 

[GhostLoad]

Ah I see. Well I've had nothing but good experiences from EVGA so I think I'd like to stick with them. I've never tried an MSI or Gigabyte card before. If you notice any good deals today, let me know? I'm keeping my eye out but 2 pairs are always better than one.

[GhostLoad]

Ooookay I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger, I bought a video card!  I got the EVGA GTX 970 SSC.  I saw the Amazon price drop down to $315 and decided that was a good enough deal for me lol.