Pc Upgrade... Thinking About It....

Aangeliceus

Aangeliceus

Kitteh's Meow
FC/Leadership
Well, now that the GTX980 series has come out... I'm left to wondering if I should focus on a video upgrade (GTX 690 to GTX 980) or actually consider a whole new PC build for my main box.

Couple of points:

- The GTX690 Does well in single-monitor mode, good FPS on Max FFXIV settings in border-less window mode.

- When multi-monitor mode is enabled, the FPS drops down to ~40 FPS. (I like to use a 2nd (21in/portrait) monitor for looking web pages and video while FFXVI takes up the main screen (31in/ws).

- When running a 2nd game instance, in single monitor mode, both instances co-exist well together. However, when multi-monitor mode is enabled + 2 instances of FFXIV running, it goes to shit. (unless I dumb down the graphics settings.)

- My 2nd PC, houses a 780ti -- and it screams (single monitor mode)

So... this is my thinking thread.... what to do.
 
I talked about my current config here: http://ultimals.com/threads/latest-hardware.12206/

But a lot has changed since then:

- Better GPU
- Better CPU
- DDR4 Memory
- Better SSD

If I decide to replace my current PC guts, I'll gladly give away the current config to anyone willing to pay shipping. (that's CPU, MB, RAM, GPU, SSD, only) -- I don't have room to keep a third set of PC parts and I'm not terribly keen on junking this set.

The primary target of a new platform build is to maintain a higher FPS rate under heavy load/usage. Also, power efficiency is desired due to high cost of power in Japan right now. (~$130/month, which would equate to ~$50/60/month, if I were back in my hometown in the U.S.)
 
Do not upgrade to the GTX 9nn series yet. There is a driver bug in alpha textures that causes them to render incorrectly for a few games that use Deferred Rendering for lighting and shadows. FFXIV being one of them. Also, the 980 is NOT worth the price premium compared to the 970; but since your goal is speed and energy efficiency, the 980 would probably serve you better. Link to thread on FFXIV forums.

I also recommend you wait until Intel's Skylake microarchitecture comes out on the 14nm process. The CPU can support 64GB of RAM, has between 64 and 128MB of L4 cache (eDRAM) (this is new for Intel CPUs), and will be running on a mature 14nm lithography; so TDP is in the range of 45 watts (a 20 watt improvement over Broadwell). It's also backwards compatible with DDR3. The chipset model will move to a 100-series. Your core i7 right now provides about 95% - 98% of the gaming performance of a similarly specced Broadwell CPU. There is definitely no reason to upgrade at this point. Focus on a GPU upgrade. To be completely honest, the biggest limiter we have right now is the graphical API. DirectX 9 was released in 2002 and the latest iteration of it was updated with Windows Vista. While it is functional, it is also poorly optimized for modern PCs.

I myself still have the i3570k and GTX 660 SLI. I'm holding my breath until Nvidia fixes the fog/alpha bug and FFXIV releases the DX11 client. Once those are ready I plan to upgrade to GTX 970 SLI first, with a full PC refresh once Skylake, the 100-series mobos, and reasonably priced DDR4 are available. A fast long-term gaming rig would probably consist of the best non-hyperthreaded Skylake CPU, an SLI compatible mobo with full x16 lanes for both slots, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and a single GTX 980 (if power consumption is a factor) or GTX 970 SLI (if price/performance is your main consideration).

For the love of bishoujos, get yourself a G-Sync monitor. Just do it. Nothing will impact your gaming experience more than that. I've already set aside cash for Asus' PG278Q 1440p 144hz G-Sync monitor. Acer has a 4K 60hz G-Sync monitor coming out, too. G-Sync is, without a doubt, the most evolutionary tech to hit the PC gaming market since programmable shaders. Dead serious.
 
furax said:
Do not upgrade to the GTX 9nn series yet. There is a driver bug in alpha textures that causes them to render incorrectly for a few games that use Deferred Rendering for lighting and shadows. FFXIV being one of them. Also, the 980 is NOT worth the price premium compared to the 970; but since your goal is speed and energy efficiency, the 980 would probably serve you better. Link to thread on FFXIV forums.

I also recommend you wait until Intel's Skylake microarchitecture comes out on the 14nm process. The CPU can support 64GB of RAM, has between 64 and 128MB of L4 cache (eDRAM) (this is new for Intel CPUs), and will be running on a mature 14nm lithography; so TDP is in the range of 45 watts (a 20 watt improvement over Broadwell). It's also backwards compatible with DDR3. The chipset model will move to a 100-series. Your core i7 right now provides about 95% - 98% of the gaming performance of a similarly specced Broadwell CPU. There is definitely no reason to upgrade at this point. Focus on a GPU upgrade. To be completely honest, the biggest limiter we have right now is the graphical API. DirectX 9 was released in 2002 and the latest iteration of it was updated with Windows Vista. While it is functional, it is also poorly optimized for modern PCs.

I myself still have the i3570k and GTX 660 SLI. I'm holding my breath until Nvidia fixes the fog/alpha bug and FFXIV releases the DX11 client. Once those are ready I plan to upgrade to GTX 970 SLI first, with a full PC refresh once Skylake, the 100-series mobos, and reasonably priced DDR4 are available. A fast long-term gaming rig would probably consist of the best non-hyperthreaded Skylake CPU, an SLI compatible mobo with full x16 lanes for both slots, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and a single GTX 980 (if power consumption is a factor) or GTX 970 SLI (if price/performance is your main consideration).

For the love of bishoujos, get yourself a G-Sync monitor. Just do it. Nothing will impact your gaming experience more than that. I've already set aside cash for Asus' PG278Q 1440p 144hz G-Sync monitor. Acer has a 4K 60hz G-Sync monitor coming out, too. G-Sync is, without a doubt, the most evolutionary tech to hit the PC gaming market since programmable shaders. Dead serious.
Click to expand...

Ok... that's a lot to digest, I've admittedly behind on my reading and research of the latest trends.

Thanks for taking the time to write that. :)
 
No prob! I sincerely hope that Windows 10 and the DX12 API will allow utilization of that on-die eDRAM. Being able to store graphical functions, physics algorithms, or thread management subroutines in a full-bandwidth on-die DRAM would drastically increase the graphical power of the PC. Look at the good it did the Xbox 360 APU! Even being able to store graphics and system code for the Windows Kernel in the on-die DRAM would provide a huge speed increase for the Windows OS.
 
My core 2 duo says I should build a new machine ASAP. Rofl.
 
Holy hell. Let me know if you have a budget for a PC and I can build you a system. The long-term cost might be a little more if you buy bit by bit, but the short-term costs would be low.
 
Yeah no budget right now but I'll let you know (and thus why I play ffxiv on ps4!)
 
Eticket said:
Aang, let me know if you have any old parts you need to 'recycle'.
Click to expand...

Sure. Once I complete this research project that Furax gave me, I'll make a decision on what to go with. (and when)
Also, I'm planning on going back to the states for Christmas, so I'll likely pack this stuff and take it with me and ship from Virginia.
 
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