New Desktop Computer

[Monoriu]

Should I bother to upgrade the video card?  Is it worth replacing the GTX 970 with Titan X?  I hesitate to do so because I have not bought the 970 for too long.  It should be sufficient for now, and the Titan X is probably quite expensive.  On the other hand the 970 is not ideal for some of the 1080p anime files that I watch. 

[Norgy]

Why go for the 99-series chipsets? The Z97 ones are more than adequate.

The Titan X is incredibly expensive. The new GTX 980 Ti is a Titan at a lower price.
I'd SLI the fuck out of the 970, your case and airflow permitting.

[Monoriu]

Why go for the 99-series chipsets? The Z97 ones are more than adequate.

The Titan X is incredibly expensive. The new GTX 980 Ti is a Titan at a lower price.
I'd SLI the fuck out of the 970, your case and airflow permitting.

The shop says the Z97 motherboards are not compatible with the 5820/5930 CPUs.  They say it is a new generation of CPUs that require a new generation of motherboards. 

What is SLI? 

[Norgy]

Indeed that is true, but you can get cheaper CPUs for the Z97 chipsets offering some overclocking headroom with a liquid cooler and more than decent gaming performance.

SLI basically is using two identical cards.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli/technology

3D performance is much improved in many games, and SLI profiles are added to Nvidia Experience.

[Monoriu]

Indeed that is true, but you can get cheaper CPUs for the Z97 chipsets offering some overclocking headroom with a liquid cooler and more than decent gaming performance.

SLI basically is using two identical cards.

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/sli/technology

3D performance is much improved in many games, and SLI profiles are added to Nvidia Experience.

Well, I am a computer idiot.  Things are overclocking, SLI, switching on the computer are too complicated for me.  I really don't want to upgrade the computer constantly, and I hate dragging the computer to the shop.  It is too heavy for me.  Last time I broke the computer when I tried to change the video card.  Yeah, I am capable of breaking things that few others are capable of breaking.  So my strategy is to upgrade to the next generation of CPU so that I don't need to do it again in the near future.  Hopefully. 

Currently leaning toward buying a 980 ti to replace the 970.  Thinking of cutting costs elsewhere, like buying less RAM.  Or I'll be cheap and keep the current powersupply. 

[Norgy]

Power supplies are not a good place to cut costs. 

[Monoriu]

Power supplies are not a good place to cut costs. 

Considering that my computer broke down twice in the previous 4-5 years due to the power supply, I think you are probably right.  Still, I will need to convince myself why I need to replace a perfectly functioning 850w power supply that has yet to show any sign of trouble...

[viper37]

On the other hand the 970 is not ideal for some of the 1080p anime files that I watch. 

I don't understand this.  I have a HTPC at home, it has no video card, only the basic Intel video of the CPU, yet, I can see and watch movies/videos in 1080p with no problem.  How is it not ideal, what is the problem, what is the software you use to play your video files?

Upgrading your video card to a bigger one would mean better performances in 4k video games.  I doubt it will make differences for single 1080p monitor gaming.  It would make a difference on multi-monitor or 4k video gaming.  And for a 970, it shouldn't make any differences for 1080p movie watching.

[Monoriu]

On the other hand the 970 is not ideal for some of the 1080p anime files that I watch. 

I don't understand this.  I have a HTPC at home, it has no video card, only the basic Intel video of the CPU, yet, I can see and watch movies/videos in 1080p with no problem.  How is it not ideal, what is the problem, what is the software you use to play your video files?

VLC player.  If I start from the beginning, there is no problem.  But if I want to watch a specific scene somewhere toward the end, for example, there is a very long wait.  Sometimes it crashes. 

[viper37]

Power supplies are not a good place to cut costs. 

Considering that my computer broke down twice in the previous 4-5 years due to the power supply, I think you are probably right.  Still, I will need to convince myself why I need to replace a perfectly functioning 850w power supply that has yet to show any sign of trouble...

Easy.  It is time&money saved down the road.  Each time the computer breaks, it costs you money and time.  You have to carry it over the computer shop, they need to fix the problem, you need to go back there and pick it up.  Time wasted when you could spend it watching anime

[viper37]

On the other hand the 970 is not ideal for some of the 1080p anime files that I watch. 

I don't understand this.  I have a HTPC at home, it has no video card, only the basic Intel video of the CPU, yet, I can see and watch movies/videos in 1080p with no problem.  How is it not ideal, what is the problem, what is the software you use to play your video files?

VLC player.  If I start from the beginning, there is no problem.  But if I want to watch a specific scene somewhere toward the end, for example, there is a very long wait.  Sometimes it crashes. 

Do you think you could upload one the problematic file to a file sharing service, say, like www.rapidgator.net?  I would like to try it on my own computer.
Did your problem lessen when you upgraded your video card?  I mean, where there files you were unable to play before and could now play with the 970?

[Monoriu]

Power supplies are not a good place to cut costs. 

Considering that my computer broke down twice in the previous 4-5 years due to the power supply, I think you are probably right.  Still, I will need to convince myself why I need to replace a perfectly functioning 850w power supply that has yet to show any sign of trouble...

Easy.  It is time&money saved down the road.  Each time the computer breaks, it costs you money and time.  You have to carry it over the computer shop, they need to fix the problem, you need to go back there and pick it up.  Time wasted when you could spend it watching anime

Thing is I really am not sure what's wrong with the powersupply, other than you saying it is not good enough.  I have done some searches, and some people say the brand is good.  I am open toward the possibility of replacing it, but I need to convince myself first.

[Monoriu]

On the other hand the 970 is not ideal for some of the 1080p anime files that I watch. 

I don't understand this.  I have a HTPC at home, it has no video card, only the basic Intel video of the CPU, yet, I can see and watch movies/videos in 1080p with no problem.  How is it not ideal, what is the problem, what is the software you use to play your video files?

VLC player.  If I start from the beginning, there is no problem.  But if I want to watch a specific scene somewhere toward the end, for example, there is a very long wait.  Sometimes it crashes. 

Do you think you could upload one the problematic file to a file sharing service, say, like www.rapidgator.net?  I would like to try it on my own computer.
Did your problem lessen when you upgraded your video card?  I mean, where there files you were unable to play before and could now play with the 970?

Yes, the performance improved substantially when I upgraded to 970, that's why I believe further upgrading it will work.  Site requires registration.

Edit: if you don't mind BT, these are some of the problematic files.  I can play them, of course, but it is a bit slow.

http://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=620864

[Barrister]

On the other hand the 970 is not ideal for some of the 1080p anime files that I watch. 

I don't understand this.  I have a HTPC at home, it has no video card, only the basic Intel video of the CPU, yet, I can see and watch movies/videos in 1080p with no problem.  How is it not ideal, what is the problem, what is the software you use to play your video files?

VLC player.  If I start from the beginning, there is no problem.  But if I want to watch a specific scene somewhere toward the end, for example, there is a very long wait.  Sometimes it crashes.

That doesn't sound like a video card problem - more like a hard drive problem.

[Monoriu]

One more thing to consider is that, for certain reasons, my computer is on 24 hours a day, 6 days a week    That's one of the reasons the previous power supply died.  I think.  Not sure if this has any implications.