Just bought ME:A, want to upgrade my rig

[BlckEagle89]

Hey everyone! I pre ordered Mass Effect Andromeda and i've been playing multiplayer since launch (i will try single player this weekend) and i know that ME:A have some heavy requirements and since my rig is mostly 4/5 years old (only upgraded my Mother and CPU after my previous CPU died around 1 or 2 years also with some help from steam). My rig is this:
Mother: Asus Z97-A
CPU: Intel Core i5 4690K @ 3.50GHz
Video: 2048MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner)
HDD: 2 x WB HDD 1TB
RAM: 4,00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (9-9-9-28)
I don't remember the exact model of the RAM and the video card but if it's needed i could get the information when i go back home along with the model of the power supply.
I was planning to improve my RAM and HDD and i found this:
HDD: SSD Samsung EVO850 (500GB)
RAM:
-Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 2400MHZ 2x8GB
-Gskill Ripjaws DDR3 1600MHZ 2X4gb
The questions are:
1_Is that SSD good? I read several good reviews. The idea would be to use the SDD for OS (W10), main apps (steam, origin, we browser, office) and the games, i rarely install more than one game, so i wouldn't have much need of space, and would also keep the newest 1TB WD HDD for data
2_RAM-wise i have my doubts because the mother specs says this about the RAM support:
"3200(O.C.)/3100(O.C.)/3000(O.C.)/2933(O.C.)/2800(O.C.)/2666(O.C.)/2500(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1600/1333 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory"
If i want to buy the 2x8GB 2400MHZ, do i have to overclock something on my system? I am not a big fan of OC, i never did it before actually because i and a little afraid of breaking something but maybe the OC is soft or simple and i believe i will have a great improvement. Should i go for the 16GB or 8GB is good enough?
3_My main focus is upgrading both HDD and RAM, should i upgrade either the graphics or the CPU?
I want extra power and my monitor is Full HD so i won't run the game at 4k, maybe connect the PC to my 4K Android TV and use the XBOX360 jostick but the graphic card won't run the game higher than 1080p even in that case. I am happy with 1080p res for gamming and 4k for netflix, at least for now
Thanks a lot for any help that you can give folks!

[Omega]

What is your budget?

I advice:
16gb RAM and a GTX 1060.

[Big Boom Boom]

Just load up XMP profile and the mobo will automatically OC the RAM for you (with the stated speed e.g 2400Mhz). Ezy peezy.

[BlckEagle89]

Omega の投稿を引用：

What is your budget?

I advice:
16gb RAM and a GTX 1060.

Difficult to say specially since in argentina the prices arekind of high for taxes and the economy and those things, but i always try to find the best relation price/performance, i know that high end hard is usually much more expensive and usually the medium hardware do things just fine with a good cost.
About the RAM, activating XMP in the BIOS will be enough to put the 2400MHZ one? Should i wait for the SSD? I am checking the GTX 1060 and i see the ASUS and the MSI models, I will take a closer look and check some reviews

Big Boom Boom の投稿を引用：

Just load up XMP profile and the mobo will automatically OC the RAM for you (with the stated speed e.g 2400Mhz). Ezy peezy.

Wow, easier that i believed, thanks! I read some about XMP and RAM OC and apparently there is no harm to the memories, so i will go for the 2x8gb 2400

[chiefputsilao✖️ping]

if you can get 2x8GB DDR3 1600mhz/1833mhz CL9 memory kits, then go buy it...

higher frequency memory modules are more expensive while probably consuming greater than 1.5v (1.65v ?)...

i think 1.5v DDR3 is very okay...

[🦜Cloud Boy🦜]

If you want to play mass effect Andromeda at high graphics and 60 fps- you need minimum GTX 1060 + 16 GB ram + 500 watt PSU. Those things cost $400 in North America.

No turning back......

[BlckEagle89]

Touch me and you're Gonna die の投稿を引用：

If you want to play mass effect Andromeda at high graphics and 60 fps- you need minimum GTX 1060 + 16 GB ram + 500 watt PSU. Those things cost $400 in North America.

No turning back......

I am good with 30fps and 1080p, the extra fps will be good, specially if i want to play from time to time on my TV

chiefputsi✖️ping の投稿を引用：

if you can get 2x8GB DDR3 1600mhz/1833mhz CL9 memory kits, then go buy it...

higher frequency memory modules are more expensive while probably consuming greater than 1.5v (1.65v ?)...

i think 1.5v DDR3 is very okay...

Yesterday i took a look at differnt RAMs in Mercado Libre (the Amazon of Argentina so to speak) and i didn't see a lot of models. I will dive into it more closely and see what if i can find 2x8GB kits

You are strongly recommending the GTX 1060 and the 2x8GB RAM, is the extra performance of the SSD not noticeble in games?

[🦜Cloud Boy🦜]

BlckEagle89 の投稿を引用：

You are strongly recommending the GTX 1060 and the 2x8GB RAM, is the extra performance of the SSD not noticeble in games?

SSD does not boost video games performance. It only reduces some loading time....

[Omega]

BlckEagle89 の投稿を引用：

You are strongly recommending the GTX 1060 and the 2x8GB RAM, is the extra performance of the SSD not noticeble in games?

like Touch me says SSD's don't impact preformance. A SSD should be used for storing Windows, drivers, browser etc.. It will make your pc run much smoother, the Pc will not freeze up anymore to load data from the slow mechanical HDD.

[upcoast]

http://www.techspot.com/review/1358-mass-effect-andromeda-benchmarks/page2.html

GTX1060 6GB ^.

SSD is worthwhile these days, I was a late ssd adopter and was a little impressed at the overall system responsiveness, the seek time on ssds are quite a bit faster than the hdd about 3 times faster.

[Omega]

upcoast の投稿を引用：

http://www.techspot.com/review/1358-mass-effect-andromeda-benchmarks/page2.html

GTX1060 6GB ^.

SSD is worthwhile these days, I was a late ssd adopter and was a little impressed at the overall system responsiveness, the seek time on ssds are quite a bit faster than the hdd about 3 times faster.

I am also a late SSD adopter I bought one just a couple of months ago. Its makes a huge difference in laptops; (hybrid 5400 rpm) freezes while running VM's begone! And a very noticable difference in modern destops (7200 rpm). I never really knew what all the fuss was about with SSD's until i experienced it myself.

[🦜Cloud Boy🦜]

Yes I know ssd is useful for lots of other things. But not in videogames, because videogames gets their data flow from Ram and V-Ram, not from SSD or HardDisk, they only useful at Loading Screen....

Since the OP is in tight budget, I suggest he should get a GPU first, SSD can wait..

[upcoast]

Touch me and you're Gonna die の投稿を引用：

Yes I know ssd is useful for lots of other things. But not in videogames, because videogames gets their data flow from Ram and V-Ram, not from SSD or HardDisk, they only useful at Loading Screen....

Since the OP is in tight budget, I suggest he should get a GPU first, SSD can wait..

I used to think that way ^ but it's not as simple as that.

Pre ssd, I could copy files from a 3TB internal hdd to a 3TB usb external at only 100ish MB/s dropping to 50MB/s.

Post ssd, those same large files are copying at 195MB/s.

Even though my games are mostly on a 3TB 7200rpm internal drive they load at peak efficiency with the OS installed on the ssd.

An hdd running an OS with multiple accesses runs a lot slower than an ssd.

Looks like OP has an ssd anyway I just noticed ""HDD: SSD Samsung EVO850 (500GB) "" or he doesn't and is going to get.

So OP really just needs a gpu and more ram but 1.65v ram at his own risk intel says 1.5v +%5.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1512324/haswell-with-1-65v-memory-conclusion

No real intel ^ consensus on 1.65v with haswell.

[BlckEagle89]

upcoast の投稿を引用：

http://www.techspot.com/review/1358-mass-effect-andromeda-benchmarks/page2.html

GTX1060 6GB ^.

SSD is worthwhile these days, I was a late ssd adopter and was a little impressed at the overall system responsiveness, the seek time on ssds are quite a bit faster than the hdd about 3 times faster.

@Upcoast, why did you mention the 6GB version? Just as an example? I've been reading and the difference (in ME:A specifically) between the 6GB and the 3GB is minimal except in 4K res in which case the 3GB version falls way behind, but i doubt i will run 4K (2K tops just to give it a try surely, but i will run it mostly at 1080p) , so i think i will go for the 3GB version, the MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X one which several reviews put it as an excellent GPU. On the official MSI Argentinian store the 3GB version costs $6150 argentinian pesos vs $7200 argentinian pesos for the 6GB one, a roughly $1000 difference, which is around $384 dollars for the 3GB model and $450 for the 6GB model). I was planning to sell my xbox360 because i am not using it anymore and i could finally sell my Asus Crosshair Formula which is still functional and store in its original box. and after acquiring the new GPU i could also sell my current GPU which still works really really well with a lot of games.I will have to make some initial investment but i will recover a part of it.

[BlckEagle89]

upcoast の投稿を引用：

Touch me and you're Gonna die の投稿を引用：

Yes I know ssd is useful for lots of other things. But not in videogames, because videogames gets their data flow from Ram and V-Ram, not from SSD or HardDisk, they only useful at Loading Screen....

Since the OP is in tight budget, I suggest he should get a GPU first, SSD can wait..

I used to think that way ^ but it's not as simple as that.

Pre ssd, I could copy files from a 3TB internal hdd to a 3TB usb external at only 100ish MB/s dropping to 50MB/s.

Post ssd, those same large files are copying at 195MB/s.

Even though my games are mostly on a 3TB 7200rpm internal drive they load at peak efficiency with the OS installed on the ssd.

An hdd running an OS with multiple accesses runs a lot slower than an ssd.

Looks like OP has an ssd anyway I just noticed ""HDD: SSD Samsung EVO850 (500GB) "" or he doesn't and is going to get.

So OP really just needs a gpu and more ram but 1.65v ram at his own risk intel says 1.5v +%5.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1512324/haswell-with-1-65v-memory-conclusion

No real intel ^ consensus on 1.65v with haswell.

I will go for the SSD after the RAM and after the GPU, for now i have the "usual" mechanical HDD drive. I am reading the link that you provided so i can have a better idea about the RAM, the problem is that here we do not have much variety but i will take a look and let you know because the RAM is the first thing i will have to upgrade, and the next month i'll go for the GPU

[upcoast]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/73737-nvidia-gtx-1060-3gb-review-10.html

3GB ver has chopped down cuda cores and texture units but you buy what you can afford, some games are effected more than others where ME A isn't.