Near future upgrades

DiscoDave · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:14

Hi Everyone,

I've had my system since Christmas 2008 and I feel in current games its beginning to strain. To summarise:

i7 920 LGA1366
6GB PC3-12800C9
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2048MB
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 iX58 i7 Socket 1366
...and the usual bits and bobs

I've also had issues with games not supporting crossfire/don't like dual GPU setups.

Its done well to last this long but I'm thinking of upgrading at about Autumn time (Just bought a flat so I'll be skint for a bit). I'm just asking for some general advice as what's on the horizon, and if about that time would be a good idea to upgrade.

I think I can put a better i7 processor in there as well as a new GPU to make quite a bit of difference.

Thanks,

David

sk82jack · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:16

Purely gaming rig? An i7-2600K won't be beneficial over an i5-2500k unless you use programs that will make use of it's hyperthreading, which games don't.

BullDozer *should* be released by then (fingers crossed

) so that will be something to keep an eye on too.

DiscoDave · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:18

Yeah it's a gaming rig. At the time only the i7 was released. I'll keep an eye on BullDozer, but I'll obviously be more inclined to stay i7/i5 if I can keep the motherboard.

sk82jack · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:28

DiscoDave said:
Yeah it's a gaming rig. At the time only the i7 was released. I'll keep an eye on BullDozer, but I'll obviously be more inclined to stay i7/i5 if I can keep the motherboard.

Oooh I was talking about Sandy Bridge which won't be compatible with your motherboard

I'm not too hot on older Intel CPUs/motherboards as they don't get talked about a lot on here and I've only been here a couple of months so I don't know anything on that side of things, sorry buddy - I'm sure someone will be able to help you out soon enough though

DiscoDave · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:31

No worries. I guess I could overclock my i7 until Autumn time..

olivier renault · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:50

There should be nothing wrong with your i7. If it's not overclocked, that's worth a shot.

You could upgrade your graphics though. Although a 4870 X2 isn't too shabby. Get a single GPU, overclock with a decent CPU cooler, and it should fly.

Akasa Venom / A50, best graphics card you can afford.

2.66GHz is pretty low, overclocking to 3.4GHz and above should be relatively easy and bring it up to current standards.

At the end of the day, there is no money wasted. If it's still not performing to your liking, you can reuse the graphics and cooler and do a spanking 2600K build. but IMO that's a bit of a waste given your current setup.

honosuseri · 2 Jun 2011 at 14:57

That's quite a way a ways yet bud. Like your style though, upgrading so you have something to do in the cold dark winter months

Like jack said bulldozer we hope will be out soonish, although i have heard whispers that sept is more likely.

I don't know what cooler u have at the mo, is it stock? Maybe it might be wise to invest in an aftermarket one that covers a number of sockets now and overclock the i7.

Prices vary weekly here never mind monthly. You haven't mentioned a budget but considering you are complaining of XF woes, upgrading to a better single card would make sense.....let's wait and see what goodies are available come sept time

shadow_boxer · 2 Jun 2011 at 15:00

As olivier said your system is still very good. If that is a D0 stepping 920 then I'd definitely get overclocking after getting a new aftermarket cooler (perhaps make the jump to watercooling). It should hit 4GHz no trouble if its a D0 chip.

GPU is more likely to make more of a difference here. What games are struggling and what resolution are you gaming at.

How about a new high end card and and SSD to speed things up? If performance is still poor then go Crossfire or SLI.

DiscoDave · 3 Jun 2011 at 08:06

olivier renault said:
There should be nothing wrong with your i7. If it's not overclocked, that's worth a shot.

You could upgrade your graphics though. Although a 4870 X2 isn't too shabby. Get a single GPU, overclock with a decent CPU cooler, and it should fly.

Akasa Venom / A50, best graphics card you can afford.

2.66GHz is pretty low, overclocking to 3.4GHz and above should be relatively easy and bring it up to current standards.

At the end of the day, there is no money wasted. If it's still not performing to your liking, you can reuse the graphics and cooler and do a spanking 2600K build. but IMO that's a bit of a waste given your current setup.

Well, I did mount a Accelero Xtreme 4870 X2 cooler to my GPU as the noise levels were just too much for me, I could look at overclocking my GPU a bit.

honosuseri said:
That's quite a way a ways yet bud. Like your style though, upgrading so you have something to do in the cold dark winter months

Like jack said bulldozer we hope will be out soonish, although i have heard whispers that sept is more likely.

I don't know what cooler u have at the mo, is it stock? Maybe it might be wise to invest in an aftermarket one that covers a number of sockets now and overclock the i7.

Prices vary weekly here never mind monthly. You haven't mentioned a budget but considering you are complaining of XF woes, upgrading to a better single card would make sense.....let's wait and see what goodies are available come sept time

I bought a aftermarket i7 cooler aaaaages ago (Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Dual Fan Quiet C) I've not yet done any overclocking, however I'm thinking about getting one of those "all in one" CPU watercooling solutions as airflow in my case isn't optimal (Antec 600)

shadow_boxer said:
As olivier said your system is still very good. If that is a D0 stepping 920 then I'd definitely get overclocking after getting a new aftermarket cooler (perhaps make the jump to watercooling). It should hit 4GHz no trouble if its a D0 chip.

GPU is more likely to make more of a difference here. What games are struggling and what resolution are you gaming at.

How about a new high end card and and SSD to speed things up? If performance is still poor then go Crossfire or SLI.

It's not a D0 unfortunately, however I would like to get 3.2Ghz+ out of it if possible. Games that are strugging a bit Crysis 2 (well, that's a given really), F1 2010, Dragon Age 2. Playing at 1920x1200.

olivier renault · 3 Jun 2011 at 08:34

DiscoDave said:
Well, I did mount a Accelero Xtreme 4870 X2 cooler to my GPU as the noise levels were just too much for me, I could look at overclocking my GPU a bit.

I don't think that will do much tbh.

I bought a aftermarket i7 cooler aaaaages ago (Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Dual Fan Quiet C) I've not yet done any overclocking, however I'm thinking about getting one of those "all in one" CPU watercooling solutions as airflow in my case isn't optimal (Antec 600)

Compared to a NH-U12P, I wouldn't bother. If you need better air flow, maybe one or two case fans, or a new case if you feel the 600 is kinda getting old. if I had money to spend, I'd get a nice case like a FT01 or RV02 Evo, or some other 'air flow' case (Coolermaster HAF, but I don't like the looks much).

It's not a D0 unfortunately, however I would like to get 3.2Ghz+ out of it if possible.

With a Noctua cooler, that should be well within reach really.

Games that are strugging a bit Crysis 2 (well, that's a given really), F1 2010, Dragon Age 2. Playing at 1920x1200.

My money is on the GPU, it will struggle at Crysis

F1 2010 is both CPU and GPU dependent, so I don't really know.

DiscoDave · 3 Jun 2011 at 19:46

olivier renault said:
I don't think that will do much tbh.

Compared to a NH-U12P, I wouldn't bother. If you need better air flow, maybe one or two case fans, or a new case if you feel the 600 is kinda getting old. if I had money to spend, I'd get a nice case like a FT01 or RV02 Evo, or some other 'air flow' case (Coolermaster HAF, but I don't like the looks much).

With a Noctua cooler, that should be well within reach really.

My money is on the GPU, it will struggle at Crysis F1 2010 is both CPU and GPU dependent, so I don't really know.

Well I've just clocked my i7 at 3.4Ghz using Gigabyte's EasyTune system, ran prime95 for a bit at my core temps are in the 80's, so I think I need to improve my cooling somewhat..