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Upgrade from i7 3820 to i7 3930K ?

The trouble is very few games will benefit from that many cores and even then it won't be a massive difference, 4 fast cores is still really all you need for gaming.

It still might be worth getting for future proofing though and if you do any productivity stuff.
 
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mmj_uk said:
The trouble is very few games will benefit from that many cores and even then it won't be a massive difference, 4 fast cores is still really all you need for gaming.

It still might be worth getting for future proofing though and if you do any productivity stuff.
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Am I right in thinking BF3 utilises 6 cores? I think we're about to see the days were games really become dependent on more than 4 cores, some games are already pushing 4 to near max limits. 2013 will be a good year for gaming I think :D
 
6 cores or not ... right now I regret even having touched the PC - should have left it at 4 :(

Instead of gaming the Xmas will be used for troubleshooting.
 
illuz said:
I would do a complete reinstall, good luck. Naughty computer spec too!
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subbytna said:
Fresh win 7 install maybe? clean slate and all that
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I think I'll first uninstall the forceware 306.97 driver and do a driver sweeper check and continue from here.

I tried starting up COD Black Ops and via MSI Afterburner I saw the Core Mhz on the remaining two GTX 670 change between 500 and 915MHz constantly - that behavior I only experienced with Forceware 301.42, and updating to 306.23 and then 306.97 that issue was not present and all the cards ran constantly at 915MHz ! Now the 306.97 driver is acting up too

I hope when I get my RMAed card back tomorrow that when I do a clean installed with driver sweeper etc and trying out forceware 310.70 WHQL will solve it.
 
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Okay... I starting to think if the CPU is faulty.

I got the a new card. Installed it and removed all the drivers. I used driver sweeper and installed forceware 310.70, and enabled 3-way SLi. However the FPS goes up and down in 3Dmark11 and the gpu usage on the cards is very unbalanced - it's like SLi isn't working any more ?

I'm at a total loss what is wrong ! I tried reseating the SLi bridge many times.
 
310.70 is total rubbish for 4 way sli and may be the same for 3 way.

The best driver I have found for 4 way sli is 301.42

The best for 2 gpus (gtx 690) is 306.23

Try some of the older drivers and see which works best for you.

My best runs in 3dmark11 were on the drivers above. I think gregster also uses 306.23 for his msi lightnings.
 
Kaapstad said:
310.70 is total rubbish for 4 way sli and may be the same for 3 way.

The best driver I have found for 4 way sli is 301.42

The best for 2 gpus (gtx 690) is 306.23

Try some of the older drivers and see which works best for you.

My best runs in 3dmark11 were on the drivers above. I think gregster also uses 306.23 for his msi lightnings.
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The problem was the same with 306.97 I used before....
However I've isolated the problem and found the "solution" !

The freaking Core i7 3930K can't do PCI-E 3.0 !!!:eek:

If I just install the nVidia driver and don't use the nVidia X79 PCI-E 3.0 patch, then there are NO issues at all ! The GPU usage is top notch and FPS don't drop up and down, and I can actually hear the GPU cooler spin up because the GPU is working !

If I install the X79 PCI-E 3.0 patch then the FPS will drop up and down, and the GPU usage hops and dances between 90 to 20% usage untill 3Dmark11 or Unigine Heave DX11 crashes !

I then for testing took out the CPU and put in my old Core i7 3820 (haven't sold it yet).
And whatta you know rock solid with both PCI-E 3.0 and 2.0 !

The freaking problem is the CPU :(

I don't know if I should stay with the Core i7 3930K but then be stuck at PCI-E 2.0 or go back to 3820 and get PCI-E 3.0
 
I use an i7 3960x in the R4E and a pair of gtx 690s and they run in PCIe 3 mode no problem. Whats interesting is going to PCIe 2 there is less than 1% difference.

If you post in the graphics section theres plenty of guys there who use the 3930k with the PCIe 3 patch no problem. gregster and whyscotty being two I can think of at the moment. Andybird is another person who is very good with this setup.

306.97 is another driver for my setup that gives poor performance. All the drivers I have mentioned in this post and the one before I can run at PCIe 3 but the older ones are better and less awkward to install.
 
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I just wish I could run PCI-E 3.0 with this CPU but everything I used the X79 PCI-E patches I get crashes and performance like SLi is switching on and off regardless of the driver.

If I use the 3820 CPU there's no problem and drivers don't matter which version - they all run solid :(

I don't know if I should sell the 3930K and go back to 3820.
 
Gripen90 said:
I just wish I could run PCI-E 3.0 with this CPU but everything I used the X79 PCI-E patches I get crashes and performance like SLi is switching on and off regardless of the driver.

If I use the 3820 CPU there's no problem and drivers don't matter which version - they all run solid :(

I don't know if I should sell the 3930K and go back to 3820.
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I would talk to the guys in the graphics section first, the 3 people I mentioned use the 3930k and nvidia cards with the PCI-E 3.0 patch.

The reason I mentioned my setup is the CPU is almost the same as the 3930k.
 
I currently run my 670 at PCI-e 2.0 (I think I have a poor 3930K so doubt it'd do PCI-e 3.0).
When I had (and hopefully will again soon) 670 SLI I ran that at PCI-e 2.0 too. As mentioned I don't think the difference between PCI-e 3.0 and 2.0 is that big with these cards.

Of course the one difference is that because I'm running 2 cards they run at PCI-e 2.0 @ 16x where as with 3 cards yours would run at PCI-e 2.0 @ 8x wouldn't they? Guess that might make more of a difference.

Could you try benchmarking both setups to see if there's much of a difference?
 
GoogalyMoogaly said:
I currently run my 670 at PCI-e 2.0 (I think I have a poor 3930K so doubt it'd do PCI-e 3.0).
When I had (and hopefully will again soon) 670 SLI I ran that at PCI-e 2.0 too. As mentioned I don't think the difference between PCI-e 3.0 and 2.0 is that big with these cards.

Of course the one difference is that because I'm running 2 cards they run at PCI-e 2.0 @ 16x where as with 3 cards yours would run at PCI-e 2.0 @ 8x wouldn't they? Guess that might make more of a difference.

Could you try benchmarking both setups to see if there's much of a difference?
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Sorry I haven't replied sooner. But yes I have some results from earlier testing.

I only can compare the "before/after" results with the Core i7 3820 running PCI-E 3.0 and the Core i7 3930K running PCI-E 2.0

In Unigine Heaven DX 11 1920x1200 8xAA/16xAF, Extreme tessellation.
Core i7 3820 PCIE 3.0 = 111,6 FPS
Core i7 3930K PCIE 2.0 = 110,4FPS

3Dmark11 Performance
Core i7 3820 PCIE 3.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/4991801
Core i7 3930K PCIE 2.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5164700

3Dmark11 Extreme
Core i7 3820 PCIE 3.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5030405
Core i7 3930K PCIE 2.0 = http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5159222

However I'm starting to think my motherboard is the culprit, since my friend has run PCI-E 3.0 with GTX 680 SLi and the X79 patch with this CPU.

So now I've ordered a new Asus P9X79Pro to test with to see if not PCIE-3.0 is possible, because it's nagging me that I can't get the full potential :(
 
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