Upgrade or not?

PowerPie5000 · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:10

Ok, i'm getting the upgrade itch but don't want to go with Haswell or AMD for the CPU... I'm currently running a 3570k and was thinking about swapping it over to a 3770k seeing as newer games are very likely to utilise more than 4 threads (some already do).

As for the GPU, I currently have a HIS 7950 IceQ Boost but was thinking about getting an R9 280X... I did think about the GTX 770, but it's still stuck with DX 11.0 and i doubt it'll support Mantle (i'm getting BF4). I'm not fussed about PhysX either.

Is it worth upgrading to squeeze a couple more years out of my rig? I'm trying to do this without spending too much (will recoup some cash after selling the parts i replace)... A complete platform change will cost more without giving me any significant performance boost over a 3770k and i don't want to pay GTX 780 prices for a GPU. I also feel the R9 290X runs way too hot and is a bit too power hungry!

Lastly, will my 2 year old 600W 'Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold' PSU be ok with a 3770k and R9 280X? It's gold rated and can output 48A on the 12V rail.

What are your opinions?

systemerror · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:16

Why not rather wait for the AMD 290 nonx which seems to be very impressive from what was becnhed
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18553493

I personally am thinking about going haswell over my sandybrige

Idleman · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:20

Your Psu will be fine.

Sir SpankalotUK · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:26

being in a similar position myself, I am just over clocking the i5 and went for a second 7950 and crossfired my setup, as these seem to be disappearing at the moment. I shall wait for a mainstream intel 8 core (one hopes) before upgrading again. And the free games were a nice addition.

PowerPie5000 · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:31

systemerror said:
Why not rather wait for the AMD 290 nonx which seems to be very impressive from what was becnhed
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18553493

I personally am thinking about going haswell over my sandybrige

That's hilarious! Probably the first customer anywhere to receive a standard 290

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The heat issue puts me off Haswell a bit, and then there's the fact that i'll need to change over my motherboard and then re-install the OS and over 600GB worth of games and apps (there's all those Windows updates too :rolleyes:

)... My current motherboard is nothing special and it's getting old (Biostar TH67XE), but it's been 110% reliable and still supports SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0 and even PCI-E 3.0!! I've felt no need to change it so far

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I'm not bothered about overclocking the CPU, but i still go for the "K" versions as they hold their value better when it comes to re-selling. They don't even cost much more than the non-K versions in the first place

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Idleman said:
Your Psu will be fine.

I was hoping that would be the answer! Cheers

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Sir SpankalotUK said:
being in a similar position myself, I am just over clocking the i5 and went for a second 7950 and crossfired my setup, as these seem to be disappearing at the moment. I shall wait for a mainstream intel 8 core (one hopes) before upgrading again. And the free games were a nice addition.

I'd love an 8 core Intel chip, but i'm pretty sure it'll cost more than i'm willing to pay

. Anyway, how is Crossfire with the latest drivers?

Sir SpankalotUK · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:50

PowerPie5000 said:
Anyway, how is Crossfire with the latest drivers?

It seems to cope rather well with everything I have thrown at it, using the beta drivers and liking the new optimise game gizmo. Using a mild overclock I was able to get to around 75th in the unigine heaven 4 benchmark thread. Think I need to tweak the voltage on my windforce3 to improve the score as the HIS boost seems the better clocking card.

PowerPie5000 · 31 Oct 2013 at 13:55

Sir SpankalotUK said:
It seems to cope rather well with everything I have thrown at it, using the beta drivers and liking the new optimise game gizmo. Using a mild overclock I was able to get to around 75th in the unigine heaven 4 benchmark thread. Think I need to tweak the voltage on my windforce3 to improve the score as the HIS boost seems the better clocking card.

The HIS 7950 Boost is definitely a decent overclocker (with unlocked voltage too).... I've overclocked mine a couple of times just for running benchmarks, but i usually leave it at stock clocks. It can handle 1100MHz just fine (possibly more?) on stock voltage and still remains fairly quiet with good temps (it has a monster cooler!)

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