Upgrading my 5y.o. RIG, 3 questions for you and tips needed.

BadLifer

BadLifer

BadLifer

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9 Feb 2015
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Hello guys.I am planning on upgrading and I need some help to figure out what the best course of action is for me right now.

Basically my RIG is as follows:
MOBO:ASUS P6T (DELUXE?)
RAM:6GB DDR3
CPU: I7 920 @ 2.66GHZ
GPU: nothing since it got fried.
PSU: AKASA freedom power 750w

So I was thinking about either getting GTX 970 or Radeon r9 280.

Question (A):
What is better moneywise in the end?
1)Going for Radeon r9 280 since it is cheaper and upgrade for a similar price when the years pass? OR
2)Going for GTX970 which is more expensive but will make up for the lost money by lasting more years to come.
Which of the 2 solutions is better for my money in the long run?

Question (B):
Will both of these card bottleneck me?If so could my i7 prevent that by being overclocked?And at what GHZ?
I was gravitating a bit to Radeon r9 280 because I was hoping it might not bottleneck me as much.

Question (C):
What is the most appropriate course of action for me right now in your own opinion without considering my thoughts?
1)Go for a new gpu right now and work it from there?
2)Wait some month for some weird upcoming release(maybe you guys know if something is upcoming that will change the game) and ugprade cpu and mobo too?
Or what really , I am clueless :P

Thanks!
 
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I'd be tempted to chop that i7 for a xeon 5650, cheap upgrade if your board is compatible.

GPU wise, it depends what resolution you play at and what games, 970 should be ok at 1080p for a while yet but I wouldn't look at it as some long term investment.
 
I had a ASUS P6T deluxe 2 and it didnt support a xeon 5650, not too bad though as the 920's generally clock to 3.8-4 if you have a D0. If you are prepared to spend 970 money, i think your options should be 280x, 290, 290x (lightning or 8gb) and 970.

People say wait for the next AMD release but tbh, they will probably come in at the original price brackets or higher and things are pretty cheap as they are now.

What PSU?
 
Overclock that cpu. You will keep up with most things. The 5650 would be a cheap and excellent upgrade for you. I had one and surpassed 4790k stock speeds.

In the same position I'd be desperatly waiting for the radeon 300 series to be released. I'd buy a cheap card int he mean time, maybe a 580 to see me through a month or so until we get to see how they are going to be.
 
I could understand waiting out for the 300 series if you are looking to buy the flagship but if that is out of budget, surely buying the current cards now cheap would be the better option rather than wait a bit and end up buying the refreshed version for slightly more. There are sales to get rid of old stock prior to releases but i cant see them dropping much lower if at all, since they are selling nicely atm.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
I had a ASUS P6T deluxe 2 and it didnt support a xeon 5650, not too bad though as the 920's generally clock to 3.8-4 if you have a D0. If you are prepared to spend 970 money, i think your options should be 280x, 290, 290x (lightning or 8gb) and 970.

People say wait for the next AMD release but tbh, they will probably come in at the original price brackets or higher and things are pretty cheap as they are now.

What PSU?
Click to expand...

What is a D0?But to overclock it I will need liquid cooling right?
So you suggest I go for the 970.

Also yeah my PSU is an akasa freedompower 750w.
Is that bad ? I didn't know there was such a thing about watt quality back in the day, I though it was all about having ENOUGH watt.

P.S. : What is with all the black and white photos of cool dudes?Is this something forum related?:D
 
BadLifer said:
Also yeah my PSU is an akasa freedompower 750w.
Is that bad ? I didn't know there was such a thing about watt quality back in the day, I though it was all about having ENOUGH watt.
Click to expand...

It's capable of running up to a 290X, if you reckon it's still in good condition after 5 years. It has enough amps on the 12v rail. If you choose to stick with it, at least it won't be AS risky as attempting to run it with a cheapo "750W" without enough amps on the 12v rail. Having said that, if it were me, I would probably buy a new PSU for a new rig as you have to factor in degradation. The PSUs I'd keep beyond 5 years and transfer into a new rig would only be top quality ones.

And your GPU got fried already, so I wouldn't risk the same PSU with a new expensive GPU.
 
you've got a very similar setup to me - i've also got an i7920 (overclocked to about 3.3 though) & a P6T motherboard. went from a 5870 (which died on me a few months back) to an msi r9 280 - so far it's been fine.

have no experience of the 970 so can't comment on that but, if you're happy gaming at 1080p & don't feel the need to max out settings, 280 should be fine for current games.
 
Tyrion2 said:
you've got a very similar setup to me - i've also got an i7920 (overclocked to about 3.3 though) & a P6T motherboard. went from a 5870 (which died on me a few months back) to an msi r9 280 - so far it's been fine.

have no experience of the 970 so can't comment on that but, if you're happy gaming at 1080p & don't feel the need to max out settings, 280 should be fine for current games.
Click to expand...

thanks for this and sorry for the dealy , I couldn't remember my password.:rolleyes:

WOW, surprisingly I just bought a "used" msi 280 twin frozr as well!
Unfortunately it is problematic, but the seller can RMA it for me or give me money back( it was sealed even...shame).

Anyway I have a few questions... How strong is an i7 920@ 4Ghz ? Can it match new computers?How do I compare CPUs in general to understand by myself?

Also, me and you why would we ever upgrade our asus p6t?I read PCIE 3 is jsut like USB 3,0.So why would I ever need to upgrade my mobo?

Thanks
 
Certainly the GPU upgrade will be the most obvious. A CPU upgrade is on the cards though, with the improved capabilities of the Xbox One and PS4 comes a far greater swath of demanding games for PC, that will require more IPC etc.
 
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