AM3 socket upgrade

5770's seem to be the same price they were 3 years ago when I built this PC... What the hell?

Is it still a good GPU to go for?
I'm not after super dooper GFX, just capable of of one HD screen 1080p and the odd game here n there...
 
The 955BE is cheaper though. Upping the multiplier by one makes it a 965, obviously you will overclock higher.

2GB 7850 really is the minimum GPU to aim for or the nvidia 660.

I have a 1GB 460GTX in my 555BE HTPC. Its only really BF3 that loves a quad core. Skyrim, dishonored, Crysis 2, X com, Shogun 2 all run quite happily at high settings. Might be best to just improve your GPU first then look at a 1155 mobo bundle upgrade later
 
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Also, would it be safe to assume that my Arctic Cooler that can keep my 3.9GHz 80w 555 at max temp of 37ºC after several hours of Prime95 will manage with the 125w 965 hopefully pushing 4GHz below 50ºC?
 
You really want the 2GB GPU to be honest bud. 1GB is false economy really it's limiting the card to be honest. Your priority should be upgrading your GPU, this will make a BIG difference. The 555BE is still capable, I know because I have one.

BF3 is a fussy mistress as is MoH "Bugfighter" on the Frost bite 2 engine. I did get stuttering as a dual core but a small tweak resolved that. The 955/965 is going to give you sandybridge i3 performance basically. I'd sort the GPU first then look to upgrade the mobo bundle to 1155 later.

Any of these cards would be great..........

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GeForce GTX 660 OC Twin Frozr 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £167.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £161.99
1 x Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 7850 OC Windforce 2X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz, Sleeping Dogs & Dirt Showdown PC Games £149.99
1 x MSI HD 7850 Twin Frozr III OC 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Cards w/ FARCRY3, Nexuiz & Sleeping Dogs PC Games £149.99
Total : £629.95 (includes shipping : FREE).



The nvidia 660 is in there for CUDA support it will assist your CPU in a number of software suites. If you do any video editing or encoding this may well appeal to you. Your PSU is plenty good enough dont worry about that :)
 
puma luke said:
Given the case a good Dyson and its dropped max core temp to 33ºC with 2 hours of Prime95 on it. This 965 will be fine I'm sure :D
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Just remember the core readings are usually false since the AMD chips have no temp sensors in the cores. You need to use something like HW Monitor, and read either the TPIN 0 or 1 temp (varies between motherboard). This will give you the overall CPU temp, which is where the 62c limit comes in.
 
puma luke said:
What can you recommend around the £100 mark Hono?
I can't justify £150 odd atm really.
Thanks :)
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What if you flog off the games that come with the 2GB 7850, would that help?

Maybe consider a 2nd hand 1GB 460 if you can find one, that will be less than £100. They overclock well and have CUDA support, I've OC'd my 256bit EVGA 460GTX to 900Mhz core speed, 2100 on the VRAM.

7770 vs 460

The AMD 7770 is £100ish but look at the link above, you see the 460 beats it at 675Mhz. No-one really runs a 460 at stock, my EVGA came factory overclocked at 763mhz. I can't really justify the upgrade as I find it still capable for my needs. If I was buying a new GPU now I would really really want the 2GB of VRAM. It's not hard to exceed 1GB of VRAM with current titles.
 
puma luke said:
I'll keep my eyes peeled for a 460.
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Just seen that a AMD 6850 went for £50ish on the Members Market here. That's on par with the 460 (no CUDA support mind). You have been a member a while. Maybe the mods would give you access if you asked nicely. You can make a request for a GPU in the MM so people know you are looking :)
 
Lazder said:
I know its off-topic, but what is this AMD unlocked cores idea about?? They sell you a dual core and "somehow" you can make it into 4??
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The dual core phenoms were popular. To meet demand they ended up disabling cores on good quadcores, these were called golden samples by us enthusiasts. Mostly it was because when they made a quadcore CPU, if it wasn't deemed stable, they would disable the bad cores and sell them off as a dual core. However if you tweaked the voltage you could get a tri-core or if you were lucky a quadcore by using the unlock option in the BIOS. Depends if you were born lucky or not ;)

My 555BE unlocks but I run it as a dual core. Has enough poke for a HTPC. As a X2 it's a 80W TDP as a quadcore it's 125W TDP. When you unlock the cores you lose the temp readings so overclocking becomes a bit more risky.

Intel tried a similar trick with the i5 2550K. It's basically a 2500K with a duff IGP. Rather than put the CPU in the bin they rebadge it as a 2550K ;)
 
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Doughnut007 said:
Asus GTX 460 Direct CU 768mb - £55
RMA replacement Nov 2010 I have the invoice but am unsure if there is warranty left. Removed from a working system due to upgrade.
I have the box and all the accessorys.
No hotlinking images!

Crucial M4 SSD 64GB - £38 Sold to barrie0
In box, working with no errors.

All prices including Royal Mail Signed For.
Payments by BT only
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It's not a 1GB GPU but it's still an improvement over your current GPU. Gotta love the MM :D
 
That took me a second to work out what you had done there hono!!!
I think £55 is a little steep on the premise that 2 1gb versions have sold on a popular auction site for less than £50. I'd rather pay a bit more and be good for another 2 years or so.
Maybe then ill step up to and intel chipset!

Thanks for the link though fella, I'd scoured the MM and missed that one!

On a side-I've got my hands on a 955BE with 2yrs warranty for what I consider to be a good price. C3 stepping, is that better than C2?
 
Don't even hint at evil competitors......we are not alone ;) lol I can't link to competitors just to the members market. I wasn't sure if you did have access. Just showing what was possibubble. Make sure it's a GTX 460 and not the MX 460.....massive difference ;)

C3 is a revised edition of the CPU so yes it is better. Should run cooler and so overclock better. 955BE CPU overclocked and a 1GB 460GTX you would be laughing :D

The 460s OC like mad, CUDA support will assist in a number of software suites, so I'd favour it over a AMD 6850. Download MSI afterburner we can talk you through overclocking and setting custom fan speed profiles ;)
 
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