i7 920 @ 2.66 Upgrade?

[Nickjf20]

Hi all,

So I've got a i7 920 at stock as the motherboard I have doesn't allow overclocking sadly. RAM consists of 3x2GB Corsair XMS3 (PC refuses to post with the 3x1GB sticks I also had in there for some reason)

I game at 1440p with a 7950 clocked at 1025/1250

The PC is left on a lot, and I've realised that the 7950 isn't going into 'zero core' (perhaps due to mobo bios?), and the 920 idles at 50W alone. Then you've got the power hungry X58 chipset ...

I play GTAV, BF4, not much else.

I've had this CPU since 2009, so it's lasted a good while, and I'd like my upgrade to last a similar length of time, so I'll probably buy another i7 or an i7-E


So, my question is, should I wait for Skylake, Broadwell, or further?
Or go for another GPU upgrade later in the year with an R9 3XX or similar?

 

[Orcvader]

What motherboard is it?

As for the 7950 not going into ZeroCore mode, it only does this when the screen is in sleep mode, and/or it's a second/third/fourth card for crossfire. Make sure you're on the latest drivers, I remember there being a previous set of drivers disabling it due to problems. If you have overclocked your GPU as well, ensure you haven't enabled "Disable ULPS" or something similar as this will prevent ZeroCore too.

 

[Nickjf20]

It's a generic Foxconn board used by Acer/Gateway in a number of pre-built towers.

No overclocking functions to speak of. It's running a modified bios that's floating around on the net allowing control over C* states but little else. Curiously, the CPU reports as having a TDP of 145W

I'm on the latest drivers (15.4), and the screen does appear to go to sleep (U2713HM), but the fans never stop spinning on the GPU

 

[ED209]

I would keep the cpu, ram and mobo. I have a I7 950 @ 3.6ghz and I find this fine for gaming at 1080P.

my GPU needs replacing as its a Radeon HD 5830, did get a 970 but sent this back due to the vram issues.

at current I would wait for 3xx gpus to come out and see what they are like, this is what I am currently doing as a new gpu can be moved to your new rig later down the line

 

[Qitarah]

At this point I think you should wait. For both new GPUS and Processors. Just go all in on the next gen.

 

[kaku]

If you could snap up a second hand X58 mobo (Rampage 2, X58A-UD3R) for a decent price that would be a good option. Most 920s will hit 4GHz or thereabouts fairly easily if you have a good cooler.

 

[Nickjf20]

Thanks for the replies, I've sent a message to kohlditz via trust - very good of him!

I'll probably wait and see what the 390/X brings to the table. I'm sure someone will run benchmarks and see which CPUs bottleneck it.