is 100 quid enough??

[Alienfish360]

So since the OP already has a 7970, you would suggest he spends £200 or so on 2x 7870 instead of £100 on an extra 7970?

If that's what you're saying, that is a silly thing to do, he already has 1 7970, it makes more sense just to buy the extra one to go with it.

 

[manering]

My opinion is not go spend loads of a GPU set up to handicap it with a CPU set up.
There's plenty of merit in buying a CPU/GPU combination that complements one another, take a 7870 and an FX6300, they just work and for many people, they'll just do, which is a completely different scenario to an FX6100 and a 7970 Crossfire. That's a ridiculous set up.

so in your opinion would fx8320 new mobo run 2 gpu's on iracing with my 3 screens??

if not like a say i will just use the 2nd gpu on something else and forget the 3 screen situation learn from my impulses buy

 

[Martini1991]

So since the OP already has a 7970, you would suggest he spends £200 or so on 2x 7870 instead of £100 on an extra 7970?

If that's what you're saying, that is a silly thing to do, he already has 1 7970, it makes more sense just to buy the extra one to go with it.

Sorry, you're not making any sense?

OP has 3 monitors, he's just bought a second 7970.

He wants to spend 100 pound on a motherboard to accommodate.
I haven't remotely said anything you're suggesting.

I'd just get rid of the FX6100 and board, spend X amount on a board, and then plonk 180 or whatever into the Haswell 4C/8T Xeon. It's more money, but it's a far better choice.

 

[Martini1991]

so in your opinion would fx8320 new mobo run 2 gpu's on iracing with my 3 screens??

Yes it would. But it's a dead platform. If you already had a capable board, then yeah sure, get an FX8320 (Not that I'd really reccomend it, an FX83 isn't a perfect option for a 7970 Crossfire)

You don't have a capable board, you need a board and a new CPU, so I'd go for the Xeon. Instead of spending say 200 to facilitate your set up, why not spend 260 and do it properly with better performance across the board?

 

[Alienfish360]

Sorry, you're not making any sense?

OP has 3 monitors, he's just bought a second 7970.

He wants to spend 100 pound on a motherboard to accommodate.
I haven't remotely said anything you're suggesting.

I'd just get rid of the FX6100 and board, spend X amount on a board, and then plonk 180 or whatever into the Haswell 4C/8T Xeon. It's more money, but it's a far better choice.

You're suggesting then that instead of buying a board that he can afford now, and use his current CPU, then buy a CPU later, he should drop all the extra cash into something that won't benefit him.

There is an easy solution to this.

OP, buy a board, and post up frame rates from iRacing in triple screen.

That should solve it.

 

[Martini1991]

You're suggesting then that instead of buying a board that he can afford now, and use his current CPU, then buy a CPU later, he should drop all the extra cash into something that won't benefit him.

There is an easy solution to this.

OP, buy a board, and post up frame rates from iRacing in triple screen.

That should solve it.

How is spending 100 pound into a dead platform, to facilitate his GPU's (Which will be bottlenecked) to then spend another 100 into a CPU (Which will still bottleneck his GPU's) while then requiring a whole new board and CPU when he comes to upgrade to get the same performance that 260 quid would now a better option?

It's a complete and utter fallacy to run 600 pound worth of GPU's with a CPU that's about 70 quid.

Plus, iRacing is 1 title, pretty sure OP will play more than just iRacing.

If he runs a proper CPU set up, he can fully utilise his three screens with his GPU's in more games.

And it absolutely will benefit him! An i5 for a Crossfire 7970 set up is a poor buy, an i7 K is too expensive given the budget, the Xeon 4C/8T is the next best option. How will a 4C/8T Haswell not benefit his Crossfire?!

 

[manering]

cheers for your inputs advice points of view...

as a complete and unter noob im quickly realized my knowledge of pc gaming and computing is awfull and the impulses buy has cost me and gained for the kids pc.. although i would like to go for i7 or something its just out of my reach i think i will upgrade my mobo and cpu but stay to 1 gpu and 1 screen possibly a second for browsing

 

[Martini1991]

It's up to you ultimately what you do.

 

[Alienfish360]

How is spending 100 pound into a dead platform, to facilitate his GPU's (Which will be bottlenecked) to then spend another 100 into a CPU (Which will still bottleneck his GPU's) while then requiring a whole new board and CPU when he comes to upgrade to get the same performance that 260 quid would now a better option?

It's a complete and utter fallacy to run 600 pound worth of GPU's with a CPU that's about 70 quid.

Plus, iRacing is 1 title, pretty sure OP will play more than just iRacing.

If he runs a proper CPU set up, he can fully utilise his three screens with his GPU's in more games.

And it absolutely will benefit him! An i5 for a Crossfire 7970 set up is a poor buy, an i7 K is too expensive given the budget, the Xeon 4C/8T is the next best option. How will a 4C/8T Haswell not benefit his Crossfire?!

How is 2 £100 cards £600 worth of GPU? HD7970s are readily available now used for the £100 to £120 price bracket.

Yes running your option will be better, there's no arguing that, but you're missing my point, intentionally or not I don't know.

The point I am making is that from OPs posts he has a budget, wants a progressive upgrade path, and an FX-8320 with 2 7970s may not be the fastest of the fastest, it will be more than adequate for nearly everything for the next couple of years.

 

[Martini1991]

Are you getting confused with what a 7970 is?

And when do we judge GPU's on their second hand price?
A 7970 (Now R9 280X) is about 200-260 quid (Having just re-checked the price)

We could call it 400 quid worth of GPU's, same point. It's not a GPU set up you can half arse it CPU wise.

At launch a 7970 Crossfire set up would have been 900 quid, the 6100 has always been a lowly priced CPU as it's a lower end CPU.

He could blast his 100 quid into a board (Well, 60 quid) and then blast 180 into a CPU at a later date (As he can sell his stuff at the same time).

Anyway, it matters little, OP's doing otherwise.

 

[Alienfish360]

Are you getting confused with what a 7970 is?

And when do we judge GPU's on their second hand price?
A 7970 (Now R9 280X) is about 200-260 quid (Having just re-checked the price)

We could call it 400 quid worth of GPU's, same point. It's not a GPU set up you can half arse it CPU wise.

It would be silly to pay that price for them when cheaper identical cards are available. Maybe I'm just too northern to pay more for the same?

At launch a 7970 Crossfire set up would have been 900 quid, the 6100 has always been a lowly priced CPU as it's a lower end CPU.

Pentium3 300 was over £1000 at release, it means nothing.

 

[Damo667]

m5a99fx pro r2.0 and overclock an fx8320 will keep going for the next few years. not sure what iracing is like but rfactor 1 my gtx770 (probably a tad better than a 7970) gets 2000fps on max 1080p and rfactor 2 over 100fps. battlefield 4 on max 65-70fps.

all sockets are dead after 3 or 4 years anyway so it doesnt matter. an 8320 and crossfire 7970's would be good for at least 2 years on 3 screens i would think. and games are starting to take advantage of more cores.

 

[manering]

m5a99fx pro r2.0 and overclock an fx8320 will keep going for the next few years. not sure what iracing is like but rfactor 1 my gtx770 (probably a tad better than a 7970) gets 2000fps on max 1080p and rfactor 2 over 100fps. battlefield 4 on max 65-70fps.

all sockets are dead after 3 or 4 years anyway so it doesnt matter. an 8320 and crossfire 7970's would be good for at least 2 years on 3 screens i would think. and games are starting to take advantage of more cores.

i am buying a mobo that has 2 slots to give it a try so will see.. thanks for the info buddy.... the 8*** worth the purchase??

 

[joeyjojo]

i am buying a mobo that has 2 slots to give it a try so will see.. thanks for the info buddy.... the 8*** worth the purchase??

The FX-83xx do a damn good job with 2 GPUs, in fact last year anandtech recommended it as a good choice for 2x 7970s in most games (e.g. Civ 5 being an exception):

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6934/choosing-a-gaming-cpu-single-multigpu-at-1440p/6

Ignore this "you need an i7" nonsense, in most games the difference is small.

A CPU for Dual GPU Gaming: i5-2500K or FX-8350

Looking back through the results, moving to a dual GPU setup obviously has some issues. Various AMD platforms are not certified for dual NVIDIA cards for example, meaning while they may excel for AMD, you cannot recommend them for Team Green. There is also the dilemma that while in certain games you can be fairly GPU limited (Metro 2033, Sleeping Dogs), there are others were having the CPU horsepower can double the frame rate (Civilization V).

After the overview, my recommendation for dual GPU gaming comes in at the feet of the i5-2500K. This recommendation may seem odd – these chips are not the latest from Intel, but chances are that pre-owned they will be hitting a nice price point, especially if/when people move over to Haswell. If you were buying new, the obvious answer would be looking at an i5-3570K on Ivy Bridge rather than the 2500K, so consider this suggestion a minimum CPU recommendation.

On the AMD side, the FX-8350 puts up a good show across most of the benchmarks, but falls spectacularly in Civilization V. If this is not the game you are aiming for and want to invest AMD, then the FX-8350 is a good choice for dual GPU gaming.

 

[Martini1991]

The game choice is ridiculously limited, hence when people upgrade with dual gpus you're generally hearing how much performance has improved, because actual real gamers play more than 5 games.
There's plenty of people who have went from AMD CPU'S with dual GPU sets ups to Intel ones who would agree the fx83 isn't a strong choice for a 7970 crossfire.

And the i7 suggestion is far from nonsense, it's factually evident an i5 simply won't cut it in dual GPU across the board. Sure, I could show you some examples where it's fine. But what's the point?

I rarely link to CPU benchmarks, because they're generally swaying one way. It's both easy to pretend theres no bottleneck as easy as it is to show there's a greater one than there generally would be.

Also. In context, they are on about the AMD options, the PD 8 cores being the best of AMD's line. The first and foremost suggestion is the i5 2500k ( I disagree, but whatever). But hey, who cares about context when we can make them look like they're saying something else.

I'm pretty sure there'd be a massive outrage from AMD fans if from here on out, all future AMD GPU set ups got reviewed on AMD CPU'S.

 

[Alienfish360]

The game choice is ridiculously limited, hence when people upgrade with dual gpus you're generally hearing how much performance has improved, because actual real gamers play more than 5 games.

You're doing a good job of fitting the elitist PC gamer stereotype here, you're not a real gamer if you only have interest in 1 genre of game?

And the i7 suggestion is far from nonsense, it's factually evident an i5 simply won't cut it in dual GPU across the board. Sure, I could show you some examples where it's fine. But what's the point?

Budget and necessity, why have more power than you will use?

I rarely link to CPU benchmarks, because they're generally swaying one way. It's both easy to pretend theres no bottleneck as easy as it is to show there's a greater one than there generally would be.

There will always be a bottleneck which is why I don't entirely respect your argument. You say that having an 83xx will still bottleneck the GPU, but then if you go for a fast CPU, you shift the bottleneck to the GPU, then your argument reverses. What's the point of having that CPU power without a GPU to utilise it?

Then all of a sudden you have far more money invested in hardware than is necessary.

 

[Martini1991]

I don't think he should get an i7, I think he should get a Xeon 4C/8T for the same price as an i5.

And I never said 1 genre of game. I said 5 games (And given he's mentioned iRacing and BF4, that's 2 genre of games before we even get started, so again, I'm not sure what you're getting at by again going off on a tangent on something I haven't said), not to mention that you're actually taking the "real" gamer out of context. Who *only* plays 5 games over their PC's lifetime?

He's already got the GPU set up (He's already got the GPU power!), and he needs a new board, and he's going to need a new CPU. Why settle? Shifting the bottleneck to the GPU is the ideal scenario, it's ridiculous to try and turn the argument to "Herp derp now your GPU is your bottleneck". There's always a bottleneck in a PC, but the best case is always it being your GPU's, them being the easiest to upgrade etc etc, his end investment over the FX83 and mobo isn't much more either, he's looking at 200 quid for his board/CPU set up (You can go cheaper, but he's after a 100 quid board, and he'd be getting an FX83 at a min, so that's at least 200 quid). You can get a Xeon with Crossfire capable board for about ~250.

He has 3 monitors, and 2 upper mid range GPU's, it's a higher end set up.

Budget set ups certainly have their place, but the money the OP's blasted into his set up, the OP's certainly isn't *only* a budget set up.

 

[manering]

the arguments above are all well and good but jesus lol..


i am to say the least a beginner with computers so have no idea on most things as can be told from all my threads i have posted... clueless..


however as my thread stated i only want to use iracing on 3 screens... i do play bf4 and yes my settings are on ultra with good stable fps but i have no intention of even trying that on 3 screens as for me personally theres enough going on with 1 screen. plus even i no its "one off" the more demanding games in terms of graphics so would need more than my budget to use that way..


so am i getting a new mobo yes..

new fx 83** damm right i am why not for 100 quid.....
second gpu..... ummm yes i ordered it already...

so my " dead system" is going to be far better than anything i have ever had or played on and more than enough for my requirements.....

i respect the fact an i7 is a better cpu by a long way however i would never use it to its potential, i cant even use a keyboard for gamming due to being disabled and having screwed up hands controller all the way or wheel so i guess that would rule me out of bigger games anyways

 

[Martini1991]

You can triple screen game quite comfortably with 7970 Crossfire across the board of games.

And I'm not sure why the i7 keeps getting mentioned without an actual suggestion of buying it, the Xeon (It's an i7 in all but name and price) set up was ~50 quid more, and better, it was a far more modern platform with future upgrade options. But hey ho.

End of the day, I'll just advise on what's the factually best performance option, what you do is up to you.

 

[Alienfish360]

End of the day, I'll just advise on what's the factually best performance option, what you do is up to you.

Source?

With no source it is just opinion.