Upgrade or new system ?

QUIXOS

QUIXOS

QUIXOS

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Joined
12 May 2012
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10
Hi all.


I have a early I7 from Feb 2009 - stock i7 [email protected] (4GBRAM 1GB GTS250) stock ? you say , well my BIOS is locked so no overc'ing for me.

Its a Packard Bell gaming rig bought from PC world. A 'lazy' choice perhaps , but one that has been perfectly reliable ( PB is derided I know ) . There isn't any game out there at the moment that I have to much difficulty running at 30 fps or more at 1080p. That includes ARMA2/OA and GTAIV .

I think within the next 6 months however I will be wanting to upgrade. I have always considered upgrading GFX cards but usually held on to computers for so long that the hardware was past the stage of a partial upgrade so bought a new rig.


1 - Assuming I buy a GTX580 - Is my lowly , junior i7 going to be beefy enough to handle such a card ? Will it hold it back ?

2 - With an upgrade from a GTS250 - to a 580 ceteris paribus , will I see SIGNIFICANT fps improvements i.e 50% or more ...or is this too simplistic ?

3 - What is the next generational leap forward from the i7 ? and when is it coming ?- I understand I have a very early i7 and that current ones may BE the new generation I allude too . Or maybe there is a 8 core i9 in the pipeline ? . Essentially, I don't want to buy a comp later this year if 2013 is going to bring the big guns as the 'i' line did.


Thanks.
 
The i7 920 is still a very capable processor but at stock you won't be getting the most from it unfortunately. The GTX580 would be a massive leap in performance from the GTS250 which to be honest is a low end graphics card. The GTS 250 performs about on par with a GTS450/Geforce 9800 GTX+ and a bit slower than Radeon HD4870, so this is how it'd compare roughly to a GTX580.

GTX580 Vs HD4870

As mentioned you won't quite be getting the most from any high end graphics card such as GTX580 whilst your CPU is at stock but you will notice a huge improvement in games.

What about picking up a cheap second hand socket 1366 motherboard. Such be able to get a basic board for around £40-50, add a cheapesh heatskink such as a Gelid Tranquillo or Corsair A50 and try overclocking. Most i7 920's (D0) will do 3.6GHz at stock voltages and will hit 4.0GHz with some tweaking.

I personally don't consider Ivy Bridge a worth while upgrade from your current processor (when overclocked) but at stock settings on an i7 920 to an overclocked i5 3570K is probably worth thinking about if you do a lot of video encoding/rendering etc. The next major update from Intel will be Haswell. Having said all that, an i7 920 at stock is still more than capable of running most games with a high end card so upgrading to SB or IB isn't worth it.

What kind of budget do you have at the moment for this upgrade? Power supply?
 
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Hi there and welcome.

If you want new, an i5 3570K is ideal for gaming. Though depending on whats in your system, and the case, you may be best starting from scratch.

2) big improvement for sure. Here's a GTS450 vs GTX580 for a rough comparison!
3) Ivy bridge is just out, you'd want an i5 3570K if its for gaming, with a Z77 motherboard.

Do you have a budget in mind? What res is your screen?
 
Thanks for the replies. Whether my PSU would cut it or not I couldn't tell you. I do know that my system could take a 580 sized card (one supply cord hanging free at moment. I have a Packard Bell i9820 with an ENORMOUS stock case so there is the room for it.

I would have a budget of maybe £1200 - something to see me through about 3 - 4 years. I have a 1680 22inch T220 monitor but have recently hooked up my PC to my 47 inch tv at 1080p (i highly recommend it with a wireless keyboard/mouse , very nice experience.

The haswell generation ...forgive me im a novice - are clock speeds going to be high enough so as too make OC ing moot ? Will it be a big leap forward ?

(I think subconsciously I'm afraid of getting my hands dirty and am more tempted by a new rig than upgrades - the 'ooh shiny' factor - although this is not the most frugal route!)
 
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Look on the side of the PSU, there will be a make+model number on it.

Save you money for Haswell, moving to a Ivybridge setup from a i7 920 is just a side ways step and you will be disappointed with the little gains.
 
stulid - I think that's what I will do. Mar-June 2013 they say, I'll specify a top card then as well and that'll see me.

(my case is no small feat to remove - particularly awkward , I recall the PC tech guy spending 30 min trying )
 
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