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Upgrade without CPU/mobo/mem bottleneck...

jabokai

jabokai

jabokai

Associate
Joined
31 May 2008
Posts
129
Location
Aberdeen
Hi.

My current system is posted below. I've been building my own PCs for nearly 20 years, but have slowed down my refresh period and have not been following new developments AT ALL so I'm somewhat lost!

Hence, I'm looking for a little upgrade advice! :)

The main reason for doing this is that I've been running games maxed out for ages, but now I'm having to turn off some of the eye candy with newer releases (Far Cry 3) and I do likes the eye candies! ;)

I'm thinking of upgrading the graphics card only as I will be building a whole new PC in a year or so, but am unsure of what bottlenecks may exist (if any) with the rest of my "old" hardware. Can I simply buy ANYTHING that exists right now? What is the best bang-for-buck currently? With upgrading the whole rig in a year I don't want/need the best, but want a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over what I have.

I would prefer to replace the 5870 with a single card (my PSU isn't the juiciest and I don't want the extra heat/noise anyway). ATI (sorry, AMD) or nvidia, I do not mind.

Oh, I have an Oculus Rift dev kit coming in a month or so - the new card should be appropriate for this. From what I've read it's not that hungry though, having as it does, a fairly low resolution.

Thanks in advance.

Code: 
Operating System
	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
	Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz	(OCed to 4GHz)
	Bloomfield 45nm Technology
RAM
	6.00 GB Triple-Channel DDR3 
Motherboard
	Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. X58A-UD7 (Socket 1366)
Graphics
	ATI Radeon HD 5870
Hard Drives
	119GB SAMSUNG SSD 830 Series ATA Device (SSD)
	1397GB SAMSUNG HD154UI ATA Device (SATA)
	60GB Crucial C300-CTFDDAC064MAG ATA Device (SSD)
PSU
	XFX 650
 
7950 with the game bundle or a 660ti with the f2p bundle.

The 7950 is faster, but the games bundles should be taken into consideration depending your preference.
 
Thanks so far... I will look at the 2 mentioned - are they the current choice for "bang for buck"?

No specific budget, but don't want to waste money seeing as it'll be replaced in a year. Was thinking around £300, but I'd happily pay less, and (less happily) more! ;)
 
jabokai said:
are they the current choice for "bang for buck"?
Click to expand...

The 7950 is as it easily achieves 7970 performance with an oc, the 660ti is a tier down, the 670 is the 7950 equivalent.

I threw in the 660ti as it was similar priced to the 7950 and the bundles might sway your purchase depending on what types of games you play.

Online reviews don't show newest performance from AMD's performance drivers which puts the 7950=670(in case you look up reviews), but the 670 is more expensive@£290+.
 
tommybhoy said:
I threw in the 660ti as it was similar priced to the 7950 and the bundles might sway your purchase depending on what types of games you play.
Click to expand...

I DO want Crysis 3 and the new Bioshock it has to be said... so the 7950 looks like the best choice. :)

I assume my "ageing" system will have no issues with it?

Finally, are there any golden choices in the 7950 just now - like ones that overclock more than others, for example? At shipped speeds, this one - OCUK link seems to offer the best deal.

Oh, I said finally, but one more thought! :p I have a DVI monitor and the PC is linked to my TV via HDMI. The Oculus Rift dev kit only has those 2 connectors - I presume I will be able to get an adaptor for one of the devices at least, to use the mini displayports?

Sorry for being dense, I'm a bit behind on everything PC related just now! :(
 
Thanks for that, think I'm sorted! :)

If only all decisions were as easy, I'm having a nightmare of indecision replacing my 2nd most important machine - bean-to-cup coffee machine! ;)

Thanks again.
 
It has the outputs he needs on the Gigabyte though?

Im not saying he will get a faulty one its just incase he does. RMA to PNY in France took me 2 weeks, Sapphire is China? So yeah would take a while.
 
weehamish said:
It has the outputs he needs on the Gigabyte though?
Click to expand...

Again, read his requirements>Check the GB's 7950 outputs>then come back and say:

'Ok tommy, your right, the Flex has 2 DVI's and 1 HDMI, I can't find any other non Sapphire 7950' with dual DVI and Hdmi connections':D

weehamish said:
Sapphire is China? So yeah would take a while.
Click to expand...

Again:

tommybhoy said:
Had a faulty Sapphire 4870 back in the day, less than a week turnaround, experiences will differ though.
Click to expand...

:o

Depends who deals with the warranty, the e-tailer may have an arrangement with Sapphire and is trusted on testing procedures who then have sapphires authority to offer replacement, then batch send faulty ones back in one shipment.

OcUK has this arrangement with certain AIB's, idk if Sapphire is one of them but MSI is(or they did at Christmas time anyway).
 
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