Would I see any benefit from an upgrade?

Zaphrod · 20 Jun 2011 at 14:24

My Current build

Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R
[email protected]
Gigabyte GTX480@ 800core 1600shader 1875memory
4GB OCZ PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Platinum Series

I use this mostly for gaming @ 1680x1050 on a 22 inch monitor
I do very little encoding/decoding and what little I do I run as batches overnight.

If I went with the following:

Intel core i7 2600k and suitable motherboard overclocked to maybe 4.8Ghz
GTX580 safely overclocked to whatever it will take.

Would I really gain anything other than in benchmarks?

I play:
COD4
COD:WAW
COD:BO
TF2
Some MMOs, will be playing SWTOR in the near future.

My thoughts are that at this resolution in these games I wouldn't see any noticeable benefit but I am not sure. In the COD games with everything on high I get over 100FPS average and may dip to min 60FPS in a very busy game.

Are there any other benefits to upgrading?

BriT · 20 Jun 2011 at 14:28

Not really. I'd upgrade your monitor to get this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-046-DE

480 is still very capable and not worth going to a 580 for the sake of a few fps.

stulid · 20 Jun 2011 at 14:33

The faster CPU and motherboard and RAM will unleash more performance from the GTX480 thats for sure.

A 2500K is as fast for a gaming PC.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £156.98
(£130.82) £156.98
(£130.82)
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** with FREE Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Sub Total : £276.64
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £57.23
Total : £343.37

Zaphrod · 20 Jun 2011 at 14:53

BriT said:
Not really. I'd upgrade your monitor to get this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MO-046-DE

480 is still very capable and not worth going to a 580 for the sake of a few fps.

I already have the Dell Ultrasharp 22 inch which I am more than happy with, I don't have any desire to have a higher resolution or a bigger monitor. Also it was just replaced under warranty from dell so is virtually brand new.

Zaphrod · 20 Jun 2011 at 14:58

stulid said:
The faster CPU and motherboard and RAM will unleash more performance from the GTX480 thats for sure.

A 2500K is as fast for a gaming PC.

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £156.98
(£130.82) £156.98
(£130.82)
MSI P67A-GD65 Intel P67 (socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION ** with FREE Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX) £34.99
(£29.16) £34.99
(£29.16)
Sub Total : £276.64
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £9.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £57.23
Total : £343.37

I realise I would get more performance in a general sense but would I notice the benefit? I am not sure if I am asking the question right. Almost £350 for the upgrade and what would I actually gain? I sure would like to see benchmarks from someone with a GTX480 on a 2500k system to compare.

Zaphrod · 20 Jun 2011 at 19:33

Ok guys, thanks for the replies. I am thinking there would be no real benefit to upgrading at this time. I'll save my pennies until its actually worth it.