Just Upgrade GPU, or GPU/CPU/Mobo?

CairnisReed · *Last edited by CairnisReed; 04-29-2012 at 20:15.*

Hey everyone, an avid PC gamer here,
So I've had my computer build remain unchanged for 2.5 years now, and besides tessellation/dx11 heavy games like Metro 2033, Crysis 2, and Battlefield 3, its really not showing it's age, even at max settings on the dozens of games I've played.

My specs are as follows:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (3.2ghz Quad)
ATi 5870
8GB of 1333mhz ram

It has suited me quite well but with the unveiling of the GTX 680 and the impending release of Ivy-Bridge i7s, I'm itching for an upgrade.

To keep it short, I'm wondering that, if I upgrade my 5870 to a GTX 680, would my processor bottleneck my performance in any way? What if I eventually played games in stereo 3d? I currently play at 1680x1050 but a monitor upgrade would bring me up to 1920x1080.

I've been looking to try out the performance of an i7 and the i7 3770K specs caught my attention, but if I bought an i7 to go with my GTX 680, I'd have to get another motherboard.
On the positive side, my SSD could be SATA3 enabled with a motherboard upgrade. That and a PCI-E 3.0 enabled mobo would go great with the GTX 680. But sadly, that would chock my price from a $500 upgrade to near a $1000 upgrade, granted I would try and sell my current gpu, motherboard and cpu but I doubt I'd scrap up more than $300 for them.

Thanks!

Agent-A01 · 04-29-2012, 20:33 | posts: 5,646 | Location: USA

If you can afford buying all 3 go for it, and know that you can sell your other parts. if you cant, yes the 955 would bottleneck it a bit, but you would gain more performance getting the 680 then you would if you kept the 5870 and got new cpu/mobo.

airbud7 · 04-29-2012, 20:55 | posts: 2,018 | Location: Evans Ga,USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

If you can afford buying all 3 go for it, and know that you can sell your other parts. if you cant, yes the 955 would bottleneck it a bit, but you would gain more performance getting the 680 then you would if you kept the 5870 and got new cpu/mobo.

So you are saying a Phenom II X4 955+GTX 680 is faster than i7 3770K+HD 5870
Hmm, Very Interesting...

Agent-A01 · 04-29-2012, 20:58 | posts: 5,646 | Location: USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by airbud7

So you are saying a Phenom II X4 955+GTX 680 is faster than i7 3770K+HD 5870
Hmm, Very Interesting...

yeah id take a 4.0 955 with a 680 over the 5870 for sure. 680 would destroy the 5870 in bf3 or crysis. 3770 and 5870 would be faster for like cod or something else cpu limited.

airbud7 · 04-29-2012, 21:16 | posts: 2,018 | Location: Evans Ga,USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent-A01

yeah id take a 4.0 955 with a 680 over the 5870 for sure. 680 would destroy the 5870 in bf3 or crysis. 3770 and 5870 would be faster for like cod or something else cpu limited.

Yeah...Looks like either way...The upgrade cost is very close...

CairnisReed · 04-29-2012, 23:43 | posts: 44

Perhaps my best option would be to buy a 680, and a new fan for the 955, overclock the 955 to 3.8 or 4.0; then later after more money is available, buy a sata3+pcie3.0 capable mobo and 3770k?

The main problem I'm having with deciding this is that this may be my last purchase before I start saving up for a really nice laptop for college

---TK--- · 04-30-2012, 00:02 | posts: 14,744 | Location: New Jersey, USA

oc your chip to 4.0 and buy a 680 is my recommondation

CairnisReed · 04-30-2012, 00:24 | posts: 44

I hate to admit but I have 0 experience when it comes to overclocking...What would I need?

-What program would I use?
-Would I need to buy a better fan?
-Would I have it overclocked to 4.0 all the time, or only when gaming/rendering? (I rarely turn my computer off, I just lock it by pressing win+L when im away, if that would effect the answer)

PinguX · 04-30-2012, 01:04 | posts: 794

You can overclock your cpu through the bios. Your cpu has an unlocked multiplier, you can increase the cpu speed by raising the multiplier. For your cpu, the FSB is 200mhz, the mutiplier is 16, 200x16 = 3200. You can raise the multiplier in increments of 0.5, you'll need to raise the cpu voltage for stability, increments of 0.005V. What stepping revision is that 955 ?

And yes you will need a good cpu cooler and thermal paste.

What motherboard are you using ?

Great overclocking guide - http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=267708

airbud7 · 04-30-2012, 03:23 | posts: 2,018 | Location: Evans Ga,USA

Quote:

Originally Posted by CairnisReed

I hate to admit but I have 0 experience when it comes to overclocking...What would I need?

The i7 3770K...............Then get 680.................IMO...........

alanm · 04-30-2012, 05:17 | posts: 4,981

In terms of upgrade priorities I would go monitor first. If feel your system is "really not showing it's age", then keep it for a while longer. Upgrading to a larger monitor from 1680x1050 would probably have a greater impact on your gaming experience and general PC usage. A 5870 would still be able to handle 1920x1080 quite well imo, and take a little load off your CPU at the higher res. You may have turn down some settings in games like BF3 or metro, but the new res will make up for it. Just my 2c.

THEBIG360 · 04-30-2012, 09:19 | posts: 1,216 | Location: Bradford/England

I upgraded my mobo and cpu. Its burst new life into my 5870 crossfire setup.

Was going to get a gtx680 to run along with them but just going to wait alittle while now. 60fps in games no problems at the moment.

CairnisReed · 05-01-2012, 10:35 | posts: 44

I've had a long time standing problem with booting into bios and the bootmenu, when I try to, it just takes me to a screen titled Windows Boot Manager, only giving me the option to select Windows 7. It never takes me to the bios screen, I've neglected to research why I does this and how to fix it, but now it seems a bit more urgent if I'm going to overclock, any idea what I could do?

Its something with the motherboard I think, because I've installed windows on many harddrives and it always gives me the same issue.

Postalisback · 05-01-2012, 17:03 | posts: 3,569 | Location: pualuiɟ

Quote:

Originally Posted by THEBIG360

I upgraded my mobo and cpu. Its burst new life into my 5870 crossfire setup.

Same here except I don't have crossfire and I play most games at 1920x1080.

Steve30x · 05-01-2012, 18:18 | posts: 367 | Location: Ireland

Quote:

Originally Posted by CairnisReed

I've had a long time standing problem with booting into bios and the bootmenu, when I try to, it just takes me to a screen titled Windows Boot Manager, only giving me the option to select Windows 7. It never takes me to the bios screen, I've neglected to research why I does this and how to fix it, but now it seems a bit more urgent if I'm going to overclock, any idea what I could do?

Its something with the motherboard I think, because I've installed windows on many harddrives and it always gives me the same issue.

Are you pressing F8 or Delete when the keyboard lights flash on the initial motherboard POST?

CairnisReed · 05-01-2012, 20:20 | posts: 44

The mobo splash screen says to press delete for BIOS, I press delete when it gets to the screen where it would ask if you want to boot from a CD, if I press delete at the mobo splash screen then the screen goes black with a ~ symbol or something near the middle and basically freezes

Steve30x · 05-01-2012, 21:12 | posts: 367 | Location: Ireland

Quote:

Originally Posted by CairnisReed

The mobo splash screen says to press delete for BIOS, I press delete when it gets to the screen where it would ask if you want to boot from a CD, if I press delete at the mobo splash screen then the screen goes black with a ~ symbol or something near the middle and basically freezes

Have you tried updating the bios?

CairnisReed · 05-01-2012, 22:01 | posts: 44

I remember updating my BIOS when I originally got this rig in 2009, meaning I have update F6, but they have F8 out now, but when I try and run the update, downloaded from here, it states are error saying I have a 64 bit OS; I cant find a 64 bit version anywhere.
There was also a recommendation to use qflash but it says it recommends a FAT32/16/12 storage system; Is that specified for the usb you put qflash on, or the harddrive of the OS?

Steve30x · 05-01-2012, 22:36 | posts: 367 | Location: Ireland

Yes you need to format a pen drive to fat32 and make it bootable , then flash the latest bios with that , but its always best to reset the bios back to its default settings before flashing a new bios.

CairnisReed · 05-01-2012, 23:26 | posts: 44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve30x

but its always best to reset the bios back to its default settings before flashing a new bios.

By following this guide?

Also would its' settings be default already if I've never touched it minus updating the BIOS?

Steve30x · 05-02-2012, 09:01 | posts: 367 | Location: Ireland

Quote:

Originally Posted by CairnisReed

By following this guide?

Also would its' settings be default already if I've never touched it minus updating the BIOS?

Its easy todo in new motherboards with the past few years. Just look in your motherboard manual for where the the bios reset switch is or the jumper for bios reset is. All you have to do is move the jumper across where its contacting the middle pin and the opposite pin that its on already or press the bios reset switch. Then put the jumper back. It usually only takes a few seconds.

CairnisReed · 05-02-2012, 10:34 | posts: 44

Well this is weird, so I went into the POST screen when its booting up just to see what it could tell me, and oddly enough, the problem with getting into the bios screen seems to be pressing one of the keys (F6, del, etc) while its switching from the POST screen/mobo splash screen to the next screen which would be the one where it would ask if you would want to boot from a CD. during that screen change, pressing one of those buttons gives me the weird black screen with ~ symbol.

So essentially just pressing the del key just once on the POST screen while its loading allows me to enter bios, boy do I feel dumb

Also side note question, why not use AMD Overdrive?

Steve30x · 05-02-2012, 12:20 | posts: 367 | Location: Ireland

With my motherboard if I press delete before the keyboard is initialised then it will not recognise the keyboard and I have to turn off the power to the motherboard for it to work again. I dont know anything about AMD overdrive , but if you are using the stok cooler it might be wise to keep it disabled. I think its an auto overclocking tool in the AMD CPU's that OC the CPU when its being used hard.

Indigo · 05-02-2012, 16:04 | posts: 22 | Location: Colorado

As Steve said, Overdrive is handy. I've got quite a bit of experience on the AMD platform, and if the BIOS is giving you kittens, don't forget that AMD CPUs can be overclocked from within Windows, and it's usually a good "instant indicator" of overall stability - i.e. if you goose it too far too fast, the system crashes and a reboot automatically resets it back to stock.

I also like that the software has the ability to interface with any AMD GPUs as well. The system in my sidebar works great with the AMD Overdrive utility, I've managed to get the X6 1100 up over 4.0 GHz using my CM Hyper212 without any issues. I haven't tried for more yet, but 4.0 is still plenty quick.

I also agree with the folks saying to drop the 5870 and go for the new GPU - I have two 5870's in CrossFire and even the 680 is a smexy card compared to my setup.

The Phenom II is no total slouch, and it's important to remember that as you increase the resolution, you generally rely on the GPUs more than the CPU for the work. That's not to say that the i7 won't matter at higher resolutions - it will - but don't worry about it for now. Get the GPU now, CPU later.

thatguy91 · 05-02-2012, 16:54 | posts: 2,783 | Location: Australia

I'm a little lost between the i7-3770K and i5-3570K. All the reviews I have seen so far are contradicting each other! If I were to believe the Guru3D review (which of course, is the most accurate, naturally!), the i7 3770K has no benefit whatsoever over the i5-3570K, and is in some cases slower.