Is it time to ditch the i7 860?

M

micron

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 13, 2004
Messages
193
Although it doesn't feel like I've had this build for very long... apparently I have. i7-860 @ 4.2Ghz, eVGA P55 mainboard/560Ti 448 core Classified and 12Gb of Patriot Viper Extreme 1600Mhz ram. All I do is game on it and cruise the web. I'm a bit envious of all you guys building new systems, and I'm curious as to whether or not building a new one myself would be a smart move.

It still gets a pretty decent 3dmark 11 score(http://3dmark.com/3dm11/2359308), but I play mostly BF3 online, and I know that fast cpu's are beneficial to this game.
 
Your system spanks 90% of the computers out there. Don't be jealous of people with 4000 dollar computers who swap components every 6 months. Are you running at 1080P on one monitor? If so, you are totally fine.
 
Yeah I'm using a 37 inch Toshiba LCD television as a monitor. 1920x1080. Not being envious of others is a hard thing to do, though I should probably know better :(
 
Should you? No. Could you? Yes.

LGA1155 just had its last release of chips. Haswell is the next release and it will be in another socket. I would strenuously suggest to you that you keep your rig and survive til Haswell.

After all that.... That is not a very [H] lifestyle is it. :D
 
To keep my compulsion to upgrade to a minimum, I will pick out the upgrade part I want, then set a price in my head that I would be willing to pay. Make it a pretty good deal to keep yourself under control. Then set up a slickdeals alert for it, and check hardforum every so often. You are still in the upgrade mindset but also in the deal hunting mindset. And you won't feel like your are being too impulsive.

Or just drive to your nearest Microcenter right now and buy a CPU/mobo combo and say F it.
 
We don't have any Microcenter's in Oklahoma that I know of, I'm limited to online shopping. I was pondering whether or not to buy another 448 core to SLI with, but I would be running one card at 8x if I did, and I don't really like the thought of doing that. I think the P55 platform has been pretty good other than the whole 16x/8x PCI-E limitation. Thanks for your replies everyone.
 
Swap it out for a cheap 2500k or 2600k, 12-16 gigs DDR3, add a few bucks, overclock, done and done.
 
ShuttleLuv, he said LGA1156, not LGA1155. He would need a cpu and board.
The gains from 1156 to 1155 are subject to personal opinion and review benchmarking.
 
CPU upgrade is not worth it. Looks like you are running on a standard hard disk. An SSD is your next and by far biggest performance upgrade.
 
Well of course I just didn't write it in. Yeah he should drop the 860, board and ram and get a 2500/2600k, cheap Z68 board (or even used P67), and some DDR 3 adn he'll be golden.
 
bigddybn said:
Looks like you are running on a standard hard disk. An SSD is your next and by far biggest performance upgrade.
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Yep, I'm using a wd black hard drive. I guess an ssd would load the maps in bf3 faster. I feel pretty dumb for not doing this already :/
 
ShuttleLuv said:
His best bet would be to ditch his entire combo sans the ram, get the 2500k or 2600k and overclock. He won't be cpu limited anymore.
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How much more performance would I pick up going from my cpu @ 4.2Ghz to a SB system?
 
micron said:
Yep, I'm using a wd black hard drive. I guess an ssd would load the maps in bf3 faster. I feel pretty dumb for not doing this already :/
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Yes and no, maybe a few seconds are best SSD's are mainly noticeable on file transfers and loading windows / app responsiveness. I never saw a huge jump in game loading.
 
micron said:
How much more performance would I pick up going from my cpu @ 4.2Ghz to a SB system?
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Depends on the overclock, but if you say got a cpu that overclocked to 4.7 or 4.8 even, not to mention some can hit higher, yes you're going to stomp on that 860.
 
ShuttleLuv said:
Depends on the overclock, but if you say got a cpu that overclocked to 4.7 or 4.8 even, not to mention some can hit higher, yes you're going to stomp on that 860.
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But only in benchmarks, and even then only a little.
Upgrading from a quad core @4.2 to a quad [email protected] is not worth the hassle, IMHO.
 
I never have much luck at getting good cpu's. Even then, I'm not good at overclocking. The only reason I reached 4.2ghz with this chip, is because I followed a guide someone else had written with the same motherboard as me.
 
Power is the only reason you'd upgrade. And honestly if you're sweating 100 watts you shouldn't be a computer enthusiast.
 
wabbitseason said:
Power is the only reason you'd upgrade. And honestly if you're sweating 100 watts you shouldn't be a computer enthusiast.
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:confused:

Oh I see what you're saying. No the power doesn't concern me in the slightest.
 
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micron said:
How much more performance would I pick up going from my cpu @ 4.2Ghz to a SB system?
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if at the same clock speed maybe 10% or so. IB would be a little higher.


I would keep what you have. Probably get a SSD though. They are starting to drop in price pretty fast.
 
I should probably start another thread in the proper subforum to ask this but.. what is a good brand of SSD to buy? I was looking at the OCZ models, but after reading up on the forums here, I see a lot of people saying to stay away from that brand?
 
Since this is still an Intel subforum, and this advice is relevant... I strongly recommend Intel or Samsung SSD's, however the Crucial M4's are very good. Most people hate on the OCZ, but they are truly hit or miss.
 
How deep are your pockets.... I say that 128gb is the minimum size for daily driving with windows.
 
micron said:
Ok thank you. What size would you recommend?
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The only down side I see to getting an SSD right now is the availability of 6Gb SATA 3 ports on your MB. If you've got that then you're set. You will even see a noticeable difference using SATA2 ports with an SSD, but not as dramatic. That being said, if you're shopping for an SSD that you're going to load BF3 on, as well as your OS, etc. then bigger is better. Go with that Crucial 512gb M4 SSD that is available right now for $360. You won't regret it. :cool:
 
When your system becomes to slow to play the games you want and do the stuff you do then worry about it. Stop caring about what other people have its a bad habit and an expensive one with computers!
 
micron said:
How much more performance would I pick up going from my cpu @ 4.2Ghz to a SB system?
Click to expand...

In BF3, not much. Waste of money to drop mobo/CPU for SB/IB for your use case. What I would recommend:

1) SSD, my map load times on 64 player Conquest (non B2K) maps went from 60-70 seconds to under 10 seconds when I did this, B2K maps loaded faster on my old hard drive for some reason. It's a HUGE increase though, both in loading the initial game and map changes, it helps a lot for getting vehicles :). Boot up time and desktop use is night and day. It's a no brainer. I like my Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB, it's one of the fastest SF-2281 drives and cheaper than most too, I've seen it for $189.99 (I paid $279.99 in January). SATA3 vs SATA2 doesn't really matter for load times, only sequential transfers between multiple high speed sources (SSDs), so if you have one SSD it doesn't matter.

2) GPU. If you want to max out BF3 with AA you will need more power (I had a 560Ti before this 670). SLI is a good option, PCI-e 2.0 x8 is fine for a 560Ti 448 SLI setup, you will not be losing anything and you can find 448's for $200ish if you look (or buy used). SLI 448 will dominate BF3 with 4X MSAA.
 
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