In the end, it is your money and we are telling you it's unwise to shell out $550 for a 7970 if you're going to stick with your Q6600 for another year or so. I said that even with Q6600+6870, it wasn't giving me smooth performance vs 2500k+6870 and 6870 is far ways off from a 7970. If I were you, and if you don't want to upgrade CPU yet, I would see in a couple months what Keplar has to offer, save some more money, and build your whole new comp around that.
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Would it be ridiculous to pair a 7970 with Q6600?
- Thread starter Shark974
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They all dont show a major problem with low end CPU's though. The data is clear.
I can tell you that even with a 5870 coming from a Q9550 to a 2500k has been a blessing in some games. I would get the 7970 AND Sandy Bridge or Ivy when it comes out.. or you could upgrade later, if you dont have the money... Either way, you cannot go wrong with a 7970..
Socket 775 is dead and killed off, that's how Intel rolls.
Best overall deal IMHO right now is the AMD 960T (125.00) with AM3+ ASRock 870 Extreme R2.0 mobo (80.00). (that mobo does CFX on the 2 pci-e 8x lanes or 1 card @ 16x) That CPU should easily unlock to 6 cores, read the newegg reviews if you don't believe it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
Lets face it the 2500k on newegg is 230.00. You would hold onto 105.00 dollars goin witha AMD 960T.
Put that towards better cooler, memory, or a larger SSD imo.
2500k + Z68 if you have alot of money to burn and don't mind burning it up, and if you want a six core later that will run 600.00+ on the SB platform.
AM3+ is the most financially responsible investment. Piledriver by the end of '2012 if you need better IPC or more cores by then also.
Out b4 the lamer-flamerz arrive.
Best overall deal IMHO right now is the AMD 960T (125.00) with AM3+ ASRock 870 Extreme R2.0 mobo (80.00). (that mobo does CFX on the 2 pci-e 8x lanes or 1 card @ 16x) That CPU should easily unlock to 6 cores, read the newegg reviews if you don't believe it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
Lets face it the 2500k on newegg is 230.00. You would hold onto 105.00 dollars goin witha AMD 960T.
Put that towards better cooler, memory, or a larger SSD imo.2500k + Z68 if you have alot of money to burn and don't mind burning it up, and if you want a six core later that will run 600.00+ on the SB platform.
AM3+ is the most financially responsible investment. Piledriver by the end of '2012 if you need better IPC or more cores by then also.
Out b4 the lamer-flamerz arrive.
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6970 for $190 from Amazon's price mistake last November. I was patient and waited for sales on the rest of parts I need for new build. Unfortunately I had to spent some of the money saved on new fans for H80 and 6970 just to keep my build quiet when playing BF3 at Ultra settings and at reasonable temps.why on earth did you ever buy a 6970 to use with an E8400 in the first place?
Mainly my reply was to that benchmark you posted. I wanted others to know (and as some people already did in this thread) that I had vastly different experience with my two CPUs. That CPU does matter in multiplayer for BF3.
Btw, my friend has a i3 2100, GTX460 756mb, and 1920x1080 monitor. It ran BF3 perfectly fine in medium settings. Something that my E8400 + 6970 at 1920x1200 in medium setting couldn't do.
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virtualleader
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The other big part to consider that no one surprisingly has brought up, is if you go 7970 can your PSU handle it?
Like someone else said, you do this one part & then you have to do another and another and another and crap - why not start new That happened to me with my E8500.. first a video card then the PSU, then HDD"s, & RAM & ...
So even my original point can your current PSU handle all you have AND a new 7970?
I MIGHT suggest try & budget & save for a few more months & pick up at that point a CHEAP 6970 or 7950??? and get yourself a sandy bridge 2500k build of some kind. You will probably be happier.
Besides you have lasted this long with what you have, what is 3-6 more months?
Like someone else said, you do this one part & then you have to do another and another and another and crap - why not start new
That happened to me with my E8500.. first a video card then the PSU, then HDD"s, & RAM & ...So even my original point can your current PSU handle all you have AND a new 7970?
I MIGHT suggest try & budget & save for a few more months & pick up at that point a CHEAP 6970 or 7950??? and get yourself a sandy bridge 2500k build of some kind. You will probably be happier.
Besides you have lasted this long with what you have, what is 3-6 more months?
QuadDamage
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Ridiculous? No.
Unwise? Yes.
Ridiculous would be pairing the HD 7970 with a Pentium 4. That would epically absurd.
With a Q6600 (overclocked is a must) I'd say it's definitely not your best option, but it's not bad either.
Unwise? Yes.
Ridiculous would be pairing the HD 7970 with a Pentium 4. That would epically absurd.
With a Q6600 (overclocked is a must) I'd say it's definitely not your best option, but it's not bad either.
Considering my Q6700 @ 3.3GHz is struggling to keep up with my GTX 560Ti, I wouldn't drop $550 on a 7970 for the same CPU @ 2.8 ot 3.0GHz. The problem with BF3 that those graphs do not tell you is that the slow CPU will cause much lower minimum frame rates/pauses/stuttering in high detail scenes in BF3 MP, trust me, I experience it. You will have to lower detail.
BanDeodorant
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Socket 775 is dead and killed off, that's how Intel rolls.
Best overall deal IMHO right now is the AMD 960T (125.00) with AM3+ ASRock 870 Extreme R2.0 mobo (80.00). (that mobo does CFX on the 2 pci-e 8x lanes or 1 card @ 16x) That CPU should easily unlock to 6 cores, read the newegg reviews if you don't believe it http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo
Lets face it the 2500k on newegg is 230.00. You would hold onto 105.00 dollars goin witha AMD 960T.
2500k + Z68 if you have alot of money to burn and don't mind burning it up, and if you want a six core later that will run 600.00+ on the SB platform.
AM3+ is the most financially responsible investment. Piledriver by the end of '2012 if you need better IPC or more cores by then also.
Out b4 the lamer-flamerz arrive.
With the performance that the 2500k (especially overclocked) has over phenom IIs, it would be wise to spend that extra $100, so I would have to disagree that AM3+ is the most financially responsible investment, unless you absolutely can't spare the funds.. in which case I would recommend you continue saving and not settling for what is now a rather mediocre path (post sandy bridge release) in AM3+.
Anything you upgrade to your system is just that, an upgrade. I always tell everyone who asks me, "buy the best shit you can" for one reason, it will be that much longer you can go til your next upgrade. That being said, if you drop $550 on a 7970, you'll have a kickass GPU, but your CPU will be bottlenecking you until you can afford to upgrade. So no, in my opinion it wouldn't be a waste to upgrade to a 7970. That being said, I would never spend $550 on a GPU for one reason, its defiantly not worth it for what you get. You can buy a 6950 or 6970 for $2-300 less and be far ahead IMO. In a month, the 7970 won't be the fastest GPU on the planet, Nvidia has yet to release their next gen chip and when that happens, AMD will release a 7980 and/or 7990 and you'll be able to pick up a 7970 for $300 or less probably and the prices on the 6900 series are still dropping.
Once again the Intel fanboys can scream all they want about the 2500k, but everything in gaming the 2500k does the 960 and 1055T can do just as well. 99% of games out there care anything past having a duel or quad and you can overclock both the AMD chips just as well as a 2500k and save a couple hundred bucks.
Once again the Intel fanboys can scream all they want about the 2500k, but everything in gaming the 2500k does the 960 and 1055T can do just as well. 99% of games out there care anything past having a duel or quad and you can overclock both the AMD chips just as well as a 2500k and save a couple hundred bucks.
cannondale06
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Pitbully, it is a waste because the point of getting a $550 7970 or any other high end gpu is to get ALL of it performance. if his cpu is going to make it perform like a much cheaper card then its foolish to spend that much on a gpu. I linked earlier to a review showing a cpu like his would already be a massive 50% bottleneck with just a gtx570 in a game like Skyrim. bottom line is that its much smarter to have the rest of the system up to snuff before dropping huge bucks on a top of the line gpu.
and these "Intel fanboys" at least have enough sense to buy a cpu that will not limit their current as well as foreseeable future gpu upgrades. sure you can save a little bit of money up front and get the slower more power hungry cpu but why would you want to start out already gimped? a 2500k is the smart choice if building from scratch no matter what excuses people try and come up with. and if it was AMD making the 2500k then I guess we would be considered "AMD fanboys" to you since it would still be the recommended cpu.
and these "Intel fanboys" at least have enough sense to buy a cpu that will not limit their current as well as foreseeable future gpu upgrades. sure you can save a little bit of money up front and get the slower more power hungry cpu but why would you want to start out already gimped? a 2500k is the smart choice if building from scratch no matter what excuses people try and come up with. and if it was AMD making the 2500k then I guess we would be considered "AMD fanboys" to you since it would still be the recommended cpu.
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How is what your saying any different then what I'm saying....?!? In 6 months he'll still have the 7970 and he can slap in a new Ivy or whatever and won't have to upgrade it.....An upgrade is an upgrade, the GPU will ALWAYS be a bigger upgrade then a CPU will be, no matter what game your playing. Yes, like I said in my post above, he will be bottlenecking his system with a 7870 and I said that.
I don't think I ever said a 2500k wasn't a smart choice, but the bottom line is its more expensive as well. If you can afford it, get it. The bottom line is you can pick up either one of those AMD chips and a good motherboard for less then $300. You cannot do this with an Intel 25 or 2600k. The 1055T or 980BE won't be suddenly obsolete a year from now either. Yes, like I said the smarter choice would be a 2500k if you can afford it now, but the AMD chips will still be gaming a year from now too and for far less money. At the end of the day, like I said in games, it makes very little difference in CPUs, if you have a modern Quad, there is very little difference in games.
I don't think I ever said a 2500k wasn't a smart choice, but the bottom line is its more expensive as well. If you can afford it, get it. The bottom line is you can pick up either one of those AMD chips and a good motherboard for less then $300. You cannot do this with an Intel 25 or 2600k. The 1055T or 980BE won't be suddenly obsolete a year from now either. Yes, like I said the smarter choice would be a 2500k if you can afford it now, but the AMD chips will still be gaming a year from now too and for far less money. At the end of the day, like I said in games, it makes very little difference in CPUs, if you have a modern Quad, there is very little difference in games.
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I think the 7970 is an excellent video card, but your going to pay a price premium and in some titles it will be held back by your processor. I don't know what you are currently using, but I think sometime to consider is getting a $140 sapphire 6870 after rebate and use it for 4-6 months. When Kepler and ivy bridge come out that should force down the prices of everything else allowing you to get the most for your money.
you shouldnt have any trouble selling the 6870 used for $110-120 and for single monitor 1080p gaming i think they do quite well.
you shouldnt have any trouble selling the 6870 used for $110-120 and for single monitor 1080p gaming i think they do quite well.
cannondale06
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4 relatively slow cores in BF 3 will certainly hurt you a little in multi player and a 7970 would not come close to being fully pushed. you dont buy a $550 video card to "be fine" in some games. you get a card like that to tear through all of your games and to do that will require a more modern cpu.
i agree, and like i said, it all depends which games he's playing.
im sure he can get away with that cpu in bf3, but with games like Skyrim he wont be going too far with that cpu.
but overall, Q6600 and 7970 are not a good match today.
How is your FPS? Is still there an improvement even when pairing with your cpu?
cannondale06
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funny thing is, the 7970 is likely to be much cheaper by the time you get a cpu that can fully utilize it. the 7970 only looks good now because it has no competition. beating the gtx580, which was already a very poor value, by just 20-25% is a joke for a next gen card. throw in the fact that AMD even when to a higher price bracket and 7970 looks even more pathetic for a next gen card. IMO if it was not for the decent overclocking then the 7970 would be a complete joke of a next gen card for $550+ bucks. but hey if you guys want to pay those prices then thats certainly good for AMD to make some money while Nvidia once again lags way behind.
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I disagree. 7970 is pretty much the same price bracket as the 580, i saw one 580 listed for $659 After rebate at newegg. Majority of the 580's are $550 and my MSI 7970 was 559... Factor in the 7970 can hash 550m hash/sec on 118watts undervolted and it literally pays itself off in about 6 months.
Below is what my current rig brings in:
Revenue:
Day $ 6.58
Month $ 197.33
Year $ 2,400.84
Power cost:
Day $ 0.98
Month $ 29.55
Year $ 359.51
I don't care if Kepler is 300% faster then a 7970 unless its good at sha 256 hashing. I love hardware that has ROI
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Yeah, i know; it was just an impulse buy that i kinda regret, but still love.
Have it sitting on my desk ready to insert in my computer right now...
there were plenty of 580's below $500 last time i checked.
I am an owner of an outdated PC too (Q8300 @ 3.3GHz, 4GB RAM, Radeon 4850 1GB), so this thread is very important to me. After changing my display from a 19" 1280x1024 to a 23" 1080p, many games became unplayable. I have a very limited budget, so the only thing I can upgrade is the GPU. A 7970 is totally out of the question, though, but I was wondering how much would the CPU limit a 6870 or 6950 (or perhaps 7850)?
Can't wait for risqu3 to insert his 7970 and make some tests Minimum fps is the most interesting thing, not just average fps, like in the guru3d article.
Can't wait for risqu3 to insert his 7970 and make some tests
Minimum fps is the most interesting thing, not just average fps, like in the guru3d article.cannondale06
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I would just get a 6870 for now since you are on a budget. a 6950 2gb would not be a terrible idea though if you can get one at a very good deal. your cpu would do okay with a 6950 2gb too but just don't expect to get 100% out of it in very cpu intensive games or especially a game like Skyrim that needs pure cpu speed over having more than 2 cores.I am an owner of an outdated PC too (Q8300 @ 3.3GHz, 4GB RAM, Radeon 4850 1GB), so this thread is very important to me. After changing my display from a 19" 1280x1024 to a 23" 1080p, many games became unplayable. I have a very limited budget, so the only thing I can upgrade is the GPU. A 7970 is totally out of the question, though, but I was wondering how much would the CPU limit a 6870 or 6950 (or perhaps 7850)?
Can't wait for risqu3 to insert his 7970 and make some tests
I'm looking forward to your Q6600/7970 performance. Post your experience if you can. Thanks.
EngineChauffer
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Not to rain on your parade, but the vid card you have been using is pretty much maxing out your CPU and Memory bandwidth as it is. You aren't going to see much if any gains putting in the new video card. I had (still have...its my home server now) a Q6600 O.C.'d to 3.6 on air with a TRUE and tried crossfiring dual 5870's. Game performance improved with BFBC 2 and MWLL (Crysis Wars Mod) but not nearly as much as when I went with ONE 5870 and an AMD 6 core O.C.'d to 4.0 with 1600Mhz memory.
Just my experience. YMMV
I would say upgrade to an 2500k, 2600k or even an AMD 1090TBE and grab 16gigs of 1600Mhz memory since it is so damn cheap right now and let your new video card do what it is capable of.
anubis44
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Buy the 7970 and you'll be able to play most games at very high levels of detail. No CPU will allow that with your current graphics card, so upgrading the graphics card first makes more sense. Then, of course, you should consider upgrading the CPU/Mobo/Ram when you can, but first, the GPU. Don't listen to the idiots using one or two rare CPU-limited games as examples of CPU limitation. Any modern, well-programmed game (like Battlefield 3) will use all your cores, and the GPU will be the bigger bottleneck.
Just say no to crappily-programmed CPU-dependent, single-threaded games. The sooner we put them out to pasture, or force the developer to make them multi-thread aware/GPU accelerated the better.
Just say no to crappily-programmed CPU-dependent, single-threaded games. The sooner we put them out to pasture, or force the developer to make them multi-thread aware/GPU accelerated the better.
cannondale06
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yes because only idiots put over 100 hours in a game like Skyrim. use some common sense and think about how stupid it is to buy a $550+ video card to use with a cpu that will make it perform like a $300 card or worse in many cases. even in BF 3, the 7970 would be massively held back in multi player with a Q6600.
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cannondale06
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that is pretty stupid unless he has immediate plans for a new cpu. if its many months from now then we will have much better gpu options for the money and he would gained nothing over a card that is much cheaper. people with common sense do not buy a $550 gpu if they cannot actually utilize all of it. a gpu like that is for someone that has an appropriate system so they can justify spending that much on a gpu.
That's because you were running a dual core on a quad core+ optimized game. A Q6600 would easily outperform your E8400 in BF3, any day of the week, especially with a decent OC.