I7 950 Time for an upgrade?

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jabjab90301

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Aug 11, 2013
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I am wondering if it's time for an upgrade. I primarily use this rig for gaming. Would it be time to upgrade to X79 or Haswell?
 
We're going to need something to go off of.

What games do you play? At what settings? How does it run?
 
I went from a 920 to 4570k. It was a nice bump in gaming performance.
 
Old X58 board and 5870 died a while back, so went from 920 to 4770K but didn't make me any better at games. Got a 770 as well, that didn't help either. It did make my gaming a bit nicer to look at, but didn't make me any better at it ;-) that's my real world benchmark

Yes, me new rig got a bit quicker, barely noticeable. If it took me 30 seconds to boot in before, ans now only 25, I still scratch me balls for a minute during the boot time anyway. So I again no real difference on my experience and opinion.
 
you should overclock that processor (sig seems to show you haven't). your board is very nice for x58 and will OC the 950 very well.

please tell me you aren't using stock cooling for the 950, but if so, get a cheap hyper212 and you'll be able to hit 4.2ghz+ no problem.

my prediction will be you will be unimpressed with upgrading if you go that route.
 
I was impressed with the 30% performance gain over my 920 @ 4.2Ghz. Still using the same video cards I saw some nice gains in games.
 
I went from i7-930 to a 4770K. Guild Wars 2 is a bit faster now, general use is largely the same of course.
 
Went from a 920 D0 at 3,8ghz to a 4771. The difference is night and day, even when using Windows, Photoshop etc.
 
It really depends on the games you are playing. If you play something like battlefield 4 you'll see a really nice increase in frames per second in game.
 
As others said, depends highly on the game. I would say in general, no, but we need to know your specifics to make specific recommendations.
 
I play just about everything at max setting. I don't play battlefield since I am no longer into that FPS multiplayer stuff any more. The most demanding game I currently own is Metro Last Light which I have no played, followed by Crysis 3. I ran Crysis 2 no problem on this hardware with a HD6970. If changing the mobo and cpu is not going to make much of a difference then I am thinking of upgrading my monitor and case. The Thermaltake Element T has had it. It is noise, bad cable management, and poor air circulation.

Any suggestions on Monitor 24 in and Cases. Was looking at a Fractal Define R4
 
I like the reverse ATX style of my Azza Genesis 9000, and the "Tron" lighting. The NZXT Switch 810 is a more utilitarian case. It has an integrated SD slot and a rear back panel LED lighting, which I really like. Both can be had for under $150.

If you're looking for something more expensive, the NZXT Phantom 820 is also a really nice looking case. That, or the Cosmos 2. Or maybe even the Corsair 900D.
 
jabjab90301 said:
I play just about everything at max setting. I don't play battlefield since I am no longer into that FPS multiplayer stuff any more. The most demanding game I currently own is Metro Last Light which I have no played, followed by Crysis 3. I ran Crysis 2 no problem on this hardware with a HD6970. If changing the mobo and cpu is not going to make much of a difference then I am thinking of upgrading my monitor and case. The Thermaltake Element T has had it. It is noise, bad cable management, and poor air circulation.

Any suggestions on Monitor 24 in and Cases. Was looking at a Fractal Define R4
Click to expand...

What size are you looking for case wise? The corsair 750 D really hits the sweet spot for me in terms of size and cable management/water cooling.
 
Phrik said:
Old X58 board and 5870 died a while back, so went from 920 to 4770K but didn't make me any better at games. Got a 770 as well, that didn't help either. It did make my gaming a bit nicer to look at, but didn't make me any better at it ;-) that's my real world benchmark

Yes, me new rig got a bit quicker, barely noticeable. If it took me 30 seconds to boot in before, ans now only 25, I still scratch me balls for a minute during the boot time anyway. So I again no real difference on my experience and opinion.
Click to expand...

lol
 
jabjab90301 said:
I play just about everything at max setting. I don't play battlefield since I am no longer into that FPS multiplayer stuff any more. The most demanding game I currently own is Metro Last Light which I have no played, followed by Crysis 3. I ran Crysis 2 no problem on this hardware with a HD6970. If changing the mobo and cpu is not going to make much of a difference then I am thinking of upgrading my monitor and case. The Thermaltake Element T has had it. It is noise, bad cable management, and poor air circulation.

Any suggestions on Monitor 24 in and Cases. Was looking at a Fractal Define R4
Click to expand...

Imo, if you play for the eye-candy of the game, then no, it's not worth upgrading your 950/6970 yet. If you want to push every frame in, then maybe. I pimped up a mates PC almost like yours, from 950 and 6970 with 12GB mem and 120 SSD, going to an IB setup with the 7970 (i think it was) and his gaming experience was still the same he says. And I told him that before doing the upgrades.

That aside, the R4 (and most Fractal cases) and Corsair cases have been my favorites when I do builds for customers and friends. I always get a clean finish. Lots of my customers preferred the simplicity look in the outside, until you open the case and be amazed.
 
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