Long in the Tooth. Xeon X3350 @3.4, DDR2, 6990, Enough? Be Happy? etc?

C

cide_

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
235
Hey guys,

as a long-term oldschool 3DFX Voodoo1/2/3/4/5/TNT/GEFORCE builder, I have an appreciation for the longevity of today's machines.

I work as a professional IT services contractor and an IT/BA Analyst, and since I have yet to get a morgage, a wife, or a child... I have money to spend on myself for christmas.


I already have a tweeked-to-the-max Xeon 3350 (Think QX9450)-based machine, with 8GB of Corsair Dom 1066 DDR2 running at 5-5-5-15 and very low overall timings tweaked for 9GB/sec memory bandwidth. Processor is 2.66 quad core stock, but its running at 3400 with a 1700 bus and tight northbridge timings.

Machine has 2x Raptor 300GB in RAID0, Asus essence xonar STX for ATH-W5000 (had to brag... sorry, its amazing, have a listen friend...), XFX Radeon 6990 @ 925MHZ GPU, 1400(x4)MHZ Memory overclock, a promise VTRAK raid, a bunch of other useful stuff. Its basically rock solid and runs no matter what, its a bit noisy but I'm planning on moving it into another room since 50FT Displayport cables for my Dell U2711 are quality and make such a setup feasible, along with active USB extension cables, etc. (Personal bedroom shared with computer, not good)

Machine does everything I need it to well enough, and is still above average for audio production. I play Skyrim at 1440P, Ultra, 4X AA, and it is smooth. Same with BF3 at Ultra, 2560x1440, is very playable.

I am very tempted to go with a 2500/2600k, with Sandy Bridge, overclock the hell out of with 12GB ram... sell my 6990 to a bitcoiner and wait for a 7970, etc. are some of my options, or wait until next Ivy or after ivy platform...

But this is working well for me now?¿, I'm torn what to do, where to spend my money.

Any suggestions, my beloved community of awesome human beings into the awesome art of computation?


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P8350 3DMARK 2011 Latest
X3149 " " " " " " " " " "
 
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why not just upgrade your boot drives to SSD, and hold out a bit longer?
does the money have to be spent now?
 
I say hold out for a little longer and save some more money. Then go balls out with the next-gen hardware. :)
 
Be [H]ard! Upgrade that dinosaur and do it now.

Since you have the funds grab a i7 3930K and overclock the hell out of it. Throw in 16/32gb of ram, SSD boot drive with a nice 1tb+ data drive. Buy another 6990 to go with the one you have and rock on!!

This is the [H]ard not the [F]rugal.
 
The processor should be crippling your performance. But since it's doing what you want it to do I would sit on it until the next generation Intel comes out. Then go balls to the walls on upgrading it!

Oh and post some pics of your setup when you get the way you want. :)
 
Using the same proc myself and no noticeable bottlenecks ingame so far. Then again I'm only using a 5870 while you're on a 6990...
 
Do it... you can get 16GB ddr3 for $60 right now. A mobo for $100-120 and pickup a 2600k here on the f/s forums.

Total upgrade maybe $400 and you can unload your old parts on the f/s forums for probably $250-300.

then you can focus on a new GPU. 75% of your upgrade will be covered selling the stuff you have now.
 
I'd say its worth upgrading now...that CPU is holding your GPU back pretty well!

I know that on my i7 950 system the difference between stock clocks (which is still faster than your overclocked Xeon) and overclocked at 4ghz is like night and day...and this is all with a GTX580 which is slower than your 6990...so considering the performance boost I get at 4ghz with an i7 imagine what you would gain with a Sandy Bridge at 4ghz+!

ALTHOUGH I would also say that if you can wait...which based on your current FPS I would wait...but why? Ivy Bridge will no doubt be a lot more expensive at launch and although it'll be faster than SB I don't think it would make that big of a difference compared to a nicely overclocked SB...the SB most certainly wouldn't bottleneck your GPU at all thats for sure.

So if you wait its more $$$ if you upgrade now its a lot cheaper and performance will still be EXCELLENT...I sure as hell know my i7 950 is doing a damn fine job even after a year+ of owning it!
 
I had quite a similar setup recently, a Q9450 @ 3.6Ghz with 4Gb RAM, a 300Gb Velociraptor and a 5970.

First of all, the 2600k is immensely fast compared to the Q9450, I wasn't quite sure what to expect but even clock for clock it's significantly faster, and with a good mobo you can have that clocked up close to 5Ghz if you're lucky.

RAM is so cheap you'll want to splurge before it becomes expensive again, I ran with 16Gb, the socket 2011 CPUs are dual channel and not Tri, so 8Gb or 16Gb works well rather than 12Gb. Forget about memory timings and memory speed, all literally irrelevant now, you get all your speed from upping the CPU multiplier.

Velociraptors are nice drives but outdated now, SSDs are the way forward. Don't bother with RAID as that's not mature yet with SSDs, just shoot for a single fast drive, I went with the OCZ 120Gb Vertex 3 which is amongst the top performers but doesn't break the bank.

I wouldn't worry as much about the video card, nothing really requires it these days, I did drop my 5970 for a GTX580 but that's because I was having artefacts with it and was irritated at bad crossfire support. Most games simply don't need the additional GPU power right now, and AMD should have their new cards in Q12012 with Nvidia to follow later in the year.

A 2600k with 16Gb RAM and SSD is going to make a massive difference, you won't believe how you were able to put up with your old PC being so slow for general use.
 
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