Looking to upgrade for better peformance

Q

quidlor

n00b
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
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I came to this site roughly two years ago to build a new PC. My build went very well and I've been very happy with my end result. Everyone was very friendly and helpful, that I figured why not ask these experts again!

So here I am, looking to upgrade. My current system is not terrible, however newer games seem to be bogging it down to the point where things are running below 30FPS. I tend to be picky and prefer when games run 40FPS+ consistently or maxing out settings at 60FPS is obviously perfect. Also general day to day tasks seem to be slow as well as booting is very slow (I know a move to SSD in the near future will fix this though).

Here is the list that is asked to be filled out when inquiring about this type of request.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming mostly.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$800 tax/shipping included (im flexible if there's a good excuse)

3) Where do you live?
Toronto, On. Canada

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, RAM, Heatsink, Motherboard (SSD, new case to come afterwards)

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
4870x2 vid card, Corsair TX650 PSU, Full tower case, raid 0 2x 6400aaks, 1tb wd (dump drive)

6) Will you be overclocking?
Most definitely. Currently running Q6600 OC to 3.4GHZ

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
Currently have 2x 24" Samsun syncmasters 2443bw

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Next month

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.
Raid, USB 3.0 would be nice, sata 6GB (plan on getting a SSD shortly afterwards)

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes Windows 7, 64bit, legit.

I appreciate the time and help for whoever may respond!

- Quid
 
$228 CAD - Intel Core i5 750 CPU
$135 CAD - Asus P7P55D-E Intel P55 ATX Motherboard
$78 CAD - G.Skill Ripjaw Series F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL 2 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
$30 CAD - Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus HSF for LGA 1366 and LGA 1156
---
Total: $471 CAD plus tax and shipping.


Have you tried doing a fresh reinstall of Windows 7 on your current setup?
 
Thanks for the reply Danny Bui!

The setup looks half decent. However is that far greater than what I have now? Would it not be beneficial to go with a i7 930 or 950 and say a gigabyte ud3r? My issue with PC's and it's always been an issue, is buying something that lasts longer than 6 months. I was happy with my 4870x2 because it's lasted quite awhile and still gives great performance. I fear my CPU/Memory is holding it back a bit though.

The price on your spec is fairly nice though. I did try and do some research on the 930 and 950's and overclocking but couldn't find anything too useful. Most of those articles include extreme high end parts.

Thoughts?
 
For gaming, really no cost effective benefit from going the i7 + UD3R:
The 2.8Ghz Core i7 930 only provides about a 2 to 5FPS difference over the Core i5 750 as shown in this review:
http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/gaming_the_core_debate,1.html

Additional proof: The $1040 3.3Ghz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU is only 15% to 30% faster than the Core i5 750 with only a specific set of games and video cards:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/cpus-and-games-2010.html

So considering the the i7 975 is faster than the i7 930 and i7 950 and yet only provides 15% to 30% under the most ideal conditions, the Core i7 930/950 is definitely not gonna be that much faster than the i5 750 or i5 760. At least fast enough to justify the higher costs anyway. In addition, there's very little real world difference between triple channel and dual channel RAM in real world apps and games.

So platform wise, you can save around $150 to $200 if you switch to the Core i7 750/760 route and still get very similar performance in games. Dunno about you but $150 to $250 is too high for minimal gains in gaming. It'll only extend the life of your PC by 2 months at most.

Also, you didn't state what CPU + mobo + RAM you have now. So I can't say whether or not the i5 750 is that huge of a step up.
 
Like Danny said, without knowing your current setup, there's not much that can be done to help you in terms of an "upgrade". You say you get 30max fps in new games on your 4870x2 which doesn't exactly scream bottleneck to me but without knowing your processor and ram can't say otherwise. If it's not a bottleneck issue, all that might be needed is a graphics upgrade if your processor/ram are still good.
 
I checked out those articles and of course you're right. It doesn't seem like a good choice in terms of dollar per fps. Sorry I also haven't formatted in awhile but I tend to keep my OS in good working condition with not a ton of apps and no strange ones either. Fairly basic machine for movies, games, and music and some light office work.

My current CPU is q6600 listed in my original post at 3.4GHZ. Ram I think is g.skill pc8000 cl5-5-5-15 x2 2gb dimms. Motherboard is gigabyte p45-ds3r.

Thanks guys!
 
The i5 750 setup should give you a decent enough performance increase. With that said, seriously try a fresh new install of the OS. No matter how well you take care of the OS, a fresh reinstall can't hurt.
 
Thanks Danny! I'll definitely be looking in to getting what you've suggested. That setup will allow for stable o/c to what seems to be the norm of 4ghz for that chip? With the added savings I could probably grab an ssd and throw a fresh install on there.

Any recommendations on SSD's?

Thanks again!
 
quidlor said:
Thanks Danny! I'll definitely be looking in to getting what you've suggested. That setup will allow for stable o/c to what seems to be the norm of 4ghz for that chip? With the added savings I could probably grab an ssd and throw a fresh install on there.

Any recommendations on SSD's?

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Yes. SSD wise, stick to Intel and OCZ's Vertex 2 line.
 
Thanks Danny! I'll try and remember to let you know how it went after I make the purchases.
 
I'm back!

Danny, would that RAM be sufficient for OC to 4ghz or do I need something a bit better?

I've decided to get everything you mentioned as well as the ocz agility 2 120gb and a coolermaster haf x case.
 
I read that general tasks seem to be slow along with your boot times. I'd start with a reformat and if you want a peppy boot time get a SSD. An SDD is the only thing I can recommend.
 
quidlor said:
I'm back!

Danny, would that RAM be sufficient for OC to 4ghz or do I need something a bit better?

I've decided to get everything you mentioned as well as the ocz agility 2 120gb and a coolermaster haf x case.
Click to expand...

Yes that RAM is more then enough for a 4.2Ghz OC.
 
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