Racking my brain...upgrade really worth it?

[SomeFknGuy]

So as it sits I'm running a i7-920 on a Asus P6TD-Deluxe with 32gb ram and a Radeon 7970... I just bought a gaming laptop(sager w/ i7-6700k, nvidia 980, and 16gb) and it's making my desktop look puny. Been a while since I delved into the upgrade scene and honestly I can't decide if it's worth it?

Given the games I play(Fallout4, Warframe, BF4, Just Cause 3) and the fact that I run 3 27" monitors, I think I would notice a difference.

My ideal build would be a i7-6700(ish), 32gb DDR4, likely an Asus ROG M7 Formula, and a new GPU though I haven't the slightest which direction to go.

Has anyone made an upgrade jump like this? If so, was it worth it? The old 920 still chugs along like a champ and I almost feel sentimental towards the old thing.

 

[jgonz]

It depends. Are you overclocking that i7920? What else are you doing besides gaming?

I upgraded from the same exact cpu/mobo combo. But I was overclocking my cpu @ 4ghz and was using 2 gtx 680s in SLI and a SSD, I also used an Asus RoG swift at 1440p resolution. BF4 Ran great for me.

Now I am running 5820k @ 4.5 ghz with 16 gigs of ram. 16 gigs of ddr4 same video cards and monitor same resolution.

To answer your question. The new rig is smoother, faster bootup and just feels more responsive. As for gaming and I will use BF4 as an example, the same applies. It feels more smoother.

Overclock the 920. Use a Solid State Drive. If all you are doing is gaming consider your video card options.

If you have done all the above then upgrade will be worth it and should last just as long as the 920 did.

Just my two cents. I love both machines my 920 rig is now my DAW machine using a gtx 280 for GPU on a 27 in 1080 monitor. My 5820 machine is still using the 2 gtx 680s with my RoG swift for everything else. Just waiting for Pascal now and the 680s will be replaced.

 

[SomeFknGuy]

I'm running a Corsair 240gb SSD for my boot drive and with win10 it boots pretty quick. The GPU is less aged than the processor so I was wondering if upgrading my GPU wouldn't expose the CPU bottleneck that is most likely there.

I'm not currently overclocking the machine, had thought about it but never did. Appreciate the input! Now to just finalize a build and start ordering parts. Which GPU upgrade path would you recommend? I've been an AMD fanboy for ages but the nvidia in my laptop is pretty slick.

 

[Yakk]

Yeah, make sure that 920 is running at least between 3.8 & 4.2 ghz. At 4.2 it's not that same machine at all.

Can still upgrade because you want to of course . Myself I don't feel it's a big enough step yet from 4.2.

 

[rhansen5_99]

Have you considered one of those 6 core 1366 Chips that you could overclock a bunch? I would think that a 4.5 ish 6 core chip would be able to hold its own or close to a Skylake chip and a lot less $$. Also a free boost is that you might be able to flash that 7970 to a 280x, or at least I was on a Saphire VaporX model I had, for a little bit of a boost. You could then crossfire with another one. That is just a $/ performance increase though.
As far as a new gpu if you do not mind a refurb card you might check out the EVGA BStock page. They have a 980 GTX Classified for $429 right now or a hybrid 980. From the AMD side the 390X is not a bad card at all either.

 

[jgonz]

Buy a CPU water cooler for that i7920 and bump that bitch up to at least 3.8 for starters. The difference is huge from default settings. If after that you feel you need more then upgrade. But your missing out on the awesome sauce the 920 provided me for years. Over clock that mofo!

*I am using NVIDIA cards because I have a G SYNC monitor. But I have no allegiance to Red or Green. It all depends on what resolution your playing in and how much you want to spend for graphics. This was my first taste of SLI and probably my last. Not because of bad experience, but more so because it seems the game developers are not bothering with mutli GPU optimization as of late.

 

[SomeFknGuy]

Buy a CPU water cooler for that i7920 and bump that bitch up to at least 3.8 for starters. The difference is huge from default settings. If after that you feel you need more then upgrade. But your missing out on the awesome sauce the 920 provided me for years. Over clock that mofo!

*I am using NVIDIA cards because I have a G SYNC monitor. But I have no allegiance to Red or Green. It all depends on what resolution your playing in and how much you want to spend for graphics. This was my first taste of SLI and probably my last. Not because of bad experience, but more so because it seems the game developers are not bothering with mutli GPU optimization as of late.

Man I honestly don't know how long I've had this 920... I bought it right when they came out upgrading from a core2duo. I'm not a brand loyalist I've just had such good luck with my ati/and cards since back in the tribes and quake 3 days. I did have a 4890 crossfire setup and I completely agree there wasn't much optimization towards the dual card configuration.

 

[jgonz]

Man I honestly don't know how long I've had this 920... I bought it right when they came out upgrading from a core2duo. I'm not a brand loyalist I've just had such good luck with my ati/and cards since back in the tribes and quake 3 days. I did have a 4890 crossfire setup and I completely agree there wasn't much optimization towards the dual card configuration.

http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_i7_920_overclocking

Play around with the overclocking while you shop and wait for you next build. The only reason I upgraded was because the prices got low enough for me to do justify it and I just wanted something shiny to play with . The next wave of video cards will be arriving in the next quarter.

I will post some bechmarks of old vs new set up just so you have comparisons later.

 

[Warrior]

I would wait... Your setup isn't that bad. In all reality you are talking 10-15fps difference than your laptop... I would be hard pressed to think there is a massive difference compared to your desktop. If you can justify $1k for just 15+ more fps... Then do it. But in all reality you can OC the 920 and 7970 and get great results, and I'm willing to bet they would be similar performance to your laptop (if you take power savings out of the test..)

Newer shit is going to come out this year that is worth the wait.

 

[Nenu]

Op, a question that needs asking...
Are you unhappy with the performance?
If so, what framerates are you getting and what would you like?

 

[N4CR]

Some 7970s could do 30-40% OCs on ref coolers so try your luck... mine did 40%.

Clock it, try again, you'll get close to 980 speed if ya do ya job, 920 shouldn't hold ya back.

 

[jgonz]

These are 3dmark benchmarks from EVGA forums back in 2013. Compare the i7920 to the rest of the lot.

1.DooRules --- 3960X @ 5.31GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1124/3630/1332 -- 175%/+45/+525 -- P + P + P14203 -- H20
2.CryptiK --- 990X @ 4.67GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1202/3712/1371 -- +300/+700/+171 -- P197911 + P34752 + P12608 -- H2O
3.The_Limit --- Intel 3770K @ 5.0Ghz --- (2) 680 Classy-- 1110/6008/117 -- +131%/+74/+550 -- P124893 + P29654 + P11975* -- Air
4.linuxrouter --- 3930K @ 4.41GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1220/3348/1267 -- +125%/+70/+250 -- P191821 + P34205 + P11896 -- Air
5.Hartsocks --- i7-3930K @ 4.5GHz --- (2)680 HC CL -- 1150/3649/1306 -- +132%/+100/+550--P163329 -- P31858 -- P11771 -- H2O
6.kbnj123 --- 3930k @ 4.17 --- (2) 680SC -- 1058/3105/1175 -- +100/+0/+0 -- P167625 + P31698 + P11443 -- Air
7.Mudvari --- 3770K @ 4.600 --- (2) 680 -- 1084MHz/6208MHz/1176MHz -- 100%/+0/+0 -- 175613 + 29706 + 11208 -- Air
8.bongholio --- (2) X5680 @ 4.50 --- (2) 680 Classified -- 1100/3004/1176 -- 100%/+0/+0 -- P181998 + P36881 + P10612 -- H2O
9.JGONZ --- i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1110/3251/1189 -- 125%/+80/+250 -- P149071 + P24396 + P10542 -- AIR
10.Rei86 --- i7-3770k @ 4.5Ghz --- (2) 680C -- +131/+0/+0 -- P177147 + P26283 + P9523 -- Air


Now compare vs the 5820k @4.5 with the same video cards (The cards are overclocked as well):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6933897

 

[Nenu]

3DMark can help you diagnose if your system is working properly.
It doesnt let you know if its good enough for certain games.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

That 7970 is pretty old. A simple GPU upgrade to something like a 980 Ti would bring much needed life back into that system. Although going with 2x980 Ti in SLI would benefit you the MOST in gaming on three displays.

Then if you want to keep spending money then replace the CPU, RAM and motherboard with SKylake counterparts and you probably wouldn't notice much of a difference.

 

[Warrior]

These are 3dmark benchmarks from EVGA forums back in 2013. Compare the i7920 to the rest of the lot.

1.DooRules --- 3960X @ 5.31GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1124/3630/1332 -- 175%/+45/+525 -- P + P + P14203 -- H20
2.CryptiK --- 990X @ 4.67GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1202/3712/1371 -- +300/+700/+171 -- P197911 + P34752 + P12608 -- H2O
3.The_Limit --- Intel 3770K @ 5.0Ghz --- (2) 680 Classy-- 1110/6008/117 -- +131%/+74/+550 -- P124893 + P29654 + P11975* -- Air
4.linuxrouter --- 3930K @ 4.41GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1220/3348/1267 -- +125%/+70/+250 -- P191821 + P34205 + P11896 -- Air
5.Hartsocks --- i7-3930K @ 4.5GHz --- (2)680 HC CL -- 1150/3649/1306 -- +132%/+100/+550--P163329 -- P31858 -- P11771 -- H2O
6.kbnj123 --- 3930k @ 4.17 --- (2) 680SC -- 1058/3105/1175 -- +100/+0/+0 -- P167625 + P31698 + P11443 -- Air
7.Mudvari --- 3770K @ 4.600 --- (2) 680 -- 1084MHz/6208MHz/1176MHz -- 100%/+0/+0 -- 175613 + 29706 + 11208 -- Air
8.bongholio --- (2) X5680 @ 4.50 --- (2) 680 Classified -- 1100/3004/1176 -- 100%/+0/+0 -- P181998 + P36881 + P10612 -- H2O
9.JGONZ --- i7 920 @ 4.0 GHz --- (2) 680 -- 1110/3251/1189 -- 125%/+80/+250 -- P149071 + P24396 + P10542 -- AIR
10.Rei86 --- i7-3770k @ 4.5Ghz --- (2) 680C -- +131/+0/+0 -- P177147 + P26283 + P9523 -- Air


Now compare vs the 5820k @4.5 with the same video cards (The cards are overclocked as well):

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6933897

The cards are clocked higher... and the drivers have matured more, and there is probably been an update to 3DMark. I would imagine the scores be favorable to the newer system...

 

[defaultluser]

I just bought a gaming laptop(sager w/ i7-6700k, nvidia 980, and 16gb) and it's making my desktop look puny.

I don't understand - you spent ludicrous amounts of money on a desktop replacement, but you want to game on your desktop?

Why not just game on the laptop until you have issues with performance, and THEN look into a complete rebuild of your desktop?

The GTX 980m is slightly slower than a GTX 970, so it should be a massive improvement over your 7970.

You likely have enough outputs to drive your triple monitors.

Do you GAME on all three monitors at once, or just a single screen?

 

[jgonz]

The cards are clocked higher... and the drivers have matured more, and there is probably been an update to 3DMark. I would imagine the scores be favorable to the newer system...

Agreed. But the 920 is still pretty damn good was the point. An overclock especially if your gaming at 1080 with a new video card would breath new life to that system.

 

[SomeFknGuy]

I don't understand - you spent ludicrous amounts of money on a desktop replacement, but you want to game on your desktop?

Why not just game on the laptop until you have issues with performance, and THEN look into a complete rebuild of your desktop?

The GTX 980m is slightly slower than a GTX 970, so it should be a massive improvement over your 7970.

You likely have enough outputs to drive your triple monitors.

Do you GAME on all three monitors at once, or just a single screen?

Honestly I bought the laptop so I could game at my gf's house and/or my buddy's on the weekends. I don't game on all 3 monitors but i typically have netflix on one a game on the center and a browser on the 3rd. On rare occasion will I have something like EVE on one monitor while i'm playing battlefield 4 on the mid screen.

 

[defaultluser]

Honestly I bought the laptop so I could game at my gf's house and/or my buddy's on the weekends. I don't game on all 3 monitors but i typically have netflix on one a game on the center and a browser on the 3rd. On rare occasion will I have something like EVE on one monitor while i'm playing battlefield 4 on the mid screen.

Now that I look at te full specs, it seems it comes with a fully-enabled desktop GTX 980, which means 1440p should be a breeze.

Also, two displayport plus one HDMI 1.4b should be enough to handle 3 displays. You'll need to tell us the brand and model of your displays to be sure.

 

[SomeFknGuy]

Now that I look at te full specs, it seems it comes with a fully-enabled desktop GTX 980, which means 1440p should be a breeze.

Also, two displayport plus one HDMI 1.4b should be enough to handle 3 displays. You'll need to tell us the brand and model of your displays to be sure.

Its a SAGER NP9870. Upped the memory, went with a 250gb M2 SSD, and went with the desktop class processor instead of mobile. Otherwise it remained pretty standard to the build that XoticPC does on them.