Upgrade AMD 955 to Intel 2500k?

D

Dallows

Supreme [H]ardness
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Would this upgrade be worthwhile? I'm looking for an fps/smoothness boost all around. For BF3, Witcher 2, Skyrim, etc. All the latest games. Current video card is a 6950 1GB (which I may swap for 2GB version, but honestly my case isn't big enough so I would have to get a new case).

Let me know if you need the other details. Thanks!
 
By itself, the Intel Core i5-2500K outperforms the AMD Phenom II X4 955 in gaming. But with the Radeon HD 7970 out now, and newer, better cards probably arriving within the next few months, you may be better served with a video card upgrade.

Before I get ahead of myself, I would like to know what your current setup looks like. Please be as specific as possible and give us the brands and model names/numbers to everything, including the power supply.
 
AMD Phenom II X4 955
Asus M4A77TD
8GB Ram (4x2GB DDR3 - G.Skill Need to find the model/Speed)
Asus 6950 1GB (EAH6950 DCII/2DI4S/1GD5)
Western Digital 1TB (WS1001FAES - Main HDD - OS/Programs)
Corsair TX650
 
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Maybe you can go for Ivy + 7970/7950. Whichever you want to upgrade first, it's up to you.
 
Well I'm not sure I want to wait for Ivy. I don't have a lot to spend on an upgrade. Maybe $300 and change. Plus selling the old equip to make up for whatever I can. I've never been able to be on the bleeding edge. So I'm quite alright going with a sandy bridge setup if it will be a worth while upgrade. I just get annoyed when playing something like Skyrim and I have to turn down the settings to get it smooth. Same with the Witcher which I really wanted to enjoy with the full beans.

I did forget to mention my resolution. I'm at 1920x1080 and don't see myself going past that for a while.
 
In the case of BF3, you're looking at around a 25% to 30% performance increase with the 2500K over the Phenom II X4 955 when both CPUs are at stock. Fairly the difference will increase once you OC that 2500K. In any case, up to you if the upgrade costs are worth that 25% to 30% performance increase in BF3.

Also note that Ivy may not be that much more expensive than SB considering that Intel's strategy for the past few years has been to release newer and faster CPUs at around the same price point as their older CPUs. As such, there's a possibility that we might see an IB CPU for around the same price as the 2500K.
 
I thought it was worth mentioning, that 955 is one of the better overclockers. If its running stock @ 3.2 you should be able to get close to 4 or maybe even over if you have a decent cpu cooler. This would be a nice boost for you and allow you to save your $ and see what happens when the 7950 drops and how that impacts the rest of the gpu pricing.

Most games are still gpu sided so if you have a quad core between 3.5-4gigz and a great gpu you should be able to handle just about anything.
 
I've never been one for overclocking. I've tried it before. I do have a Corsair H50 now so I guess I could give it another go. Is it difficult with the cpu I have? Any easy guides to look at? Thanks.
 
Alright so I used the AMD overdrive app to OC to 3.8 using 1.375v. I did not edit it at the bios level and set the app to OC at start up. Guessing it sticks. Will check again tonight after work.

Seems stable as I tested it with the included AMD stress test (1hr) and intel burn test. Running a little hotter but nothing crazy. Highest it hit was 52C but that was with a little bit of a warm room.

Honestly not sure if I'm seeing enough of a difference. I have a feeling the 1GB vid ram will limit me more. I need to do some more FPS comparisons but I'm not sure if I'll have time until this weekend.

I can wait. There's nothing really pushing me to do this now, just the itch of available funds and desire to always have better hardware.
If anyone else wants to chime in with suggestions it's always appreciated. Thanks.
 
Dallows said:
Would this upgrade be worthwhile? I'm looking for an fps/smoothness boost all around. For BF3, Witcher 2, Skyrim, etc. All the latest games. Current video card is a 6950 1GB (which I may swap for 2GB version, but honestly my case isn't big enough so I would have to get a new case).

Let me know if you need the other details. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Well if a ~20% - 30% increase in performance is worth ~$430 (cpu $230, motherboard ~$150, 2x4GB kit of RAM ~$50) You could reuse your old RAM, but since you bought a 4x2GB kit you wont be able to "add" more RAM to get more capacity, so you'll end up having to lose two kits to upgrade. Not really needed, probably not even worth it but RAM is cheap right now.

IMHO, I'd wait to see what Ivy Bridge brings to the table as you'll probably see an even more boost in performance for around the same price.
 
honestly I'm not too keen on waiting 3-5 months unless its a substantial difference. I also won't spend that much on a mobo.

the ram thing confuses me. I can use all my existing ram no? I see no reason to go higher than 8gb. Not going to spend money on ram for no reason.

I'm also considering just buying a newer case to fit the 2gb 6950 I have and waiting out for a bigger upgrade. I feel like a better gpu would give me more fps. I also think the 955 isn't that powerful.
 
Dallows said:
honestly I'm not too keen on waiting 3-5 months unless its a substantial difference. I also won't spend that much on a mobo.
Click to expand...

If you can't wait, then go for the 2500k now then.

Dallows said:
the ram thing confuses me. I can use all my existing ram no? I see no reason to go higher than 8gb. Not going to spend money on ram for no reason.
Click to expand...

Yes you can use all your existing RAM and not worry about buying additional RAM, but as I noted.. RAM is cheap for now.

Dallows said:
I'm also considering just buying a newer case to fit the 2gb 6950 I have and waiting out for a bigger upgrade. I feel like a better gpu would give me more fps. I also think the 955 isn't that powerful.
Click to expand...

For the price, I think a better GPU will give you a higher dollar for dollar performance increase.
 
there is virtually no performance benefit with the 2gb(unless you try to unlock to a 6970) card over the 1gb card. If you want a bigger jump grab a gtx 570 or a radeon 6970.
 
while I realize that. I tested memory use and if I want to crank up the setting I run out of video memory.
 
hossdaddy said:
there is virtually no performance benefit with the 2gb(unless you try to unlock to a 6970) card over the 1gb card. If you want a bigger jump grab a gtx 570 or a radeon 6970.
Click to expand...

At higher resolutions, it does make a difference.

I game at 1920x1080 and I've witnessed Serious Sam 3 consume 1100MB of my 1.25GB worth of memory.
 
Radeon HD 7970 Or newer cards wouldn't bottleneck a AMD Phenom processor would it? I'm kind of in the same situation as Dallows and have the exact same processor, but don't really want to spend a couple hundred dollars for a 2500k if its only going to net a 20-30% increase.
 
Skillz said:
At higher resolutions, it does make a difference.

I game at 1920x1080 and I've witnessed Serious Sam 3 consume 1100MB of my 1.25GB worth of memory.
Click to expand...

look at this review. It shows the 1 gb and 2gb version of the 6950 and at the highest resolution and eye candy turned on there is a 1 fps difference.
 
Your link won't work because that site address has been banned here on the forums. Please don't try to get around it either.
 
Skillz said:
At higher resolutions, it does make a difference.

I game at 1920x1080 and I've witnessed Serious Sam 3 consume 1100MB of my 1.25GB worth of memory.
Click to expand...

hossdaddy said:
look at this review. It shows the 1 gb and 2gb version of the 6950 and at the highest resolution and eye candy turned on there is a 1 fps difference.
Click to expand...

Yeah and I've read that if you only have say 1GB video ram and the game you're trying to run goes over that the system can grab it from other places, like your RAM, but it hurts performance.

I tested this with BF3 during single player. And was adjusting the video settings so that it wouldn't go over 1GB, because if I turned everything up I'm sure it would have.

I should do the same with multiplayer as I haven't.

That's the other thing I'm after, I do currently play BF3 MP quite a bit, especially the very large CQ maps and even smaller maps with 64 players. that's a lot going on. And to ensure it's smooth as can be, (60+ fps most of the time) I've turned everything down to medium, no aa, no post processing or anything, and even have a few graphics settings on low.

But I still see it dip into the 30s and 40s. Granted it's rare, but it does happen, and it does hurt my gameplay. So I guess a small goal, or something I would like, is to play with at least medium across the board at 50+ fps all the time at 1920x1080. I don't need AA either as I'm accustom to playing without it.

And I should reference another thread but I don't have the time to find it. One of our users, Shiznit-something or other went from a Q6600 to an i5-2500k and doubled his frame rate in BC2 multiplayer. I don't believe he had OC'd at that point, just stock.
 
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