Upgrade recommendations please .......

[kill3rvill3]

Hi, first post on here so here goes
I currently have my main pc
i7 920 @ 3.2ghz
6gb tripple channel ram @ 1280mhz
Asus DC ii 6970 - stock
128gb ssd - OS and core apps
2 x 1tb Raptor drives
750w ocz psu
gigabyte x58 ud4 mobo
All stock cooled

My question is that my wonderful wife has cleard me some funds to do an upgrade, which was nice of her and I am looking at what i can upgrade to get the best out of my system. The main uses of my machine is a mixture of gaming and work, my work being the less demanding of the two uses.

I normally either game on my plasma at 1080p or on my 3x1 eyefinity setup which isnt the best as its 3 x 19" dell monitors but it suits my needs when i fancy treating myself to some me time. The games I play are varied, Diablo 3, BF3, Mass Effect, etc etc

I have been looking at gpu upgrades with both the 7970 and GTX 670 / 680 in mind for my natural upgrade but i wanted to run it by people who do this as a passion to see if there is a better route I can go down. I probably have around £500 to play with but i am tighter than a ducks butt so i am looking for the best upgrade for my money. The only game i have ever struggled to play was metro, which to be honest i didnt really like so it isnt a sore point for me but i would like to know that my machine can handle games like that with all the fancies turned on, and i would also like to be able to run things like 3dmark 11 / vantage

Any pointers in what i should be looking at upgrading in terms of my machine and also what you think about my choices of possible gpu upgrades would be most welcome

Looking forward to hearing some responses

Cheers
KV3

[kalniel]

If you're tight then don't upgrade a thing - your rig is fine.

If you must upgrade, just drop in a GTX670, buy a better CPU cooler and overclock the CPU to a decent level.

[kill3rvill3]

If you're tight then don't upgrade a thing - your rig is fine.

If you must upgrade, just drop in a GTX670, buy a better CPU cooler and overclock the CPU to a decent level.

Cheers Kalniel, would this give me a great improvement in gaming, i would have thought my 920 at 3.2ghz would have been sufficient. I am not dismissing the idea though as it has crossed my mind to get something like an i5 oc to 4.5
Would anyone else agree with this ?

Cheers
KV3

[kalniel]

No point getting an i5, just overclock your 920.

As to whether a 920 @ 3.2 is limiting, it depends on the game and card. I doubt it'll be limiting for most games with the 6970, but if you're going to a gtx 670 then you might still have room for improvement on the CPU side.

[kill3rvill3]

No point getting an i5, just overclock your 920.

As to whether a 920 @ 3.2 is limiting, it depends on the game and card. I doubt it'll be limiting for most games with the 6970, but if you're going to a gtx 670 then you might still have room for improvement on the CPU side.

ahh right i get you - so my 920 is oc'd at 3.2ghz now, i will have to check my temps when i get home but what speed would you say is possible on stock cooling, i was personally thinking 3.6 - 3.8 as from what i have read pushing it any closer to 4 ghz is pushing the limits with stock cooling

[deejayburnout]

Defo a better card for gaming.

All else looks good to me.

OC the CPU and your done.

[kalniel]

ahh right i get you - so my 920 is oc'd at 3.2ghz now, i will have to check my temps when i get home but what speed would you say is possible on stock cooling, i was personally thinking 3.6 - 3.8 as from what i have read pushing it any closer to 4 ghz is pushing the limits with stock cooling

A cooler for overclocking only costs £15-25. Grab something like a hyper 212 and you're done: http://www.scan.co.uk/products/coole...am3-754-939-94

[Phage]

Don't forget TIM, if it's not included.

[kill3rvill3]

Defo a better card for gaming.

All else looks good to me.

OC the CPU and your done.

Cheers deejay - what would you say is a safe oc for 920 on stock cooler, i think i have good airflow in my antec case so i can make changes to the oc and then check temps but i am just looking for what people think i should be setting the oc to

[kill3rvill3]

Don't forget TIM, if it's not included.

Sorry for my ignorance - what is TIM ?

[kalniel]

Sorry for my ignorance - what is TIM ?

Thermal Interface Material. It should come with any heatsink/fan that you buy, but you can buy extra if you want. It just fills in the air gaps between the CPU lid and the heatsink/fan. Anything thermally stable will do - I use generic thermal grease from an electronics store.

There's no figure that we can safely give you for stock cooler overclocking as it depends on your exact chip, other components, airflow, ambient temperature etc.

Follow an overclocking guide such as clunks:
http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overc...beginners.html

to find the limits.

[Phage]

Given that you have a Gigabyte EX58 UD4. I'd suggest our own Hexus guide as being really easy to follow and very close to your rig.
http://forums.hexus.net/cpus/168306-...beginners.html

I used that guide and reached 3.8 on my 920 on a UD5 on the first try.

[kill3rvill3]

Thank you very much all of you - i will order a new gpu and new cpu cooler and get to work

nice one

KV3

[kalniel]

Thank you very much all of you - i will order a new gpu and new cpu cooler and get to work

nice one

KV3

I'm sure you know, but you're looking for a 1366 skt compatible cooler - the one I linked is apparently 'optionally' compatible - that probably means it needs an adaptor that might come with it or might not - pop scan a query to double check. Otherwise the artic cooling freezer 13 pro (http://www.scan.co.uk/products/arcti...m2-am2plus-am3) definitely lists 1366 (and is a very easy install - no need to take your motherboard out).

Let us know how you get on

[ZaO]

That's a pretty decent sounding rig you've got there. I would OC that CPU for a start. Then you could get another 6970 and run them crossfire. A secondhand 6970 will cost about 120-170. Or you could do what I've done and sell the 6970 on ebay and take the money you would've used for second 6970, put that cash together and you have enough for a GTX 670. 2 6970's will perform a bit better than a GTX 670 in some scenarios but there won't be a huge deal between the 2 setups. GTX 670 would be a better choice at least because you don't have to run 2 graphics cards at once.

[kill3rvill3]

That's a pretty decent sounding rig you've got there. I would OC that CPU for a start. Then you could get another 6970 and run them crossfire. A secondhand 6970 will cost about 120-170. Or you could do what I've done and sell the 6970 on ebay and take the money you would've used for second 6970, put that cash together and you have enough for a GTX 670. 2 6970's will perform a bit better than a GTX 670 in some scenarios but there won't be a huge deal between the 2 setups. GTX 670 would be a better choice at least because you don't have to run 2 graphics cards at once.

Thanks for this, the issue i have with the thought of getting another 6970 is the fact that its the Asus DCii model which takes up 3 slots, personally i dont think i would fit another one of these in and i dont think you can mix and match models can you ????

the 670 i have been looking at is the kfa2 gtx 670 ex oc which should, with a slight overclock bring it inline with most 680's - i am a bit unsure if i would actually see a huge increase in performance though ???

Cheers
KV3