Cost effective, nicely paired processsor for an ATI 5870?

[Braznor]

THis is the reverse of the question I asked in the video forum. I have a Core 2 Due and I plan to upgrade my video card to a 5870. But feeling that C2D 2.9 GHz may not be upto par with the video card. I wonder which processor would be best suited to be paired with this graphic card?

Here is my criteria:

1. Must be economical (Sorry I'm on a tight budget :\ )
2. Must not limit the 5870 at resolutions of 1600 by 1200 and above in any game released now.
3.Could be either Intel or AMD.

Thanks!

 

[digitaldurandal]

I would estimate minimum i5. Did see a big difference in some games from c2q 9550 to i7 at 1920x1200.

 

[betasub]

Vague FTL.

1. What is economical & a tight budget? Means different things to different people. Some 5870 buyers can afford Extreme processors. How much exactly?
2. Varies completely from game to game. Most run fine with an overclocked C2D (GPU-limited), some are heavy on the CPU (either loving raw clock speed, or demanding >2 cores).
3. On the Intel side, i5 750 is typically considered a strong enough CPU for handling CPU-intensive games. AMD has the Phenom2 X4 (or unlockable X2 and X3 chips). Are they "cost effective"? Depends on your budget.

 

[beginner99]

Don't see a cheap way. If you go i5 /i7 you need a new mobo.
If you keep your mobo, you can't do much. Buy a fast core2quad or faster dual. but imho a waste of money unless you find a used one cheap for sale (but always risky imho).

 

[Braznor]

Vague FTL.

1. What is economical & a tight budget? Means different things to different people. Some 5870 buyers can afford Extreme processors. How much exactly?
2. Varies completely from game to game. Most run fine with an overclocked C2D (GPU-limited), some are heavy on the CPU (either loving raw clock speed, or demanding >2 cores).
3. On the Intel side, i5 750 is typically considered a strong enough CPU for handling CPU-intensive games. AMD has the Phenom2 X4 (or unlockable X2 and X3 chips). Are they "cost effective"? Depends on your budget.

Hi, I live in India, so the prices are skewed basically with added duties and so on.

Let me refine the question a bit more for you.

Which class of i7 or AMD Phenom processors would be better?

For instance: would an i7-930 2.8ghz do the trick? or would I need something higher?

 

[richierich1212]

Well you would need to provide the prices of various processors for us to better help you.

 

[nyker96]

I would estimate minimum i5. Did see a big difference in some games from c2q 9550 to i7 at 1920x1200.

not only that you need to OC that i5 750 or i7 920 to get the full benefit of hd 58xx or GTX 470/480s.

 

[Drenlin]

I don't think you'd need an i5/i7 to take advantage of a 5870. An OC'd Phenom II x4 BE (955/965) rig would be more cost effective and have most of the gaming performance of an i5/i7 setup. Plus, you could get the 790FX chipset, which poops on what Intel has.

 

[InfoTiger]

Even cheaper with a unlocked PII x2 555BE.

 

[busydude]

Can you be specific regarding your budget($ or in INR)? I am from india too and can help if you decide on how much to spend.

 

[busydude]

I don't think you'd need an i5/i7 to take advantage of a 5870. An OC'd Phenom II x4 BE (955/965) rig would be more cost effective and have most of the gaming performance of an i5/i7 setup. Plus, you could get the 790FX chipset, which poops on what Intel has.

790FX is only useful if you are using CFX. For a single card setup even a 770 chipset mobo does the job.

 

[lopri]

How big is the L2 of that C2D? If it's 4mb or bigger I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Drenlin]

790FX is only useful if you are using CFX. For a single card setup even a 770 chipset mobo does the job.

It actually lets the GPU breathe a bit more, though not by much. Being able to CF is a good option though...

 

[MisterDonut]

How big is the L2 of that C2D? If it's 4mb or bigger I wouldn't worry too much.

This. You'll definitely see a gain in performance in going to a mid/high-end quad, but if it's gonna cost you a lot of money, I wouldn't justify it. My friend's running his games on an E6600, and he's not complaining. Otherwise, if you are intent on an upgrade, I'd go with the AMD suggestions. As far as gaming goes, all those high-end quads from Intel and AMD will give you similar results.

 

[konakona]

It actually lets the GPU breathe a bit more, though not by much. Being able to CF is a good option though...

I thought just 790fx OC's tends to OC a bit better than the cheaper 790gx (comes with IGP)? Are there any inherent advantages to 790fx in terms of gaming performance? What did you specifically mean by pooping on what intel has? Just curious.

 

[busydude]

I thought just 790fx OC's tends to OC a bit better than the cheaper 790gx (comes with IGP)? Are there any inherent advantages to 790fx in terms of gaming performance? What did you specifically mean by pooping on what intel has? Just curious.

Only when you crossfire. 790FX has 32 pci express lanes which provide full bandwidth(x16) on both slots whereas, 790GX has only 16 pci express lanes.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

I don't think you'd need an i5/i7 to take advantage of a 5870. An OC'd Phenom II x4 BE (955/965) rig would be more cost effective and have most of the gaming performance of an i5/i7 setup. Plus, you could get the 790FX chipset, which poops on what Intel has.

Actually, AMD's southbridges are nowhere near as good as Intel's. X58 destroys the 790FX.

 

[toyota]

I don't think you'd need an i5/i7 to take advantage of a 5870. An OC'd Phenom II x4 BE (955/965) rig would be more cost effective and have most of the gaming performance of an i5/i7 setup. Plus, you could get the 790FX chipset, which poops on what Intel has.

no it isnt. he can easily get an i5 750 for about the same total cost as going the the P2 965 route. the i5 750 overall is slightly faster at stock and has more overclocking headroom to distance it even further from the 965 if both are overclocked.


EDIT: http://techreport.com/articles.x/18448/18

"Before we go, we can't ignore the fact that our overall leader in both power efficiency and performance per system cost was the Core i5-750. If you're purely rational about these things—and you can afford to spend nearly $200 on a CPU—the i5-750 is obviously the best choice among the processors we tested."

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

The Phenom II series does not compare to the i series. I'm so sick of hearing how the P2 965 is close to the i5 750 because it isn't.

 

[toyota]

The Phenom II series does not compare to the i series. I'm so sick of hearing how the P2 965 is close to the i5 750 because it isn't.

well it is close in many situations but the 965 is certainly not the better overall value.

 

[heyheybooboo]

A Phenom 720BE, a Gigabyte 785g AM2+ and a nice HSF should be less than 9,000 Rs.

Reuse your RAMs and off yah go.




--

 

[Arkaign]

well it is close in many situations but the 965 is certainly not the better overall value.

Well, not always. Fry's has the 965BE + Gigabyte 785 mobo for $150 right now, but that of course isn't going to help our poor OP.

I think it's always good to see what deals are out there. There's no way at normal (Newegg/etc) prices you can build a decent i5-750 combo for $150 though. The chip alone is $195, and a comparably decent mobo to go with it is going to be at least $90-$110, so for about 1/2 the price or ~$150 savings I'd just get the 965 and put the savings into better GPU/SSD/Beer/whatever. A 965 @ 3.8ghz is going to be plenty for any current usage anyway.

 

[soccerballtux]

The Phenom II series does not compare to the i series. I'm so sick of hearing how the P2 965 is close to the i5 750 because it isn't.

I'll admit that but when you can get a mobo+965 for $150 it's still a decent deal and will run any dual-GPU crossfire setup no problem.

 

[toyota]

I'll admit that but when you can get a mobo+965 for $150 it's still a decent deal and will run any dual-GPU crossfire setup no problem.

and for just a little more money you can get a superior product in the i5 750 with way more oc headroom to make it even better.

and sorry but with multi gpu setups the X4 is noticeably inferior. http://www.legionhardware.com/artic...ssfire_cpu_scaling_performance_part_2,21.html

"For the most part the Core i7 9xx and Core i5 7xx series were in a league of their own.

It was the minimum frame rate of the Athlon II X4 which was most disappointing, and if you look at games such as Company of Heroes and World in Conflict at 2560x1600, it would drop considerably lower than the Pentium E6xxx series for example. "

 

[busydude]

Who is going to build a system around AMD if they can afford 2 5870's ?

EDIT: Other than fanboys :sneaky: