Currently using an AM3 board, 4980 and 955@3.8GHz: upgrade advice

[alkemyst]

I game a little bit, mostly action titles that I can put in 15mins if I want or play a couple hours. I game at 1920x1600 and so far most everything I have runs fine (Batman Arkham Asylum probably the toughest title).

I do a lot with large RAW images 30-40MB and maybe 10-20 open at a time. Not really major...I am only using 32 bit Windows 7 currently so limited to 3.5GB. My plan is to move to a 64bit platform and retire some of my non-compatible legacy gear.

I was thinking a cheap upgrade would be the 1100T, but that CPU is still very expensive. It pretty much only makes sense to go 2500/2600 and a new board...but then in the end would it be worth it to me?

I'd pick up USB 3.0, higher current charging for iPhones/iPads, etc.

Is there a cheap upgrade at the AM3 level (I'd need AM3+ to move to the FX chips)? What's the best bang for buck from a 955 phenom if I just upgraded board, CPU?

Any GPU's worth considering other than a 7950 for what I am doing?

Thanks
current rig details are at http://www.30moons.com/pc_chiapet.php

 

[Yuriman]

If you can find any of the AMD hex chips used they would offer you the best priceerformance - but I have to ask, is your image work multithreaded?

As for the GPU, it depends entirely on what you're willing to spend. The 7850 and 7950 are both great cards for the price.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Microcenter still has 1045T 95W Thuban chips, I think. I bought two of them when they were $139.99 or so apiece, now they're down to $89.99.

 

[EliteRetard]

Actually I've seen the 1035/1045 hex core chips for $80-90 a few times on various websites. I think Circuit City was that last one...just keep your eyes open, they pop up at least once every other week. You should be able to hit ~3.8GHz without to much trouble.

Edit:
Along with a move to 8GB (2x4GB?) and a 64bit OS a little GPU upgrade should make it a new machine. I've seen the 7870 2GB hit $185 and the 7950 3GB hit $280. Doesn't look like you have an SSD...even at 3Gbs it could help, you can get a good quality 128GB model for $70 or 256GB for $150.

 

[alkemyst]

If you can find any of the AMD hex chips used they would offer you the best priceerformance - but I have to ask, is your image work multithreaded?

As for the GPU, it depends entirely on what you're willing to spend. The 7850 and 7950 are both great cards for the price.

It's Photoshop 6 and mostly Photoshop Elements 9 (and I am looking to go to 11 soon). I believe PSE is multi-threading.

 

[alkemyst]

Actually I've seen the 1035/1045 hex core chips for $80-90 a few times on various websites. I think Circuit City was that last one...just keep your eyes open, they pop up at least once every other week. You should be able to hit ~3.8GHz without to much trouble.

Edit:
Along with a move to 8GB (2x4GB?) and a 64bit OS a little GPU upgrade should make it a new machine. I've seen the 7870 2GB hit $185 and the 7950 3GB hit $280. Doesn't look like you have an SSD...even at 3Gbs it could help, you can get a good quality 128GB model for $70 or 256GB for $150.

SSD is a separate upgrade I plan to do. I want to go 256GB or more and then revamp my storage drives.

 

[Rhezuss]

If you could get your hands on a 1090T/1100T you would be good to go for quite a bit longer.

I have the same CPU as you have and overclock it's doing to job perfectly for now. I'm playing a lot of recent titles and all is running well.

Check for a Thuban chip if you can find one or for not a lot of money you could go Piledriver CPU+mobo+DDR3 (or not if you already have it)...that's what i'm looking to do soon.

 

[alkemyst]

If you could get your hands on a 1090T/1100T you would be good to go for quite a bit longer.

I have the same CPU as you have and overclock it's doing to job perfectly for now. I'm playing a lot of recent titles and all is running well.

Check for a Thuban chip if you can find one or for not a lot of money you could go Piledriver CPU+mobo+DDR3 (or not if you already have it)...that's what i'm looking to do soon.

1100T's are a huge premium it appears...it would make sense to go AM3+ and an FX chip at that point or jump to a 2600K platform.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

If you ever want to upgrade to a new platform. I'd wait till haswell

 

[blastingcap]

Don't get 1100T then, get something further down the stack. 1090T or lower. OC it yourself if you want. If you do want a complete system overhaul, I would wait for Haswell if you can wait a while longer, especially if you won't be doing much on your computers over the holidays.

 

[alkemyst]

i am going to wait.

 

[soccerballtux]

Personally I wouldn't bother upgrading CPU to a Thuban 6 core if you're already at 3.8ghz on a quad. You're probably not going to get better than 4ghz on a Thuban. And having 2 more cores is not going to help your games any. Batman is most likely slow due to GPU, not CPU, being that it's an Unreal 3 Engine game.

I would go to 64bit and see if you can improve your overclock.

You ought to be able to hit 4ghz on the nose with 1.5v.... No? I use 1.475v for my 4.0ghz on my 965, and 1.475 can actually take me to about 4.07ghz.
That CPU-NB overclock is good, if even a little bit fast. Try backing it down to 2.6ghz and see if you can hit 4Ghz. I've found it was usually the CPU-NB that lead to stress test failures. Confusingly, this would only come out at >2.6ghz on CPU-NB AND >3.7ghz on the CPU cores. IE, I could run 3ghz CPU-NB until I went past ~3.7ghz, at which point I had to back the CPU-NB way down to 2.6ghz (1.5v on the CPU-NB didn't do anything but create more heat) before I could push 3.8, 3.9, 4ghz. This was a toughie to find and overcome.
Also, our AMDs at the higher voltages/frequencies are awfully touchy about their temps. I can push 4.2ghz until 56C at which point it fails immediately. I can go to 4.1ghz but it fails around 62C, and 4.0ghz I'm good all the way up to 69C (when my fan goes to 100%). However, I see you have an TT-120 Ultra-Extreme, I have the TT-120 Ultra, so your temps are probably better than mine unless I have way better airflow.

If you fiddle with OC let us know how it goes

 

[sequoia464]

i am going to wait.

Or look for a 960T, Newegg had some a while back again, don't know if they are out of them again or not. I have two, one unlocked to a 6 core, the other didn't.

 

[BD231]

Theres no performance advantage at the top end between any AMD parts, its all the same core logic in different configurations so any gains u get are entirely case specific.