Light use gaming PC upgrade recommendations

[Termie]

It's crazy to see the back to back testing and the increase in FPS. At 2.88Ghz(385fsb) my FPS in that same location ingame jump from 24 or 25 to a solid 31FPS.
Like I was saying earlier I think if I could hit 35FPS in that same spot I'd feel no need or itch to upgrade. 31 is close, and the lag is MUCH less than before. It's now just a question of whether or not i'm comfortable with OC'ing enough to reach that. that i5 is looking awfully tempting lol

-Luke

I'm not trying to encourage you or anything, but take a look at how Skyrim performs with an i3, an FX quad, and then an Ivy quad: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314-7.html

That's on an HD7970. The game is completely CPU-bottlenecked. Your OC'd CPU is significantly slower than any of the CPUs in that test.

So...if Skyrim is your game and you're really going to be playing enough of it that 30fps is going to bother you, well, you know what to do...

 

[lkailburn]

wow cpu makes a huge difference for this game.
So I hear a lot of people talk about asrock boards these days. Decent?

-Luke

 

[Termie]

wow cpu makes a huge difference for this game.
So I hear a lot of people talk about asrock boards these days. Decent?

-Luke

Yes, AsRock makes some great budget boards. I had the Extreme4 for a while before moving to a microATX Asus, and it was great. Also used the AsRock H77 ITX board in mini build I did a few months ago.

Here's an AsRock z75 board I just came across at $85 that would be a good match for a 3570k:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157304

According to Anandtech, the only thing you lose going from z77 to z75 is SSD caching: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5728/...view-asrock-asus-gigabyte-msi-ecs-and-biostar

By the way, I see you're in Colorado. Apparently, there's a MicroCenter in Denver, so if you're anywhere near that, I'd pick up the CPU/MB there, because you can get a $50 discount on motherboards with a 3570k.

 

[lkailburn]

That's a good deal atmicrocenter. I forgot they were in Denver.
I already went ahead and purchased it on tigerdirect. I had a $10 instant coupon to add to it, plust tried out the fatwallet 7% cashback. Hopefully I can wait a bit and find a good coupon/promo for that board!

-Luke

 

[Termie]

...

The fastest card you should consider buying is the HD7850 2GB (~$190), which is approximately 2.5x faster than your current card, and also has plenty of VRAM to run Skyrim at high settings. You will actually be cpu-bottlenecked at that point, however, which is why the 7770 might be a better choice.

^This is what I originally suggested several weeks ago...

That's a good deal atmicrocenter. I forgot they were in Denver.
I already went ahead and purchased it [the 3570K] on tigerdirect. I had a $10 instant coupon to add to it, plust tried out the fatwallet 7% cashback. Hopefully I can wait a bit and find a good coupon/promo for that board!

-Luke

^..and this (along with an HD7870) is what came of my advice.

Ahhhh, I've created a monster! Here I was trying to save you money and now I've gone and cost you ~$500!

Well, while we're at it, I should remind you that you'll need some new memory for that rig - I recommend the Samsung DDR3-1600 kit for $45 (or less when coupons are active): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147096

You could spend $10 less on other kits, but I like this one for its low profile, low voltage, and significant overclocking headroom.

 

[lkailburn]

LOL no kidding. That's ok I saw this coming. I picked up Metro 2033 and BF3 for less than $15 combined a week ago, and just grabed a few games from EA/Origins weekend promo blunder. I've got a couple games to hold me over for QUITE a long time now. And now i'll have the system that can decently handle them all. Plus I can now move my current hardware to the netflix PC for a nice bump there
I like the lower voltage on those. I'll keep them in mind.

-Luke

 

[Ketchup]

LOL no kidding. That's ok I saw this coming. I picked up Metro 2033 and BF3 for less than $15 combined a week ago, and just grabed a few games from EA/Origins weekend promo blunder. I've got a couple games to hold me over for QUITE a long time now. And now i'll have the system that can decently handle them all. Plus I can now move my current hardware to the netflix PC for a nice bump there
I like the lower voltage on those. I'll keep them in mind.

-Luke

Recently coming from my Core 2 Quad, I really like the lower temperatures and better overall performance Sandy Bridge (and therefore Ivy Bridge) have to offer.

 

[lkailburn]

How about the z77 extreme3 vs extreme4. Looks like the extreme3 has fewer usb 3.0 and sata 6b(but still has both), maybe an older audio chipset but besides that they look very nearly identical. That's only $15 bucks cheaper though. termie did you already sell your old extreme4?

 

[Termie]

How about the z77 extreme3 vs extreme4. Looks like the extreme3 has fewer usb 3.0 and sata 6b(but still has both), maybe an older audio chipset but besides that they look very nearly identical. That's only $15 bucks cheaper though. termie did you already sell your old extreme4?

I would personally go with the Extreme4 for its upgraded capacitors and power phases, but I know others here would advise you get lower-priced AsRock models. Take a look at the entire Asrock z75/z77 ATX line between $85 and $135:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...157%2D293%2DTS

The biggest difference in my opinion is full-speed SLI/Crossfire support, which you only get on the Extreme models. If you have no intention of ever using that feature, then you can get additional ports with the Pro4 at a lower price than the Extreme3.

By the way, I actually exchanged my Extreme4 for my mATX Asus board, but when I still had it I followed this owners' thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2244331

You might find it interesting/informative.

 

[mfenn]

I would personally go with the Extreme4 for its upgraded capacitors and power phases, but I know others here would advise you get lower-priced AsRock models. Take a look at the entire Asrock z75/z77 ATX line between $85 and $135

I see I am making my presence felt. :awe:

Anyway, I think you should make a list of features that you can honestly see yourself using (i.e. not just, oh it would be neat to have X) and picking the least expensive motherboard that meets those criteria.

 

[Termie]

Got a good deal for you here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...l-Motherboards

AsRock z77 Extreme4 with free 2x4GB of ram.

 

[lkailburn]

mfenn- that's a good idea and to an extent i had started down that road. i think the extreme4 has a couple 'nice haves' but in the long run i think it's the perfect board.

holy moly termie how did you find that. I've been looking at newegg,tiger,mc, even here and overclock.net for a deal. That's exactly the kind of deal i was hoping for, something to nudge it a little. went ahead and ordered it! Thanks!!

 

[Termie]

mfenn- that's a good idea and to an extent i had started down that road. i think the extreme4 has a couple 'nice haves' but in the long run i think it's the perfect board.

holy moly termie how did you find that. I've been looking at newegg,tiger,mc, even here and overclock.net for a deal. That's exactly the kind of deal i was hoping for, something to nudge it a little. went ahead and ordered it! Thanks!!

Ha, ha, just working a little hot deals magic for ya...

Enjoy!

 

[lkailburn]

Magic man Termie! Thanks bud

This weekend's gonna be fun

 

[Remobz]

Magic man Termie! Thanks bud

This weekend's gonna be fun

You have some good people giving sound advice and help in this thread.

Part of the reason why I always come here for advice

 

[mfenn]

Got a good deal for you here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...l-Motherboards

AsRock z77 Extreme4 with free 2x4GB of ram.

Ah, that deal's back! :thumbsup:

 

[lkailburn]

Looks like the mobo won't be here til Monday so a little patience in store. The i5 came today and I'm really unhappy with tigerdirect. The i5 box was against the corner of the shipping box with packaging only on 2 sides. Of course the unprotected side was the cpubox with the chip itself. The top of the box. With only a single piece of clear plastic protecting the CPU. The shipping box was in perfect shape but man I'll be so peeved if its busted something.

-Luke

 

[lkailburn]

Setting up the new mobo tonight. This has a lot of nice features although something I was surprised about was there was no quick connect block for the front panel connector. No little plug in speaker, no screws or standoffs. I have extras of all these but not tons. Just surprised to not see them in the box.
With the 212+ you have to run low profile memory in slot A1. Thank goodness the free memory in the newegg deal was! Phew

 

[mfenn]

Packed in mobo speakers are a pretty much a thing of the past now unfortunately.

 

[lkailburn]

Yah I figured as much. I'll hold onto the ones I've got!

Man I need to stop looking at the hot deals and slick deals pages lol. SD has a newegg link to a sapphire 7950 3GB with the same 4 game pack bundle for $270!

 

[Termie]

Setting up the new mobo tonight. This has a lot of nice features although something I was surprised about was there was no quick connect block for the front panel connector. No little plug in speaker, no screws or standoffs. I have extras of all these but not tons. Just surprised to not see them in the box.
With the 212+ you have to run low profile memory in slot A1. Thank goodness the free memory in the newegg deal was! Phew

How's that build going? I think they stopped packing in speakers around the time of Nehalem. And standoffs come with cases, not motherboards, as far as I know. The quick-connect block is an Asus feature, although I could have sworn I saw that AsRock had copied it on the Extreme4. Either way, I actually don't use them, even on my Asus boards, to ensure the best connection.

And do you think I would have lead you astray with high-profile memory to go with that Hyper 212+? Of course not! But a word of warning - if you're using the first slot (A1?) with two sticks of memory, you might be in for some unpleasant surprises. You should start with the second and fourth RAM slots.

Yah I figured as much. I'll hold onto the ones I've got!

Man I need to stop looking at the hot deals and slick deals pages lol. SD has a newegg link to a sapphire 7950 3GB with the same 4 game pack bundle for $270!

Yeah, get out of that forum - you've already scored the best deals!

 

[Ketchup]

Yah I figured as much. I'll hold onto the ones I've got!

Man I need to stop looking at the hot deals and slick deals pages lol. SD has a newegg link to a sapphire 7950 3GB with the same 4 game pack bundle for $270!

You remind me of me. I had to stop looking at the Newegg offers email after I bought my system last month. Just block it from your mind.

 

[lkailburn]

How's that build going? I think they stopped packing in speakers around the time of Nehalem. And standoffs come with cases, not motherboards, as far as I know. The quick-connect block is an Asus feature, although I could have sworn I saw that AsRock had copied it on the Extreme4. Either way, I actually don't use them, even on my Asus boards, to ensure the best connection.

And do you think I would have lead you astray with high-profile memory to go with that Hyper 212+? Of course not! But a word of warning - if you're using the first slot (A1?) with two sticks of memory, you might be in for some unpleasant surprises. You should start with the second and fourth RAM slots.



Yeah, get out of that forum - you've already scored the best deals!

Yah you're right the standoffs do come with cases. It's been a while lol. Speaking of which, next time I replace something for this PC(hopefully not for a while) I'll be buying a nice case. Realizing how crappy not having quite enough room and not having cable management options is for this stuff

Build is coming along great. Had a few minutes before work so I'm installing mobo drivers as we speak. Hopefully will have it mostly done after work today or tomorrow. This is the first eufi mobo I've toyed with. Wow it's nice! Lol

What's up with memory in the first slot? I've got them loaded in 1 and 3 currently.

 

[Termie]

...

What's up with memory in the first slot? I've got them loaded in 1 and 3 currently.

That's generally not the recommended configuration for s1155. Check your AsRock user manual to confirm whether it applies for this board. I believe it does, from my memory of building up a system on it.

 

[lkailburn]

Thanks Termie. The book says either A1+B1, A2+B2 or all four for dual channel capability. Then at the bottom in a note it just says: "for optimal compatibility and stability while overclocking memory frequency it is recommended to install two memory modules in A2 and B2 slots. Doesn't say why though. Went ahead and moved them.
Realtemp is showing 23* 24* 34* 24* at idle. Core 3 has consistently been about 10* hotter. I'll give it a few days to see if it evens out after some heat cycles otherwise maybe i'll try and reapply the paste.

-Luke

EDIT: btw booting to windows takes literally HALF the time