• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Potential upgrade from Q9550/GTX280 to...

L

LgFriess

Member
I'm trying to hold out for IB or even Haswell and letting the GPU wars sort themselves out this round.

Running a stock Q9550 and a GTX280 at 1920x1200. Gaming mostly with SWTOR, Skyrim, and waiting for D3, GW2 and whatever else looks good. 4gb ram btw.

This combo has been doing really pretty well for me. Skyrim at high settings but some stutter when the action gets heavy. SWTOR is fine unless heavy PVP. Not sure how it'll handle the newer games.

When I build a new system, I tend to try to make it last 3-5 years with an occasional GPU upgrade. I know my system is getting to that point but I'm wondering since I'm playing everything I want now pretty well, would a newer GPU be good enough to get me through until Haswell... or really the new consoles hit and games are made for that generation.

Is the Q9550 going to be the major bottleneck? Is there going to be much difference from the gtx280 with something like a 560ti or 6870?
 
Dude, get a good motherboard (if you don't have one already), and learn to overclock! Those Q9550 chips are OCing monsters. I've seen 3.8-4.1 even, although I built a gaming PC for my BIL, and only overclocked it to 3.5, which was easy-peasy. I used a Gigabyte X48-DS5 board.

If you can get an EP45-UD3P/R, those are known to be among the best overclocking S775 boards ever made.

Disclaimer: I have a DFI X48 board in my FS thread too.
 
No point buying a motherboard now just to OC a Q9550. Better to save that cash for a real upgrade, it'll benefit him more that way. Overclocking isn't going to make a big enough difference to postpone the eventual upgrade (be it the graphics card or the whole system) by any significant amount.
 
That CPU is still going to be fine for gaming, grab up a ~$200 GPU and you should be good to go for a while longer. Unless you play a bunch of games that have heavy AI to process the CPU is just there to keep things going.

Bute yeah like others have mentioned, that chip should be good 3.5-4Ghz on stock volts. Just up your FSB to ~240Mhz and make sure your ram stays within spec (ie 1066 or 800 mhz) by using the correct ratio.
 
Even a first gen core i3 will do better in modern games. Get a i5 3570k and 7870 and overclock both by 20%+. Will be a few times your current performance
 
superccs said:
That CPU is still going to be fine for gaming, grab up a ~$200 GPU and you should be good to go for a while longer. Unless you play a bunch of games that have heavy AI to process the CPU is just there to keep things going.

Bute yeah like others have mentioned, that chip should be good 3.5-4Ghz on stock volts. Just up your FSB to ~240Mhz and make sure your ram stays within spec (ie 1066 or 800 mhz) by using the correct ratio.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. The Q9550 OCed as much as you can with your current mobo and a GTX 560 Ti would do wonders for your gaming performance.
 
mfenn said:
I agree with this. The Q9550 OCed as much as you can with your current mobo and a GTX 560 Ti would do wonders for your gaming performance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies. I think this is exactly what I'll do. 560ti or one of the new 7850's and see if I can make it until the new console generation.
 
I wouldn't buy anything major. Just overclock the CPU and maybe the GPU.

The GTX 280 is around a GTX 550 ti in performance which is still pretty good. I see no reason why you couldn't wait until 2013 with those parts.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top