Switching to i7 920 from E8400. E8400 bottlenecks the 5970/BFBC2, benchmarking...

[Apocalypse23]

Well, generally speaking I'm tired of the E8400's performance, sick of some general slow loading times in today's games and applications, and sick of seeing the low CPU score in 3d Vantage. I know that the i7 will boost my overall fps by about 20, I've seen the performance comparison in some reviews for some games....Overall the system will be faster and stronger, and I will be able to squeeze more out of my GPU as well...

This is a fresh install of Win 7 btw, I doubt the issue was driver related, whatever it was, it was sorted after a reboot...

Talking about top dollar, I don't know, but a core i7 930 setup is a pretty gaping step for me, I've never felt a quad core, and this is my chance...

I might wait for Thuban to pop up..

If anyone could recommend a mobo from my options listed in the OP it would be greatly appreciated....give me some suggestions before I buy the setup, I will be buying it in a month or two...

 

[aigomorla]

How much is your core budget?

I Figure your gonna require motherboard cpu and ram.

Personally im a fan of premium tier'd boards.
But my recommendations are these:

1. eVGA E762 Classified. (don't get the E760, i hear its plagued with issues.)
2. Asus P6T7
3. Asus R2E <after this i would avoid Asus>
4. Giggy X58A-UD7
5. eVGA X58 SLI LE E757 <--- i heard its a very excellent board.

Ram:
Slowest id look at is 1600mhz, you wont really need the 1800+mhz stuff, however it would be nice if you intend on pushing your cpu higher then 4ghz.

And your i7 @ 4ghz on 4 cores 8 threads, will be a lot of new doors opening up to you.
Also the X58 platform has better multi gpu scaling then all the other platforms.

You will need a large class sink to keep your cpu temps in check also.
A great power supply is also recomended.

 

[TridenT]

Well, generally speaking I'm tired of the E8400's performance, sick of some general slow loading times in today's games and applications, and sick of seeing the low CPU score in 3d Vantage. I know that the i7 will boost my overall fps by about 20, I've seen the performance comparison in some reviews for some games....Overall the system will be faster and stronger, and I will be able to squeeze more out of my GPU as well...

This is a fresh install of Win 7 btw, I doubt the issue was driver related, whatever it was, it was sorted after a reboot...

Talking about top dollar, I don't know, but a core i7 930 setup is a pretty gaping step for me, I've never felt a quad core, and this is my chance...

I might wait for Thuban to pop up..

If anyone could recommend a mobo from my options listed in the OP it would be greatly appreciated....give me some suggestions before I buy the setup, I will be buying it in a month or two...

Wasting money. E8400 to Core i7 in MOST GAMES WILL NOT MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE! Guess what though? The reason you have slow loading times and shit in games and applications is because you have a SLOW HARD DRIVE. A SOLID STATE DRIVE WOULD DECREASE LOADING TIMES BY EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNTS. You will NOT "squeeze more" out of your GPU by upgrading your CPU. It does not work that way. You're expecting 20FPS increase but the fact of the matter is you will get ZERO FPS increase.

But waste $700 on shit that's going to be outdated in a few months anyway... Not my money.

 

[Apocalypse23]

How much is your core budget?

I Figure your gonna require motherboard cpu and ram.

Personally im a fan of premium tier'd boards.
But my recommendations are these:

1. eVGA E762 Classified. (don't get the E760, i hear its plagued with issues.)
2. Asus P6T7
3. Asus R2E <after this i would avoid Asus>
4. Giggy X58A-UD7
5. eVGA X58 SLI LE E757 <--- i heard its a very excellent board.

Ram:
Slowest id look at is 1600mhz, you wont really need the 1800+mhz stuff, however it would be nice if you intend on pushing your cpu higher then 4ghz.

And your i7 @ 4ghz on 4 cores 8 threads, will be a lot of new doors opening up to you.
Also the X58 platform has better multi gpu scaling then all the other platforms.

You will need a large class sink to keep your cpu temps in check also.
A great power supply is also recomended.

Hmmm, I would love to get those boards, but they are frankly too expensive for me. My budget for just CPU/ram/mobo/heatsink is $700 CAD...Hence I had to pick the most appealing deals I could find out there..I noticed how some boards come with 7 PCI-E slots ...

These are the items I already own and plan to use with my new components:

Corsair TX750W 750W ATX 12V 60A 24PIN ATX Power Supply Active PFC 140MM Fan
Coolermaster Elite RC-330 --crappy case I know

Items I want to buy for sure:
Proc: Core i7 930 $299.79
Ram: Patriot Viper Series Tri-Channel DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz 6GB (3x2GB) CL 8-8-8-24 Low Latency DIMM Triple Channel Kit (PVT36G1600LLK) $159.99 after $20 MIR
Heatsink: Scythe Mugen 2 REV.B. HeatPipes CPU Heatsink LGA1366 1156 775 AM3 AM2+ AM2 754 939 940 120MM Fan $36.97
Total: $496.75

Items I'm picky about:
Mobo: (best option/futureproofing)--Gigabyte X58A-UD3R ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 Sound GLAN CrossFireX SLI Motherboard $214.16 Link --this comes with USB 3.0/Sata 3.0/4 PCIE slots(3 year warranty, this board is pretty new)

second option:
ASUS Rampage II Gene mATX LGA1366 DDR3 X58 2PCI-E16 PCI-E4 PCI GBLAN CrossFire SLI Motherboard -- $217.21 on sale Link --3 year warranty

third option:
MSI X58 PRO-E LGA1366 Intel X58 ATX Motherboard $187.77 Link --(3 year warranty)

I think I will pass on Asrock....

I forgot to mention that I plan to sell my 8gb Dddr2/Asus p5ke/wifi ap board/ocv vendetta 2/e8400 cpu for $500 all together...so I end up paying around $300 more after taxes and differences...

My budget is $700 +/- $50 + taxes

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

If the game will run on XP Pro, give it a try. UT3 runs alot better on it. Even with an i7 920

Don't be talkin about my board like that Aigo j/k

 

[vj8usa]

sick of some general slow loading times in today's games and applications

A new CPU won't do a damn thing to help your loading times. If you want to see any real difference in load speed, get a good SSD or two. That being said, you seem to have plenty of money to spare, so I'd advise you to get a pair of good SSDs as well as an i7.

 

[aigomorla]

what about the eVGA X58 SLI LE?

it should be priced near the boards u listed.

 

[n7]

Honestly you don't need to spend all that $$$ on X58.

You could get a nice cheap P55 mobo + i5 750 @ ~ 4 GHz, & you'll be getting exactly the same performance in games as an i7 9xx @ 4 GHz for a hell of a lot less.

I went from an i5 750 @ 4.15 GHz to this i7 860 @ 3.9 GHz, & there is absolutely zero benefit for me in games.
It's actually a bit slower due to the lower OC.

While i do prefer quads over duals for sure, 8 threads vs. 4 really does not help with current games one bit, but it sure will hurt your wallet more.

/this coming from someone who just ordered an X58 + i7 930 btw...not because i'm going to get any gain from it, but because i want something new to play with.

In your case if you're looking at gaming w/ a reasonable budget, there's no possible way i can recommend X58 (especially for us Canadians); it's not remotely worth it over the much cheaper P55 unless you want CF/SLi.

 

[n7]

Alright, here ya go:
And no Americans, we don't have Microcenters or your cheaper pricing here, thanx for not telling me this is overpriced because you didn't realize this is CND$. :awe:

i5 750 ~ $200
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/220425/Intel/BX80605I5750/

P55-UD3 ~ $140
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/223057/Gigabyte/GA_P55A_UD3/

If you really think you need 8 threads (you'll lose a bit of OC & gaming won't improve)
X3440 ~ $240
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/221010/Intel/BX80605X3440/


That's $340 vs. $500!
Use the $160 for 8 GB RAM, & you'll have gotten CPU + mobo + more RAM for the price of just an X58 mobo + CPU.
Or perhaps stick w/ 4 GB & put the rest toward an SSD.

In the US w/ Microcenters & $200 i7 920s, i'd certainly say X58 makes a lot more sense.
Not the case in Canada though.

 

[BD231]

Phenom II X4 955- $160
MSI 790GX G45 (dual pci-e)- $99
2x 2gb OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB 1600 - $100

360 bucks + whatever you spend on cooling ($40 is enough). i7 performance in games (integrated memory controller on the phenom II owns) and cross fire. Can't beat that right now, but I've no clue what cad pricing is like on these parts.

As long as you're ok with overclocking this is your best bet, save your money and get another 5850 or 5870 if you want those FPS.

 

[batuchka]

Wasting money. E8400 to Core i7 in MOST GAMES WILL NOT MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE!

Trident is spot on and nevermind a full blown wolfdale - a lightly OCed E6600 would do the trick zzz

 

[cbn]

I've been going on an insanity PC spending free since February. I bought a 5870 for rig 2 in my sig. Then I bought a 4350 for Rig1, then realized I needed to game on it, so I bought a 5850 for Rig1. My Acer x193w 19" was boring me and now I went ahead and bought a BenQ BenQ E2420HD 24".....

I bought two copies of BC2, one for my brother....too add to the amount of cash I spent..

Anyways, the performance of BC2 in my rig1 was somewhat acceptable at 1440x900, I could play with max settings and 2xAA,8xAF and still get about 45 fps on average in BC2...until I switched to the 1920x1080 resolution and now I get a low of 25 fps at times...This games hammers my CPU so much that my fps drops to 10-12 for a fraction of a second rarely in BC2....I can feel that this game is not for dual cores.....The horrible performance has forced me to play at LOW settings and I still get a low of 40fps at times....

So I am deciding to upgrade...Rig 2 fares a bit better and it has faster memory, 5870 ocd, and a newer e8400 stepping....I've done some research and since I live in Canada, I can't get any Fry's or Microcenter pricing... shopbot.ca is my only source of pricing...I've decided to sell my rig1's 8gb ddr2 RAM, asus p5ke/wifi ap mobo/E8400 chip and the OCZ Vendetta 2 heatsink all together and upgrade to a Core i7 930 setup. My concern is if I should wait for Thuban (AMD's 6 core) to show up as it is around the corner, or bite the bullet soon and upgrade to the core i7 930...I need some recommendation on 6GB ram that can help me smoothly overclock the proc to 4.3ghz on air. I've selected the following, but want to add that I need something for budget, so cost is critical, please feel free to advise:

Prices are Canadian:
Proc: Core i7 930 $299.79 Link

RAM: OCZ XTC Platinum OCZ3P1333LV6GK DDR3-1333 6GB 3X2GB CL7-7-7-20 Triple Channel Memory Kit $153.60 after $20 MIR Link
or
Patriot Viper Series Tri-Channel DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz 6GB (3x2GB) CL 8-8-8-24 Low Latency DIMM Triple Channel Kit (PVT36G1600LLK) $159.99 after $20 MIR Link

Mobo:
ASRock X58 Extreme ATX Intel Motherboard $169.99 Link --this board had mixed reviews at newegg, about DOAs...(only 1 year warranty)
or
Gigabyte X58A-UD3R ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 Sound GLAN CrossFireX SLI Motherboard $214.16 Link --this comes with USB 3.0/Sata 3.0/4 PCIE slots(3 year warranty, this board is pretty new)
or
MSI X58 PRO-E LGA1366 Intel X58 ATX Motherboard $187.77 Link --(3 year warranty)
or
ASUS Rampage II Gene mATX LGA1366 DDR3 X58 2PCI-E16 PCI-E4 PCI GBLAN CrossFire SLI Motherboard -- $217.21 on sale Link --3 year warranty


Heatsink: Scythe Mugen 2 REV.B. HeatPipes CPU Heatsink LGA1366 1156 775 AM3 AM2+ AM2 754 939 940 120MM Fan $36.97Link

If I select the more bang for buck option, then I am looking at a total of $666.74, that includes the Asrock board, i7930, Patriot ram and the scythe heatsink....Suggestions welcome, price and performance is critical as I am looking for bang for the buck. I won't be buying a i7 860 nor a i5 750 as the i7 930 seems to be the best bang for buck here. Also, the i7 920 costs exactly the same as the i7 930 here in CAN.

**EDIT**- Alright, well I restarted my computer and the fps is better now, 60-90, with a low of 40 fps, the CPU usage is 99% while gaming for both cores however. It turned out that i had my pc running for the whole day yesterday, also had it on sleep, and then continued gaming....right now i can hear my 5850 fan spinning like crazy while gaming, so that's a positive.


I still feel the need to upgrade, so any suggestions about the items I listed would be welcomed.

http://www.techspot.com/article/255-battlefield-bad-company2-performance/page7.html

According to this you shouldn't need a quad core. (Read the bottom of the page)

 

[Apocalypse23]

Alright, here ya go:
And no Americans, we don't have Microcenters or your cheaper pricing here, thanx for not telling me this is overpriced because you didn't realize this is CND$. :awe:

i5 750 ~ $200
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/220425/Intel/BX80605I5750/

P55-UD3 ~ $140
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/223057/Gigabyte/GA_P55A_UD3/

If you really think you need 8 threads (you'll lose a bit of OC & gaming won't improve)
X3440 ~ $240
http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/221010/Intel/BX80605X3440/


That's $340 vs. $500!
Use the $160 for 8 GB RAM, & you'll have gotten CPU + mobo + more RAM for the price of just an X58 mobo + CPU.
Or perhaps stick w/ 4 GB & put the rest toward an SSD.

In the US w/ Microcenters & $200 i7 920s, i'd certainly say X58 makes a lot more sense.
Not the case in Canada though.

Roger that, thanks for the advice, I'll see what to do next.

 

[Apocalypse23]

http://www.techspot.com/article/255-battlefield-bad-company2-performance/page7.html

According to this you shouldn't need a quad core. (Read the bottom of the page)

I've read that article...

Here's an update on me trying to CrossfireX my 5870 with the 5850 in Rig1...THe results were pretty unpleasing, I was getting nice frames in BC2, but then I was getting this insane choppy gameplay, while the fps "looked" in the 40s or 50s..everything felt slow for some reason...I minimized to the taskbar to see what was going on:

The game handles Quads better, and when it comes to Multi-Gpu performance, you can rest assured that the E8400 is incompetent, sluggish and frankly horrible at it...I felt the same with my 9800Gx2....just bad sloppy performance...And today's test proved it to me.

I don't know if I will upgrade to a i5 setup or a i7 setup...my eyes are on the i7..I'll decided sooner or later at month end...

PS: I also conducted my very own CrossfireX test tonight with the 5850+5870. Here are my 3dmark scores with the 5850+5870 in CrossfireX: As you can see, the cpu is really laggin here...the whole 3dmark was sloppy I must say, part of this reason could be my older motherboard..

CrossfireX score 5850+5870

5850 @925/1175 score

As you can compare the crossfire score with the standalone score, there is little difference...The choppiness is what is bothering me the most while dual Gpuing.

Note: Feature test 4 and test 5 were slower in crossfire...no idea why...

 

[Apocalypse23]

what about the eVGA X58 SLI LE?

it should be priced near the boards u listed.

That board looks nice but I've read some mixed reviews about it being defective, and having other RMA issues at various cust websites...I don't know if it will do Crossfire as well as it says SLI..Another note is that it is still at $229 CAD, I personally prefer buying Asus,Giga or Msi for mobos...

I inspected my Cooler master case and realized how tiny it is...I am looking at the Asus mAtx Rampage II as it is simply small enough for my case..it has good reviews as well..have you heard much about it? It's on for about $217 in CAD...usually priced over $300 here...Will a mAtx board easily fit in any standard ATX case?

I realize that you are into premium boards so recommending something you don't approve of is understandable, I appreciate your input regardless. My main concern is to overclock the i7 930 easily to 4.3ghz on air stably, and to do this will a Asus Rampage II matx, Evga X58 SLI LE , or any X58 standard board suffice?

 

[suntox]

Can anyone back this claim up? I'm looking for a set of 6GB RAM that will work with the ASrock mobo, or even the Asus or Gigabyte board that I have posted on top...The lower timings would help won't you think?

Also, about my motherboards, anyone have suggestions about Asrock performance and quality, the Gigabyte board, and also the Asus board I mentioned? Which would you choose?

here is the link. i would like to know how far can i go with 1600er without any risk. and what about the CL? if its only 1600er i assume a 9-9-9 is not sufficient?

 

[n7]

That board looks nice but I've read some mixed reviews about it being defective, and having other RMA issues at various cust websites...I don't know if it will do Crossfire as well as it says SLI..Another note is that it is still at $229 CAD, I personally prefer buying Asus,Giga or Msi for mobos...

I inspected my Cooler master case and realized how tiny it is...I am looking at the Asus mAtx Rampage II as it is simply small enough for my case..it has good reviews as well..have you heard much about it? It's on for about $217 in CAD...usually priced over $300 here...Will a mAtx board easily fit in any standard ATX case?

I realize that you are into premium boards so recommending something you don't approve of is understandable, I appreciate your input regardless. My main concern is to overclock the i7 930 easily to 4.3ghz on air stably, and to do this will a Asus Rampage II matx, Evga X58 SLI LE , or any X58 standard board suffice?

I'd mention that firstly you might want to be more reasonable in your OC expectations.
While 4+ GHz should be doable w/ a good cooler, to be expecting 4.3 GHz on air is nowhere close to guaranteed.

And as for the mobo, the Rampage 2 looks fine.
Pretty much any decent X58 can do 200 BCLK, & you've got a default 21x multi w/ 22x available via Turbo, giving you 4.2 or 4.4 GHz @ 200 BCLK, nevermind higher BCLKs.

It's unlikely mobo would be holding you back unless you run into some weird problems or don't get voltages/setting for it working right.

 

[aigomorla]

his vantage is kinda weak for 2 high end xfire cards.

im on quadfire on 2 hd4870x2's and if ur telling me thats 5870 + 5850 and he's only scoring 21k on gpu
im wondering what went wrong with his test.

EDIT: OH i think i figured it out. He needs a full blown quadcore....
those test seem to be on dual core, and he's being limited by his platform.

That board looks nice but I've read some mixed reviews about it being defective, and having other RMA issues at various cust websites...I don't know if it will do Crossfire as well as it says SLI..Another note is that it is still at $229 CAD, I personally prefer buying Asus,Giga or Msi for mobos...

X58 by nature can support BOTH SLI and XFIRE.
The only board that i havent seen it say offically is the lower end foxcon boards. However those still support SLI unoffically.

U dont need to worry when getting an X58. It will handle SLI + Xfire out of the box.

I personally dont like Crapsus.. ive bought enough of them with very dismal results.
Giggy i love, however not the U3dP. AT least a UD5 or a UD7.

I love eVGA, however they do have faults, but so far they showed me the most luck.

 

[Apocalypse23]

Aigomorla and n7: thanks a ton for your solid opinions, I've got a really better perspective on the x58 boards now.

My decision has narrowed down to the following:

Gigabyte X58A-UD3R ATX LGA1366 X58 DDR3 4PCI-E SATA3 USB3.0 Sound GLAN CrossFireX SLI Motherboard

Reasons: Offers 4 PCI-E 16x slots, Supports 3way SLi/3way CrossfireX, USB 3.0 and SATA3 support/6 SATA2 ports and 4 SATA 3 ports/Fair price for a fancy package/Latest revision from past editions

Cons: Compatibility concerns with Patriot memory: Some users have stated that they can't post while running Patriot ddr3 1600 memory at desired speeds, some have stated this can be countered by using the "right" settings...I'll have to try it if I go forward with this setup..

If this board doesn't work with the Patriot memory, I'll have to go with the MSI X58 PRO-E

Reasons: Cheaper price/Many similar overclocking features/3 year warranty/newer revision and 3way Crossfire/SLi support( not sure about 3 way SLI)
Cons:Max memory is rated at 1600/No fourth PCIE 16x slot/No USB3/sata3 support

I just found a review of the Giga UD3R conducted on March 18th 2010:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/gigabyte_ga_x58a_ud3r/

"Conclusion:

The Gigabyte X58A-UD3R was a beautiful motherboard that gave me no trouble at all. For the price it is being pushed at this is a great deal - especially with the USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 support. SATA 3.0 should come in handy real soon with the advances that SSD drives are making, and the RAID-0 capabilities of this board in SATA 3.0 should mate well together. The ten SATA ports total should satisfy most users, but IDE and FDD both make a comeback to support the older technologies. Four full-length PCI Express slots allow users to install up to three video cards for Tri-SLI or CrossFireX so gamers and benchmarking/overclocking enthusiasts alike should enjoy this board! The double-sized copper PCB, Japanese capacitors/Ferrite core chokes, and decent cooling make this board very stable. When combined with the good looking color scheme of blue and white, the whole package is a winner!

The only con I could find was that the driver disk was hard to use due to glitches on the autorun executable and so I opted to download drivers from Gigabyte's website instead. Otherwise, everything worked like a charm, overclocking was smooth and easy, but had the ability to go in-depth for fine tuning and high overclocks. This is a great board and a bargain at the price they are offering it for online at the time of writing.

Pros:

* Gulftown Ready
* Tri-SLI and CrossFireX capable
* USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0Gb/s Onboard
* Easy Overclocking/Tuning
* Competitive Pricing
* High Quality Construction

Cons:

* Buggy Driver Disk"


I think the Giga takes it for me...

 

[Apocalypse23]

As a last resort I did some more research on deciding to go for a $100-$130 cheaper solution if I went for a i7 860, and I came to one conclusion...impossible. Anand himself states in his i7 860 review:

"Final Words

Perhaps this is a bit anticlimactic, but the Core i7 860 performs exactly where you'd expect it to. It's faster than a Core i5 750, faster than a Core i7 920 and slower than a Core i7 870. As I noted in The Lynnfield Follow Up, overclocking is much easier on Bloomfield (LGA-1366) thanks to the absence of an on-die PCIe controller. It's not impossible on Lynnfield, it's just effortless on Bloomfield.

My recommendations from the initial Lynnfield review still stand, you'll want to opt for Bloomfield processor if you care about:

1) High-end multi-GPU performance (or other uses of high bandwidth PCIe)
2) Stock Voltage Overclocking
3) Future support for 6-core Gulftown CPUs"

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3641&p=9

So as it seems, for clear future-proofing, the i7930 setup is a wise choice for a PC enthusiast, whether he is on budget or not, the difference in upgrading to a decent LGA 1336 setup vs a LGA 1156 setup is roughly $200 to me, and I'm willing to spend that extra $200 given the facts, research and future proofing I see in the LGA 1336 platform.

 

[Apocalypse23]

Wasting money. E8400 to Core i7 in MOST GAMES WILL NOT MAKE A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE! Guess what though? The reason you have slow loading times and shit in games and applications is because you have a SLOW HARD DRIVE. A SOLID STATE DRIVE WOULD DECREASE LOADING TIMES BY EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNTS. You will NOT "squeeze more" out of your GPU by upgrading your CPU. It does not work that way. You're expecting 20FPS increase but the fact of the matter is you will get ZERO FPS increase.

But waste $700 on shit that's going to be outdated in a few months anyway... Not my money.

I don't think the i7 930 will be outdated in a few months, more like 12 months....That chip at a potential 4.2/4.3ghz still rocks the boat of every other proc out there, let alone perhaps the Intel Core i7-980X...Switching to the LGA1366 platform still is sound as the fps will increase from a e8400 marginally by 10 at least...

 

[Apocalypse23]

Phenom II X4 955- $160
MSI 790GX G45 (dual pci-e)- $99
2x 2gb OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB 1600 - $100

360 bucks + whatever you spend on cooling ($40 is enough). i7 performance in games (integrated memory controller on the phenom II owns) and cross fire. Can't beat that right now, but I've no clue what cad pricing is like on these parts.

As long as you're ok with overclocking this is your best bet, save your money and get another 5850 or 5870 if you want those FPS.

Phenom II X4 955 - $167.72 CAD
MSI 790GX G45 - $96.77 CAD
2x 2gb OCZ AMD Black Edition 4GB 1600 - $128.99 CAD

Total:393.48 + 40 heatsink = 433.48...not bad however, this will merely be an upgrade I think as, I could probably just buy a $265 CAD Q9550 and install that in my current system for some quad core performance.....The Q9550 won't go past 3.4ghz easily which I fear and thus I might as well go for a platform upgrade.

 

[BD231]

The i7 dose have the IPC advantage I won't deny that; but that advantage just fails to show up gaming. Do you do anything else CPU intensive?

Be sure to make an overclock thread when you get your new parts

 

[Apocalypse23]

**UPDATE**

I decided to scrap the i7 upgrade plans for the time being, I stumbled upon a $697CAD with shipping and taxes deal on a Diamond 5970 and just ordered it!! I will be selling my Asus 5870, and selling my E8400, and buying a Q9550 and OC it to 3.6ghz hopefully.

I hope my p5ke wifi board's pci e 1.0 lane doesn't bottleneck the 5970...

Will keep you guys updated...I figured it makes sense to do it this way for now...

**UPDATE .2**

I'll go the used i7 920 route and ram route and buy a new x58 board (giga ud3r)...this will save me some dough, will let you know how this goes

 

[Makaveli]

http://www.legionhardware.com/articles_pages/battlefield_bad_company_2_tuning_guide,1.html