Upgrade for i5-750 System

[ControlD]

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU: Intel i5-750 Stock


II. Current Graphics Card: Asus 5770


III. Display Resolution: 1680x1050


IV. Power Supply Unit Specification : Seasonic X650


V. Case Specifications: Antec P280 (full tower, air cooled)


Purchase Details:

I. Budget: Around $200 (a little around this number is OK), rebates are just fine


II. Any particular preferences: As quiet a cooler as possible. I would like to stick with ATI if possible but not necessary. I have no brand preference.


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI? No


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs? Radeon 7850


V. What are your needs for this GPU? Gaming at 1680x1050. Borderlands 2 is the current game that is making me want to upgrade.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase? No.


Additional Notes

Overall I have been quite pleased with my 5770 and it has played everything at acceptable frame rates until I started Borderlands 2. At 1680x1050 I regularly drop down into the low 30s which makes things a bit chunky at times. I realize my CPU isn't really state of the art these days so I was wondering if an upgrade to a better GPU even makes any sense at this point?

I usually end up replacing the stock cooler with something quiet, so any card that comes with a quiet non reference cooler already attached is a real bonus.

 

[Termie]

With your cpu at stock, the most gpu power I'd recommend is the 7870. The 7850 is a good choice and a nice upgrade from a 5770 (100% on average: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/538?vs=549). The truth is though that Borderlands is an nvidia game so it performs better generally on nvidia and also offers physx on nvidia. If I were you I'd consider some of the GTX660 cards now available for $220 on newegg. Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...Graphics-Cards

Here's how the performance looks at your resolution: http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page2.html. Notice that it's cpu-limited above a 660 on a 3960x test system. You actually might be bottlenecked well below that. If you could overclock it would help. Actually these results suggest that you'd be capped at roughly 53fps: http://www.techspot.com/review/577-borderlands-2-performance/page6.html

 

[Wall Street]

I think a GPU upgrade makes sense. I am using an i5-750 at stock and the move from a 5770 to a 570 was very noticeable. Even at 1080p, I am now able to use AA (either MSAA or FXAA) on most games while this just was not an option with the 5770. Many modern games are still going to be GPU bound with a i5-750 and a GTX 660 or HD 7870.

The choice between HD 7850 2 GB, HD 7870 and GTX 660 will likely depend on which game you play, how you value bundled games and how flexible you are about the $200 price range.

 

[lehtv]

OC the i5-750 and upgrade to 7870. If you don't have aftermarket cooling, buy a 212 Evo and a 7850 2GB or up your budget

 

[ControlD]

OC the i5-750 and upgrade to 7870. If you don't have aftermarket cooling, buy a 212 Evo and a 7850 2GB or up your budget

I currently have an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro on my CPU, although I have never attempted to OC the system to this point. I only replaced the stock cooling to cut down on noise, but I imagine I should be able to get a modest OC with this cooler as well.

 

[lehtv]

The freezer 7 pro is a pretty low end cooler but still better than stock... What are your temperatures now, and is the fan running at full speed or at a quiet BIOS profile? Check with HWmonitor.

I would limit OC'ing to stock Vcore with that cooler. Increase the clock speed in small steps and monitor temps closely if you do OC

 

[ControlD]

The freezer 7 pro is a pretty low end cooler but still better than stock... What are your temperatures now, and is the fan running at full speed or at a quiet BIOS profile? Check with HWmonitor.

I would limit OC'ing to stock Vcore with that cooler. Increase the clock speed in small steps and monitor temps closely if you do OC

My current core temps (no load except web browsing) are as follows:

C0: 33
C1: 29
C2: 33
C3: 28

My fan is running at 1600RPM and is running at BIOS default settings.

 

[biostud]

Overclock you, can hit 3.4-3.6 w/o problems and with good temperatures. My 750@3.8 hits ~78C @ max load and run ~42-44 under normal conditions.

 

[hokies83]

System Specifications:

I. Processor/CPU: Intel i5-750 Stock


II. Current Graphics Card: Asus 5770


III. Display Resolution: 1680x1050


IV. Power Supply Unit Specification : Seasonic X650


V. Case Specifications: Antec P280 (full tower, air cooled)


Purchase Details:

I. Budget: Around $200 (a little around this number is OK), rebates are just fine


II. Any particular preferences: As quiet a cooler as possible. I would like to stick with ATI if possible but not necessary. I have no brand preference.


III. Do you plan to have any Multi-GPU solutions such as Crossfire or SLI? No


IV. Have you previously looked at a product(s) which you feel would fit your needs? Radeon 7850


V. What are your needs for this GPU? Gaming at 1680x1050. Borderlands 2 is the current game that is making me want to upgrade.

VI. Do you plan on overclocking the card you intend to purchase? No.


Additional Notes

Overall I have been quite pleased with my 5770 and it has played everything at acceptable frame rates until I started Borderlands 2. At 1680x1050 I regularly drop down into the low 30s which makes things a bit chunky at times. I realize my CPU isn't really state of the art these days so I was wondering if an upgrade to a better GPU even makes any sense at this point?

I usually end up replacing the stock cooler with something quiet, so any card that comes with a quiet non reference cooler already attached is a real bonus.

I have an i5 750 in my HTPC they seem to get 3.8 - 4ghz pretty easy with just Avg air cooling OC that and find a Used Gtx 660ti for around 200$

 

[lehtv]

My current core temps (no load except web browsing) are as follows:

C0: 33
C1: 29
C2: 33
C3: 28

My fan is running at 1600RPM and is running at BIOS default settings.

I meant core temps at full CPU load (e.g. Prime95). Idle temps are rather meaningless because you want to make sure that the temperatures stay within safe limits in all circumstances

 

[ControlD]

I'll run some tests and see where my temps get to. I haven't overclocked a system since back in the Celeron 300 days so this is going to be interesting. I imagine things have changed a bit since then.