Upgrade Time

[Xarick]

Here is what I got:
Antec 300
Asus p5qse
Q9550 @3.4
6gig DDR2
ATI 5850
1 TB WD Black
Antec TruPower 750
Blu-Ray Player /DVD Burner (I can't remember who makes it)
SoundBlaster Extreme Gamer X-fi

I game

Budget is $700
I am thinking I need to do Mobo, Ram, Proc and video?
Dump the sound card and use onboard?

Looks like the 3570 is the current recommendation?
I would like at least 8gigs if not more ram.
Mobo I am not sure about.
Video card I am torn on.. having used a 5850 for the last 3 or so years I really don't want to deal with ATI's drivers anymore (I realize some have no issues and lately they have been good, but I have many games I have had to tweak or turn off things like shadows in order to get them to render correctly.. mostly older games). However, I am not discounting ATI cards if that really is the best value.

Help?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

CPU: 3570K 189$ In-store pick-up only.
Or
CPU: 3570K 229$ New Egg online.

Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme4 124$ Limited Replacement Return Only Policy, but is has an 8 + 4 Power Phase Design
Or
Motherboard: Asrock Z77 Extreme3 114$ AR, Standard Return Policy, but has an 8 + 3 Power Phase Design

RAM: RipJaws 55$ CL8.8.8.24 1.5v DDR3 1600

GPU: GTX 670 309$ After 20$ Rebate

 

[Xarick]

I don't know much about the phase stuff. Can you explain?
Also what about a CPU cooler? Stock okay?

 

[Sleepingforest]

You don't really need to worry abouy power phases because they don't matter much for low overclocks (it's a measure of the quality of the power delivery system). As for an aftermarket cooler, it is certainly helpful to have a cheap one like the Katana 4, but nothing super expensive is needed.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I don't know much about the phase stuff. Can you explain?
Also what about a CPU cooler? Stock okay?

The basic jist is voltage stability to the CPU, RAM, and HT which in turn helps overclocking. If you plan on overclocking I'd go with an after-market cooler. If so, please answer how high you intend to over-clock your machine. Also, you might run into clearance problems with the RAM & CPU heat-sink. You might also want to think about a RAM kit that doesn't have those hideous cooling fins which, IMO, are pointless - no pun intended.

EDIT: If you are still open to AMD,
GPU: 7950 279$ AR

Click and figure out which GPU is best for you.

 

[Xarick]

Well. I pushed my q9550 to 3.4 and that was about as high as I wanted to go. Ideally I would like to OC without upping voltage much if any.

 

[Steltek]

Another option is to go ahead and begin with a good video card upgrade now (as you have a decently fast processor) and hold off on upgrading the rest of your hardware until the Haswell/Socket 1150 boards start hitting the market later this year. The i5-3570k is a great processor, but Socket 1155 is officially dead at this point and won't be seeing any future upgrades.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Another option is to go ahead and begin with a good video card upgrade now (as you have a decently fast processor) and hold off on upgrading the rest of your hardware until the Haswell/Socket 1150 boards start hitting the market later this year.

:thumbsup:

This is a great idea if you can hold off seeing you will only be doing mild overclocking. The increase in IPC with Haswell with a mild overclock will put you around a high Ivy-Bridge over-clock.

 

[Xarick]

That is a decent idea. How much speed gaming do I lose by not doing the proc now?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That is a decent idea. How much speed gaming do I lose by not doing the proc now?

What do you mean?

 

[Sleepingforest]

You will actually hardly notice the difference--at most your framerate minimum will be 5-10 lower than if you had upgraded the CPU. Upgrading the GPU makes a much bigger difference.

 

[Xarick]

Okay.. what about prices. Since my budget is unlikely to be any different in 6 months will I be able to get a similar ranger or is it going to come out at a much higher premium?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Then you'd get the Haswell i5-4670K which will release during the summer for a similar price (Intel doesn't drop prices much between generations).

 

[Xarick]

K.. so then I guess it would be between the 7950 and a 670?
Are both of those about to gen shift?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Hmm... Price-wise, the 670 actually sits between the 7950 and the 7970 (think $280 vs $350 vs $380 , without rebates), which roughly reflects their performance. However, the 7950 overclocks better than the 670 would.

On the other hand, Newegg was just selling a 670 for $310--that's a really good purchase, in terms of price/performance.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

K.. so then I guess it would be between the 7950 and a 670?
Are both of those about to gen shift?

If it was the very beginning of the gen shift, the price on the 670 would be around 400 + So you are likely to see higher prices for the new cards at the change.

Micro Center ALWAYS has cheap prices on the most popular CPUs e.g. i7 920, 2500K, 2600K, 3570K, 3770K. So if you have one nearby, take advantage of it.

EDIT: On the other hand if you do upgrade your platform to an Ivy-Bridge, you are likely to see the kind of speeds on stock volts as Sleepingforest has on his 3570K in his sig.

 

[Xarick]

Another question. My current board has a pcie2.0 interface, but it looks like the new cards are pci3.
Does that mean my board cannot accept them?

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Another question. My current board has a pcie2.0 interface, but it looks like the new cards are pci3.
Does that mean my board cannot accept them?

It's compatible

 

[Sleepingforest]

It's compatible

But you'll suffer a small performance penalty (5% ish).

 

[mfenn]

But you'll suffer a small performance penalty (5% ish).

Not even that. A single GPU is going to be a couple percent at most.

 

[mfenn]

K.. so then I guess it would be between the 7950 and a 670?
Are both of those about to gen shift?

AMD is going to be stable throughout this year. Rumors are all over the place on the next Nvidia series, but probably 3-4 months at the earliest.

 

[Xarick]

Okay. I bit on the gtx670 OCed edition (1006mhz). I am aware that ATI is a better value especially with packed in games, but I told myself after having a 5850 I would go Nvidia this time so I am doing just that.
So.. will this hold me for a while ?
That means I now have a badass card with a q9550 at 3.4 and 6gigs ddr2.

 

[Sleepingforest]

That, depending on what you'll be playing your games at (what resolution, what level of AA, what detail level, what framerate you want), could suffice anywhere from 1-5 years (possible CPU bottleneck in one year for really well threaded games, not for 5 years if development and hardware is slow moving and you don't mind lower details). It also depends on what console devs do to take advantage of the new PS4 and MicrosoftBoxWhatever can do.

 

[Xarick]

Well in the summer I will drop in a new proc, ram and mobo. I think
I have to be honest.. I am nervous about going Nvidia. I haven't had any issues lately with my 5850 and all my issues were always with older games.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I hope you checked that link I posted that compares GPU Benchmarks. It shows you which card gets higher FPS, with most game engines out there. This would of been wise to look at first.