Estimated performance jump build

[L8trdude]

I'm considering a new gaming rig build...listing my current system and potential new gaming rig build below. I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions. It's been about 6 yrs since I built my current system. My budget is $1,400 max by the way.

Current system:
Mainboard: Intel D975XBX2
Chipset: Intel 975X Express (Glenwood)
CPU: E6600 2.4Ghz
GPU: Radeon HD 4850
Memory: 3.2G of 800Mhz
OS: Windows XP Professional

New system build I'm considering
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3
Chipset: Intel Z68 Express
CPU: i5-2500K (4x 3.30GHz/6MB L3 Cache)
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6950
Memory: 8 GB [2 GB X4] DDR3-1600
OS: Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)

I use my pc for primarily gaming, surfing the web, and work related financial applications in that order. Most work and surfing I do on my laptop anyway.

I wondering how the the Z68 chipset compares with the x58 performance wise. Intel shows the Z68 as their top mainstream chipsets, however their x38, x48, & x58 as performance chipsets.

Any thoughts? What gaming performance I can expect from old build vs new build above and secondly, difference in performance between the new build with the z68 chipset vs going with an intel x58 chipset?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

X58 is the top of the line LGA 1366 chipset. The LGA 1366 CPUs are still considered by Intel to be their performance processors while Z68, the top of the line LGA 1155, is considered by Intel to be their mainstream socket. However, in terms of real world performance, the 2500K trounces the LGA 1366 Core i7 920 CPU, largely because the 920 is last gen tech and the 2500K is current gen.

I can't think of a single reason to buy into a new LGA 1366 platform right now.

Oh, and gaming performance between your old and a new 2500K system is going to be

 

[Blain]

estimated performance jump build

23.75% - 26.19%

 

[Anubis]

this should give you an idea

CPU
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/60?vs=288

GPU
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/304?vs=293

 

[Davidh373]

CPU is going to give you...

23.75% - 26.19%

to be exact

GPU is going to give you over 100%

 

[Zap]

I use my pc for primarily gaming, surfing the web, and work related financial applications in that order. Most work and surfing I do on my laptop anyway.

I wondering how the the Z68 chipset compares with the x58 performance wise. Intel shows the Z68 as their top mainstream chipsets, however their x38, x48, & x58 as performance chipsets.

You'll get a HUGE increase in gaming performance. The rest of the stuff will probably feel exactly the same. :\

Yes, X58 is their performance chipset, however understand that it was "performance" about 2½ years ago.

Oh, and gaming performance between your old and a new 2500K system is going to be

Nice!

 

[bntran02]

I just built a system and my upgrade path is very similar to yours.

My Previous:
Q6600 @ 3.5Ghz
Radeon HD 4850
3.2G of 800Mhz
Windows XP Professional

My Current:
2500k @ 4.4Ghz
Nvidia 560 Ti Overclocked
8Gb Ram
Windows 7 (64bit)

With the except of CPU processing power the performance of our old builds are very similar. Another note is that the overclocked 560Ti that I have will be about as fast as your factory clocked 6950.

Gaming performance: I've only played a handful of games with my new build (Crysis 2, Starcraft II, Witcher 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Dirt 3) and everything is smooth as butter at Maximum settings except for Witcher 2. Witcher 2 is set at the highest except for one or two settings set to "High" instead of "Ultra" in order to maintain the same smoothness.

Desktop Performance: I ran Prime95 on my old system which made my old system almost unusable. But on my new system I don't even notice it running. Even though my CPU's are maxed at 100% the system is still perfectly usable. I've done several tests where I select 10 or so documents and open them up all at once. There is a slight pause to load Word into memory but after that everything loads instantly. Web surfing is better on a whole new level. I never thought that web browsing would be so much better but it is. Pages seem to load much faster. I always thought web browsing was really internet speed limited but processing power does play a significant role.

One Disclaimer: I am running with an SSD drive which is also playing a really big role in my overall desktop performance (but not gaming performance and application performance)

 

[Arglebargle]

....

I can't think of a single reason to buy into a new LGA 1366 platform right now....

Video encoding and FX rendering? Professional audio? Niche, but 1366 still offers value there, imo.

 

[Zap]

Oh yeah, forgot to... Hello L8trdude, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

Video encoding and FX rendering? Professional audio? Niche, but 1366 still offers value there, imo.

People running multiple VMs needing 24GB RAM?

With motherboards having come down in pricing a bit plus being a lot more mature hardware/BIOS-wise and Micro Center selling new Core i7 960 for $180... not necessarily a terrible value either as long as the buyer knows what they are getting into and why.

 

[L8trdude]

Oh yeah, forgot to... Hello L8trdude, and welcome to AnandTech Forums.

Thanks....glad to be part of the community here.

 

[L8trdude]

Do any of you have any CPU cooler & heatsink recommendations? I'm reviewing the Cool Master Hyper 212 Plus, however it's huge....would love to find a comparable performing cooler that is smaller and less of an installation hassle.

Here is the link to Newegg.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-065-_-Product

Thanks

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Is this a physical limitation, or are you just wanting something smaller? Because in all honesty, it's not that big a heatsink; there are a lot of other ones that are bigger.

You could try something like this

Note that even though I linked to the Newegg page, I'm not actually suggesting you buy from Newegg. It's out of stock there anyway.

 

[Morg.]

Outside of H50 - type stuff I don't know where you'll find "small" and "performance" in the same product tbh . Even if there is some Noctua stuff .. which is anyway so expensive it's not interesting.

 

[L8trdude]

Is this a physical limitation, or are you just wanting something smaller? Because in all honesty, it's not that big a heatsink; there are a lot of other ones that are bigger.

You could try something like this

Note that even though I linked to the Newegg page, I'm not actually suggesting you buy from Newegg. It's out of stock there anyway.

Just something smaller and curious if there were smaller ones that performed at the same level.

 

[mfenn]

Just something smaller and curious if there were smaller ones that performed at the same level.

Not really at the same level, no. The Hyper 212+ gets its performance from the large surface area on the fins and the CFM that you can push through a 120MM fan. A 92MM tower cooler like the Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 will not perform as well, but that's the tradeoff you make.