Suggestions requested for gaming rig upgrade

[Riddleman]

Hi,

I was hoping you guys could give me some suggestions on what may be my best upgrade options. I’m looking to spend no more than $800 and I definitely want to switch over to an Nvidia GPU. I'd also prefer to keep my current 650W PSU.

My current gaming rig consists of:

CPU- Intel Core i7-920 2.66 GHz
Motherboard: Asus P6T Intel X58
GPU- ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Memory: Corsair Dominator 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3
PSU- Corsair CMPSU-650TX
HDD- SSD 120G | OCZ OCZSSD2-2VTXE120G
HDD2- Hitachi Deskstar 1TB SATA II 7200 RPM 16MB
Monitor- Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP
CD- Sony 16X Dvd-rom
OS- Win 7 home premium
Sound- On-Board 7.1 Audio
Speakers- Logitech Z-2300 200-Watt 2.1
WNC- PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card

Thanks.

Update: Thanks guys, I went with a GTX 570 SC and a G700 mouse.

 

[Ken g6]

Hm. Even the best (practically priced) single nVIDIA cards provide inconsistent improvements over your 4870 X2. (There, a 480 stands in for a 570.) A couple of 560 ti's in SLI (better than these 460s) might be more worthwhile, but seem awfully expensive to me.

Why do you want to switch over to an Nvidia GPU? Do you think the Radeon HD 7000 series coming in a few months could change your mind?

The i7 920 isn't all that bad either. Have you tried overclocking it?

 

[T_Yamamoto]

i5 2500K
z68 Mobo
560ti

 

[Riddleman]

Hm. Even the best (practically priced) single nVIDIA cards provide inconsistent improvements over your 4870 X2. (There, a 480 stands in for a 570.) A couple of 560 ti's in SLI (better than these 460s) might be more worthwhile, but seem awfully expensive to me.

Why do you want to switch over to an Nvidia GPU? Do you think the Radeon HD 7000 series coming in a few months could change your mind?

The i7 920 isn't all that bad either. Have you tried overclocking it?

Thanks for the reply. To answer your question, I'd like to switch to Nvidia mainly because of the compatibility issue with some games, i.e. Fifa. Furthermore, it also runs very loud and hot. I'd also like to take advantage of DirectX 11.

Not sure if i should overclock my 920, I'm already hitting the ceiling of my PSU limit. I'm going to look into this though, thanks.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

upgrade GPU to a 560ti

 

[zi0n.]

The only thing I would change/upgrade is the GFX card, I had that series too and they are LOUD and run really really hot even on idle(65c).

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That's a good CPU off the bat. Plenty of "horsepower" if you will, to push even dual GPU's. A 2500K platform will be a stepup but the next Gen GPU will be a better option seeing you've kept your 4870x2 for this long.

A SandyBridge platform with a 2500K [(for overclocking) or go non K if not overclocking] will run ~ 350$ then you could get a decent GPU for the remainder of the money. The 4870x2 is essentially a 5870 and the 6950 is a stepup from that but not by much. Personally i'd wait for the next Gen GPUs. AMD will have theirs out before the end of the yr, from what I hear. Not sure about big green.

 

[lehtv]

I have the 920 as well (@3.2GHz), and a while back I had the 4870X2. I upgraded to Gigabyte 560 Ti SOC in March or sometime around then. Every game was noticebly faster and smoother, shall I say 20% better average fps and less variation. Some games improved more than that because of dual-GPU problems. E.g. in ME2 I got 25-30fps inside Normandy (the ship) even though frames were much better everywhere else. With 560 Ti I didn't have this problem. And noise levels and temperatures were back to humane levels.

However, if I was upgrading from 4870X2 now, I would go for a 6950 2GB. 1GB memory just isn't enough at 1080p for some games, and that number of games can only increase in the future. Could be pretty soon when 1GB is too little for most games.

 

[Riddleman]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm currently leaning towards a GTX 580, a wireless mouse, and a wireless keyboard.

 

[lehtv]

I can't help but view GTX 580 as immensely bad value for money. Especially with the release of 28nm GPUs so near. You could decide to get a card that will last you for a while, then sell it away and upgrade to something 30-40% more powerful than GTX 580 for a smaller price.

Judging by its rating in http://www.anandtech.com/bench/GPU11/188 GTX 580 is less than 20% better than 6950 2GB. But it costs almost 100% more.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

either wait for new cards.

or get a 570 (580 is a waste of money)

 

[mfenn]

I have the 920 as well (@3.2GHz), and a while back I had the 4870X2. I upgraded to Gigabyte 560 Ti SOC in March or sometime around then. Every game was noticebly faster and smoother, shall I say 20% better average fps and less variation. Some games improved more than that because of dual-GPU problems. E.g. in ME2 I got 25-30fps inside Normandy (the ship) even though frames were much better everywhere else. With 560 Ti I didn't have this problem. And noise levels and temperatures were back to humane levels.

However, if I was upgrading from 4870X2 now, I would go for a 6950 2GB. 1GB memory just isn't enough at 1080p for some games, and that number of games can only increase in the future. Could be pretty soon when 1GB is too little for most games.

Agree. The raw numbers don't tell the whole story when it comes to dual-GPU cards. They can have a reasonable-looking average frame rate, but the experience can be ruined my microstutter and the like. Especially with a 4000 series.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm currently leaning towards a GTX 580, a wireless mouse, and a wireless keyboard.

A GTX 580 would be a horrendously bad idea. The GTX 570 or 6970 are 10% or so slower for 40% less money.

 

[Riddleman]

Agree. The raw numbers don't tell the whole story when it comes to dual-GPU cards. They can have a reasonable-looking average frame rate, but the experience can be ruined my microstutter and the like. Especially with a 4000 series.



A GTX 580 would be a horrendously bad idea. The GTX 570 or 6970 are 10% or so slower for 40% less money.

Most benchmarks I've seen between the 580 and 570 seem to show a 20%-30% improvement overall without significant power consumption increases, temperature increases, or noise increases.

However, the 570 does seem to be a good value right now.

 

[lehtv]

Results at 1920x1200
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4051/nvidias-geforce-gtx-570-filling-in-the-gaps/4

Crysis Warhead: 17% faster in average fps, 13% in minimum fps
Battleforge: 14%
Metro 2033: 15%
HAWX: 19%
Civ 5: 0%
BFBC2: 16%
Stalker CoP: 16%
Dirt 2: 15%
Mass Effect 2: 20%
Wolfenstein: 10%

Note that many of these games ran at a high enough fps to make the performance increase completely useless. That will of course be less true of new games.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-review/8
Calculated GPU power consumption at load: 13% more

 

[Riddleman]

Results at 1920x1200
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4051/nvidias-geforce-gtx-570-filling-in-the-gaps/4

Crysis Warhead: 17% faster in average fps, 13% in minimum fps
Battleforge: 14%
Metro 2033: 15%
HAWX: 19%
Civ 5: 0%
BFBC2: 16%
Stalker CoP: 16%
Dirt 2: 15%
Mass Effect 2: 20%
Wolfenstein: 10%

Note that many of these games ran at a high enough fps to make the performance increase completely useless. That will of course be less true of new games.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-570-review/8
Calculated GPU power consumption at load: 13% more

Thanks, I went with a GTX 570 SC and a G700 mouse.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Yay!