Upgrade 775 system or go to i5?

[AndroidVageta]

My specs are as followed:

E5200 @ 3Ghz
DFI DK X38 (2 x 16 PCI-e)
2 x ATi 4890 1GB
2 x 2GB RAM

My basic question is...will I notice a sizable difference if I were to upgrade my CPU to say an overclocked Q9550 compared to a i5 750? I ask because price would be a lot lower on the 775 upgrade and RAM amount wouldn't increase (dual channel DDR3 on the i5) whereas the i5 would require a new motherboard and RAM...all in all cost roughly 2x more plus some from the 775 upgrade.

I know my motherboard is a good overclocker (not too good on the E5200, but I think thats the CPU more than the motherboard) so a Q9550 or similar CPU would yield a decent overclock.

I don't know...Im just sick of my slow ass E5200...sick of seeing 20+ fps in Crysis when I could achieve so much more using a better CPU...making the move to Windows 7 as well.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

what's the price difference in dollars?

 

[cubeless]

3.0 and not 3.8 like your sig says?

my 9550 @ 4ghz with 2 4850's does over 30 frames in crysis @ 1680... a 9550, if your mobo can oc it, would be a great upgrade, and be much more cost effective than i5...

 

[AndroidVageta]

what's the price difference in dollars?

Used or new Q9XXX goes for around $150-200...i5 with the RAM and MOBO I've chosen $420 or so...so about 2x as much...but that i5 would be so much faster.

Thats the problem with these decisions...part of me is saying to get the 775 upgrade cause its cheaper and still a heck of a lot faster than my E5200...but part of me is saying also that although more expensive, the i5 (overclocked of course) would just yield better overall performance and longest lasting speed wise than the Q9XXX series...

I don't know! LOL!

 

[aigomorla]

My specs are as followed:

E5200 @ 3Ghz
DFI DK X38 (2 x 16 PCI-e)
2 x ATi 4890 1GB
2 x 2GB RAM

I don't know...Im just sick of my slow ass E5200...sick of seeing 20+ fps in Crysis when I could achieve so much more using a better CPU...making the move to Windows 7 as well.

now how would you get a lot better FPS from a game which isnt even multi core threaded properly?

Your running multi gpu, id pick a X58 over a P55 because of this reason alone if you were intending on upgrading.

 

[AndroidVageta]

I dont know about Crysis not being threaded properly...the game runs much better on quad CPU's in benchies...

Multi GPU now is on a X38 and has full 16x PCI-e 2.0 slots on them...the motherboard Id be getting for the i5 is 8x 8x...plenty for the 4890's.

Might just go with a CPU upgrade...i5 in the coming months MAYBE...but for right now just to see immediate results a CPU upgrade seems better, more cost effective to boot!

 

[toyota]

now how would you get a lot better FPS from a game which isnt even multi core threaded properly?

Your running multi gpu, id pick a X58 over a P55 because of this reason alone if you were intending on upgrading.

Crysis may not run much better on quads per se but his 5200 is pretty slow clock for clock compared to higher end Core 2 and i5/i7 cpus. while using 2 4890 cards even a stock 2.83 Q9550 would be quite a bit faster even in games that only really use 2 cores.

OP, unless you have a Micrcoenter nearby where you can get a 9550 for under 200 bucks then I would probably go i5. you could always sell your mobo, cpu, and ram and offset some of the cost.

 

[AndroidVageta]

My thoughts exactly...thats why Im just upgrading CPU.

i5 would be faster, but a Q9XXX is so much faster than my E5200 that I think it would be insane...

Did you know I can't play Left 4 Dead 2 on MAX settings with AA AF all maxed out at above 60fps? With 2 4890's thats nothing more than a straight CPU bottle neck.

Hell, Id venture to say that a first generation Phenom would be faster than my E5200......

 

[aigomorla]

Did you know I can't play Left 4 Dead 2 on MAX settings with AA AF all maxed out at above 60fps? With 2 4890's thats nothing more than a straight CPU bottle neck.

no L4D2 has a weird bug in it with ATI XFIRE.

Try to alt tab at the start of the map, and then alt tab back into the game.

My quadfire only works fine if i do that at the start of each new map.

Otherwise i shutter til no tomorrow.

 

[nyker96]

I probably just get the q9xxx, after oc, it probably can do 70-80% of a 4ghz i5 or maybe more in situations. save the extra cash and maybe do a video upgrade to hd 58xx. you probably see a bigger boost in games that way.

 

[toyota]

I probably just get the q9xxx, after oc, it probably can do 70-80% of a 4ghz i5 or maybe more in situations. save the extra cash and maybe do a video upgrade to hd 58xx. you probably see a bigger boost in games that way.

yeah but an i5 is actually 60 bucks cheaper so that will almost pay for the ram right there. then once he sells his mobo, cpu, and ram that will offset most of the cost of the swap. basically he should end up with an i5 set up for only about 50-75 bucks more than just getting a 9550.

 

[whitewarrior11]

no L4D2 has a weird bug in it with ATI XFIRE.

Try to alt tab at the start of the map, and then alt tab back into the game.

My quadfire only works fine if i do that at the start of each new map.

Otherwise i shutter til no tomorrow.

Actually, I think this is a bug with the whole engine Valve uses. I had the exact same bug with Half-Life 2, in Crossfire too.

 

[cbn]

sick of seeing 20+ fps in Crysis when I could achieve so much more using a better CPU.

Core 2 quad won't help you in that game. I suspect Overclocked Core i3 will be the best mainstream CPU for playing Crysis (seriously).

 

[cbn]

I dont know about Crysis not being threaded properly...the game runs much better on quad CPU's in benchies...

That is because Nehalem is a better architecture than Core 2. (ie Two cores on Nehalem are faster than two cores on Core 2 quad).

As far as upcoming i3 goes, it is newer architecture but has less L3 cache than i7/i5. So it will be interesting to see what becomes the best gaming CPU for the majority of games. (Other than Gulftown)

 

[toyota]

Core 2 quad won't help you in that game. I suspect Overclocked Core i3 will be the best mainstream CPU for playing Crysis (seriously).

see below. and enough with the i3 as thats not even available to him right now.

Crysis may not run much better on quads per se but his 5200 is pretty slow clock for clock compared to higher end Core 2 and i5/i7 cpus. while using 2 4890 cards even a stock 2.83 Q9550 would be quite a bit faster even in games that only really use 2 cores.

OP, unless you have a Micrcoenter nearby where you can get a 9550 for under 200 bucks then I would probably go i5. you could always sell your mobo, cpu, and ram and offset some of the cost.

 

[cbn]

see below. and enough with the i3 as thats not even available to him right now.

That sounds like good practical advice to me. Swapping CPUs is a 3 minute job.

Swapping OS/mainboard is a real hassle (particularly if a new OS also needs to be purchased).

 

[toyota]

That sounds like good practical advice to me. Swapping CPUs is a 3 minute job.

Swapping OS/mainboard is a real hassle (particularly if a new OS also needs to be purchased).

well I would likely still go the i5 route instead of getting a q9550. depending on what ram and mobo he gets, he could easily do that for less than 50 bucks more once he sales his old stuff.

 

[Zap]

OP, unless you have a Micrcoenter nearby where you can get a 9550 for under 200 bucks then I would probably go i5.

Core i5 750 is still cheaper than Core 2 Quad Q9550 at Micro Center, because they're both often on sale.

Personally I would go Core i5. Right now Circuit City (owned by Tiger Direct) has the Core i5 750 for $189.99 with free shipping. Circuit City also has 13.1% Bing cashback (as of yesterday). This puts it at around $165 shipped (plus tax for some).

 

[AndroidVageta]

Personally I am still debating...Im going to give it a month or so and see what I can afford. Most likely going to go i5 just because of speed...plus I feel that the i5 will be a more sutable CPU when I upgrade to the ATi 5xxx series.

 

[Arkaign]

FWIW, the 1156 chips have a limited PCIe 2.0 interface of 2 8x lanes when using multi-GPU. As it sounds like that might be important to you, perhaps hold out and just get a i7 920 when you can afford it? You'll get full 16x PCIe 2.0 lanes for Xfire, as well as 6 DDR3 slots, support for hex-core, etc.

 

[SmCaudata]

I'm happy with my 9550 upgrade. Was in the same boat as you. Now for just the price of a CPU I was able to get my system to carry me over until new MOBO features are mainstream. Any $$ you save can be dumped into vid cards, hard disks, or something else.

 

[ScavengerLX]

First of all...you are ridiculously CPU bottlenecked.

Second...I would go for an i5 750 setup especially since you can get one at MicroCenter for $150.

 

[Zoomer]

I'm contemplating such an upgrade as well. With 8GB of DDR2, I feel your pain.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/defa....36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.44.45.46.47.48.49.50

Scroll to the end; the difference isn't that much. IMO it's not really worth the price premium, plus the limited overclockability of the nehalem due to its integrated PCIe controller.

I'll probably just try to find a E7200, then getting it to 3.8 or so. Only running a single 4850 here; that's not getting upgraded either.