Upgrades?

[coolkingler1]

I am going to copy what I said in another forum basically, they told me to wait for Haswell, but I want to upgrade now pretty much:

I have 700 euros at my disposal soon and I have to ask, what should I do with it? (In terms of, what parts should I buy) My original plan was: Get triple monitor and perhaps a new GPU.

But no, people said it was not smart to do that.

Now I thought of something, I want to upgrade my PC.

What my build is now

i5 2500 at 3,3 Ghz (NOT the K version) http://ark.intel.com/products/52209/

Asrock H61 S3/DE (a cheap mobo) http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=H61DE/S3

HD7870 AMD http://www.amd.com/us/products/deskt...deon-7870.aspx

WD 500 GB Caviar Black http://www.centralpoint.nl/harde-sch...ex-num-1382294

8Gb G.skill RAM (2 sticks of 4)

CPU cooler is a Cooler Master 212 Hyper+

Corsair 500watt CX PSU

And a case which I am not too fond of from Cooler master (Elite 430)
_______________________________________________________





I thought about upgrading the CPU but they ARE pretty expensive. Plus I could still use this one as it works fine really.



I am all in for upgrading the motherboard though, perhaps Crossfire with another HD7870. And another Power supply of course. (the 650TX comes to mind)

I am clueless and opinions would come in handy.

700 euro is the budget to improve the pc. (or almost build an entirely new one)

 

[DSF]

Does 700 also have to buy the monitors? I think the advice you got on the other forum was generally sound unless you're completely sold on moving to three monitors. I definitely wouldn't bother upgrading your CPU when you're moving towards making your machine much more GPU-dependent.

 

[coolkingler1]

Does 700 also have to buy the monitors? I think the advice you got on the other forum was generally sound unless you're completely sold on moving to three monitors. I definitely wouldn't bother upgrading your CPU when you're moving towards making your machine much more GPU-dependent.

Nope don't have to buy monitors at all.

Actually, I have an idea. Upgrade everything BUT my CPU, then I could buy monitors.

 

[Torn Mind]

What's your usage profile?

Answering some of the questions in the sticky will help answer that question. Please post the answers here. I can tell you right now that upgrading from a Sandy i5 to an Ivy i5 will not be a major upgrade in terms of performance.

 

[coolkingler1]

It's mainly for WoW, trying to go Eyefinity.

Also just like having a better rig for no reason.


My budget is 700 euros.

Buying from Netherlands.

Vendor: http://www.mycom.nl/Productgroep/Hardware/Videokaart/24702

Don't really have a preference in brands

I plan to use my CPU I think and my HDD and Ram for sure.

No overclocking planned.

At least 1080p resolution

I plan to build it in 1 month.

 

[coolkingler1]

So yeah, I basically thought of getting a better mobo, case, PSU and crossfiring 2 HD 7870,s. AND an SSD.

 

[Sleepingforest]

A better mobo won't help with performance, so I'd scratch that one out. I'd also rather sell the old card and get a better single card rather than have to get a new PSU and deal with CFX, simply because that results in less headaches with runt frames, microstutter, and CFX outright failing.

 

[coolkingler1]

A better mobo won't help with performance, so I'd scratch that one out. I'd also rather sell the old card and get a better single card rather than have to get a new PSU and deal with CFX, simply because that results in less headaches with runt frames, microstutter, and CFX outright failing.

I know but a new mobo is needed for crossfire.

Yes, I know a single card is indeed better, but what is the chance of Crossfire actually failing? (real question, I really don't know. )

 

[coolkingler1]

Okay, what if I keep my current mobo and CPU+ cooler. (and of course RAM and HDD)

Then I buy an 650 TX, a HD 7970 a new case (thinking of CM HAF PLUS) and an SSD?

 

[Sleepingforest]

I don't remember the exact article (I believe it was Tom's Hardware), and the new drivers may have improved things slightly, but it was something like 2-3 out of 10 games were forced back to one card, and there were microstutter issues in basically all of them UNLESS you manually limit the framerate to 60

I think your 7970 plan is much better (more memory than the 7870, very fast and capable already). You only need a 500-600W PSU though--your current CX500 is fine.

 

[coolkingler1]

I don't remember the exact article (I believe it was Tom's Hardware), and the new drivers may have improved things slightly, but it was something like 2-3 out of 10 games were forced back to one card, and there were microstutter issues in basically all of them UNLESS you manually limit the framerate to 60

I think your 7970 plan is much better (more memory than the 7870, very fast and capable already). You only need a 500-600W PSU though--your current CX500 is fine.

It's settled then. Thank you for your help.

Though I think I will take a 650 to be on the safe side of things.

 

[Sleepingforest]

A full system with a 7970 only takes around 400W at most according to Anandtech's bench.

 

[coolkingler1]

A full system with a 7970 only takes around 400W at most according to Anandtech's bench.

Really?...

Oh well pretty neat.

Saves some money.

But wait... in that case I might as well get a GTX 680 assuming power consumption is not more than the 7970.

 

[Sleepingforest]

The GTX 680 isn't any faster on average when compared to a 7970--they're basically tied. I'd choose between the 670 and the 7970, depending on what games you play (on average, the 7970 performs better, but there are some games optimzed for Nvidia).

 

[mfenn]

I agree with 7970 and spending the rest of monitors. That GPU is more than powerful enough to do WoW Eyefinity.

 

[Torn Mind]

7970 got some driver updates that boosted its performance; I believe that the Bench results were prior to that.