Pc Upgrade Advice

NomNom

NomNom

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Hi there , I need advice please.

I have R4000 I wish to upgrade from a Asus P7P55D-E LX and i5 760. Would the following be worth the upgrade?

Intel Sandybridge lga1155 i5-2500K - Quad core - R2,130.97
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3: Z68 - R1,676.20

Also is this the best I can get for R4000? I would of preferred a Asus board but they don't seem to have an equivalent board with features for the price.
 
Main use of the rig?
If its mostly gaming... I probably wouldnt bother upgrading since you'd see zero to none improvement, though I'd still be tempted to do it :p
 
That old CPU/Mobo combo you have isn't too shabby.

If I was you i would wait and see what Ivy Bridge brings. I was in the same boat as I still have a Core 2 quad but have decided to wait for IB, apparently it uses the same motherboards as Sandy Bridge but they will need a firmware update.

Wonder if all the manufacturers will even release firmware updates, they will probably be too busy selling the new Z77 chipsets to worry about the poor peeps with older motherboards.
 
If you game and i could be mistaken rather buy a better vga card or stick the money in the bank and wait for something outstanding to land, IB may be a out of your league on 4k but if they can get it working cheaper mobo's then perhaps not but still for gaming it's overkill.

I always waste money on upgrades i don't need so if you are set on wasting money go for :D. Nothing more exciting than unwrapping a new cpu, mobo or vga card. It's like crack for me.
 
killadoob said:
If you game and i could be mistaken rather buy a better vga card or stick the money in the bank and wait for something outstanding to land, IB may be a out of your league on 4k but if they can get it working cheaper mobo's then perhaps not but still for gaming it's overkill.

I always waste money on upgrades i don't need so if you are set on wasting money go for :D. Nothing more exciting than unwrapping a new cpu, mobo or vga card. It's like crack for me.
Click to expand...

+1

IB will be very similar to Sandy Bridge in pricing and they use the same socket so all s1155 boards will take the new IB chips(in theory)
 
To be able to reap the rewards of a faster CPU in terms of Gaming, you'd need a faster graphics card.
A GTX 580 or 2x GTX 560's in SLI would do the trick.

Archer is right, you won't get a gaming performance boost by just upgrading your CPU, the 6870 will
just hold it back.
 
Qwikslver said:
+1 Or 46"TV.
Click to expand...

46 inch TV, where? :D


Ok so you guys say I should rather get a new GPU, I considered this but what would be a decent upgrade from a 6870?

Rebel Tech said I should change the motherboard to this: http://za.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/Maximus_IV_GENEZ/#specifications

I much fancy a new CPU and motherboard, I really don't see the point in splashing my cash on the GPU tbh.

Update: how about I get the CPU and the Maximus motherboard and get another 6870 later?
 
Last edited:
Then I say GPU... But only if your CUD is really bad :p Cause imo you dont need to upgrade, you can get 60fps in most games with the second highest settings, around 50fps with everything near max. Your biggest upgrade in a single GPU config will likely be a GTX570 or HD6970. However, adding another HD6870 will get you performance way above either of those

Get a new mouse/keyboard/screen/other peripheral instead while you wait for your GPU to 'lose' power, I think thats the best route, but hey, I know what its like when CUD hits :D
 
Archer said:
Then I say GPU... But only if your CUD is really bad :p Cause imo you dont need to upgrade, you can get 60fps in most games with the second highest settings, around 50fps with everything near max. Your biggest upgrade in a single GPU config will likely be a GTX570 or HD6970. However, adding another HD6870 will get you performance way above either of those

Get a new mouse/keyboard/screen/other peripheral instead while you wait for your GPU to 'lose' power, I think thats the best route, but hey, I know what its like when CUD hits :D
Click to expand...

I thing is I can't add another GPU on my current motherboard, it doesn't have the feature, what I want to do is upgrade the motherboard and cpu then I can maybe get another 6870 later, if not better GPU, my GPU right now is more than enough for me. I also looked at getting a bigger screen but it costs R3000, not wroth 5 inchs imo. Sigh not sure will either do the motherboard/cpu router or GPU now.
 
Gah, I see.... CPU + mobo it is then! :D But maybe wait at least until IB hits our shores

disclaimer: only if the CUD is bad :p
 
Compulsive Upgrade Disorder

And I'd prob choose... between those two only, its tricky... Gene-Z should OC better, and is a bit friendlier (buttons, fault code display etc), but once setup, the UD3 should give the same performance. I'd guess with less power circuitry you'd likely lose out on a couple mhz OC for the CPU, but otherwise they should be the same. Also note, on the smaller board you'll have two GPU's and thats it. No sound card, or other PCI devices.
 
I'd say go for the Gigabyte one if you're really considering to go for a Sandy Bridge setup, because
1) it is a normal ATX motherboard and not a mATX, where the Asus one is mATX
2) has 2 slots inbetween the PCI-E 16x slots, where the the Asus one has only 1 slot inbetween

I won't recommend an upgrade of your motherboard + CPU now if you want a higher framerate in your games. Upgrading the graphics card would make a bigger difference.

Lastly, are you getting poor framerates currently in some of your games? If so, what game and detail level (incl resolution) are you playing at then?
 
Archer said:
Compulsive Upgrade Disorder
Click to expand...

haha, thanks me yes.

Pada said:
Lastly, are you getting poor framerates currently in some of your games? If so, what game and detail level (incl resolution) are you playing at then?
Click to expand...

Not at all, it's just I want to upgrade and this seems to be the way to do it, if I do this upgrade I will get another GPU later and run it in crossfire.
 
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