[insyxion]

he is mostly gaming ..
which is better choice? New gpu or new CPU?

his CPU is i3 540 4GHZ
and GPU 6850

 

[majini7]

i would say get a better cpu and later on you could even crossfire if you like
Those cards in crossfire are really nice bangforthebuck

 

[jlells01]

Most titles are GPU bottlenecked these days, but the appropriate selection depends on what he's playing...

 

[insyxion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by majini7 i would say get a better cpu and later on you could even crossfire if you like Those cards in crossfire are really nice bangforthebuck

so is i5 760 better or i7 870? i heard both perform very similar in games...

 

[insyxion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlells01;15320965
Most titles are GPU bottlenecked these days, but the appropriate selection depends on what he's playing...

what about CPU intensive games?

 

[majini7]

well bc2 and bf3 are really intensive cpu games and ram also
i would go with better cpu first

 

[jlells01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyxion what about CPU intensive games?

What game(s) is he playing?

 

[anubis1127]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyxion what about CPU intensive games?

i3 5xx at 4.0 GHz is still fine. there are a few threads comparing i3 vs i7 on OCN, I plan on doing my own tests comparing i3 vs a i5 2500k with a gtx580 next week, so look for that.

I may also be able to test gtx470 sli results too. Not sure yet.

And yes, I'll be including bf3 once it's released.
Sent from my DX running Apex 2.0 RC4

 

[RedCloudFuneral]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyxion so is i5 760 better or i7 870? i heard both perform very similar in games...

For gaming the 15 750/760 is the best chip on the p55 board.What games does he want to play and what resolution are you using?

 

[insyxion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlells01 What game(s) is he playing?

COD black ops, Battlefield 3 [when its released] , COD MW 3 ( when its out), combat arms, and world of warcraft

 

[insyxion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedCloudFuneral;15321066
For gaming the 15 750/760 is the best chip on the p55 board.What games does he want to play and what resolution are you using?

he is just like me playing on 1920x1080 resolution

 

[anubis1127]

I would have him try to sell the hd6850, and get a more powerful single GPU solution. That should do fine for 1080p gaming.

He could try crossfire if his board supports it. I haven't seen any i3 crossfire results, so I can't comment on how well that works. Hopefully I'll be able to get another gtx 470 to test sli.

Sent from my DX running Apex 2.0 RC4

 

[jlells01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insyxion COD black ops

http://www.techspot.com/review/336-c...s-performance/

That's a definitive and unequivocal recommendation to upgrade the CPU.

 

[anubis1127]

Right, but do you think a i5 + hd6850 would be better than a i3 and a better GPU, say a hd6950 in the majority of situations?

 

[jlells01]

Quote:

Originally Posted by anubis1127 Right, but do you think a i5 + hd6850 would be better than a i3 and a better GPU, say a hd6950 in the majority of situations?

I'd much rather have the i5; among the games listed, WoW is bottlenecked by the i3-540, and BF3 utilizes a quad-core for optimum performance.

A Lynnfield i5 is most certainly the way to go here.

 

[anubis1127]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlells01 I'd much rather have the i5; among the games listed, WoW is bottlenecked by the i3-540, and BF3 utilizes a quad-core for optimum performance. A Lynnfield i5 is most certainly the way to go here.

Ah, gotcha. Lynnfields are pretty sweet, I had a 760 running at 4.0ghz, it ripped through every game I threw at it. I just got SB for something new to play with.

I picked up a used i3 530 because I still had a p55 sitting around, and I've been using it as a htpc with a gt240. I haven't done much gaming, but come Monday I should be getting a new GTX 580, so I thought I'd run some tests with the i3 to see if it bottlenecks the GPU at all. Eventually I will take my gtx470, and put it in the HTPC to go w/ the i3 full time.

I guess with most of the newer games being better optimized for 4 cores, he might as well get a quad core. I still think an i3 + high end GPU will do fine, but I guess I won't know until next week for sure.

 

[trumpet-205]

Maybe GPU.

 

[Frank33]

If he pick to change the CPU don't bother to get a i7, the i5 750/760 are still beast. He could also get better cooling for cheap and get his i3 to 5Ghz and get a 6950. My rig is for gaming and so far nothing i play have been stressing it at the resolution i play, at max setting. i sometime dip in the 35-40 fps in Doa2 otherwise i play at 60fps+