Advice - what to upgrade next? - New Info, new question, post #37

[kaiser]

 

CPU: You'll have to make a choice as to whether you'll go the Intel route or AMD -- not surprisingly Intel has an advantage for gamers and a lot of reasons, especially when you use discrete GPUs. 

 

 

I run an AMD cpu and to be honest when it comes down to playing games there is next to no difference, ok, intel is way more expensive than AMD

 

I have used both intel and amd, and if you are looking at money being your biggest concern then go AMD

 

swings and roundabouts tbh.

 

example: playing assassins creed IV black flag the intel based cpu performs better than the AMD, but on the other hand put in crysis 3 and AMD performs better.

 

core for core speed intel is faster, but AMD multi-tasks much better

 

in the end its personal preference / situation

[RitualClarity]

I have used both. I am currently using an AMD processor.

 

That being said. I have had more problems with AMD processors than I have ever had with intel.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass-Effect-1/PC-amp-Xbox-360-Tech-Support/Squad-and-enemies-become-black-pixels-7251342-1.html

 

I have had other issues in the past. Most issues can be fixed but at the expense of time and effort and a bit of digging into the code. Intel hasn't had that problem in any game that I have ever played. Is it less cost. Sure. Is it worth it. That is up to you to decide.

 

With the AMD gpu I had to make small Physix fix to get the game to use the proper physix functions that needed (Batman) however true that was when it first came out before fixes from the manufacture was made. So far no need to do that again even after a complete reload. Drivers must have been updated or the game patched. Don't know.

 

Nothing game breaking indeed. Just some of the effects weren't noticeable at first. Wouldn't even had noticed the difference (awesome game) except I saw it played on a comparable friends game running nVidia GPU.

 

Just an added FYI.

 

[kaiser]

I have used both. I am currently using an AMD processor.

 

That being said. I have had more problems with AMD processors than I have ever had with intel.

http://social.bioware.com/forum/Mass-Effect-1/PC-amp-Xbox-360-Tech-Support/Squad-and-enemies-become-black-pixels-7251342-1.html

 

I have had other issues in the past. Most issues can be fixed but at the expense of time and effort and a bit of digging into the code. Intel hasn't had that problem in any game that I have ever played. Is it less cost. Sure. Is it worth it. That is up to you to decide.

 

With the AMD gpu I had to make small Physix fix to get the game to use the proper physix functions that needed (Batman) however true that was when it first came out before fixes from the manufacture was made. So far no need to do that again even after a complete reload. Drivers must have been updated or the game patched. Don't know.

 

Nothing game breaking indeed. Just some of the effects weren't noticeable at first. Wouldn't even had noticed the difference (awesome game) except I saw it played on a comparable friends game running nVidia GPU.

 

Just an added FYI.

 

yes there has been some issues in the past, intel been at it longer than amd. but nowadays nothing really special between em, just i have to run phys X via my cpu as I have a amd radeon card that has no cuda cores

Saying that the FX processors do a damn good job doing the phys X, havent tried it on an Intel/radeon build so i wouldn't know.

[...0...]

2009 i switch from Nvidia over to AMD and this was my best dicision in hardware for long time.

 

Not only did i have alot of fun with my 5870 AMD card drivers at the time where already good so np with that.

 

Then 6970-7970 also good cards and no problems at all.

 

Now MSI 290x GAMING 4GB so far im very pleased with this card VERY.

 

Driver 14.1 was terible but they fixed it with 14.2 beta which is stable and no problems anymore.

 

At moment i play Thief which runs very well also Metro:Last light runs also very well and skyrim with stead avarage in ultra 2560x1440 50fps(most i have are 4k textures).

 

Btw i use INTEL 3770k CPU.

 

But we as gamers need both to florish its good for competion and us gamers.

 

 

[Pkatt]

just another added fyi for anyone reading this-

 

I did a little research this morning, and according to what I've read, the 770 GTX doesn't fill up the PCI 2.0, so the difference in 2.0 vs 3.0 with the 770 as the video card would be neglible.  

 

If I'm reading that right, then I could get by with an AMD motherboard, with 2.0, and not have to go intel just to go to 3.0.     (was looking at the AMD FX-6300 cpu)

[Spartan 363]

just another added fyi for anyone reading this-

 

I did a little research this morning, and according to what I've read, the 770 GTX doesn't fill up the PCI 2.0, so the difference in 2.0 vs 3.0 with the 770 as the video card would be neglible.  

 

If I'm reading that right, then I could get by with an AMD motherboard, with 2.0, and not have to go intel just to go to 3.0.     (was looking at the AMD FX-6300 cpu)

 

That would work if you are gaming at 1080 resolution.  If you plan to game across multiple screens, then PCI-E 3.0 and an intel CPU will help as gaming at that resolution would benefit from the extra bandwidth of the 3.0 slots.  

 

There is nothing wrong with AMD today unless you will do editing with programs like 3DS Max and such that would perform better with Hyper Threading in Intel CPU's. It would be good to make sure the new mobo you get has both SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0, your future SSD will thank you for that and more devices today are being released in USB 3.0 such as my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and transfers are very fast compared to USB 2.0.

 

In the end, that's the upgrade I would save up for as you won't have to upgrade for a few years afterwards as DDR2 and your CPU will only get older and may even go out soon.  Your GTX 770 will thank you as well in not being held back by the CPU bottleneck you currently have.  In my honest opinion, it would be a waste of money to upgrade that ancient system.  You will be happier with the new CPU, mobo and RAM.

 

I will upgrade my mobo, CPU and RAM soon as I'm still gaming on an aging Intel i7 990X, MSI X58 Pro-E mobo and 12GB of Corsair Dominator GT that is nearly 5 years old now. 

[RitualClarity]

just another added fyi for anyone reading this-

 

I did a little research this morning, and according to what I've read, the 770 GTX doesn't fill up the PCI 2.0, so the difference in 2.0 vs 3.0 with the 770 as the video card would be neglible.  

 

If I'm reading that right, then I could get by with an AMD motherboard, with 2.0, and not have to go intel just to go to 3.0.     (was looking at the AMD FX-6300 cpu)

 

How long have you had your old computer??? Hummmm.

How long will you have the current computer???

 

You are correct. However If you keep it as long as I believe you will. You will in the future run into the same issue you have now. The equipment will exceed the pci 2.0 standard. many monitors will just increase in resolution and games will continue to increase in demands. This isn't even including mods that you will likely want.

 

I have the AMD and PCI express 2.0 and for my money when / if I upgrade it would be for a PCI 3.0 card to make it capable of running the stronger cards well into the future. ( I have changed out the GPU on this unit I am currently using 3 times since I got the machine)

 

The differences between an i5 and an AMD process is very little if you watch for bundles or special prices.

 

Now if you are saying that you are getting annoyed with the current machine you have and it just don't cut it anymore and you have to upgrade to the next possible solution  and can come up with a few extra dollars to move to the AMD / PCI 2.0 than I say go for it. If you can find it cheap. Keep in mind you will need to get DDR3 memory as well.

[Pkatt]

I'm not really annoyed with this machine right now, enough to waste money.   I can wait a little to upgrade it and get the best bang for my buck.    I'm just trying to plan out my next move.    I REALLY appreciate all the insights.   That does make sense, about the keeping the  machine for a while, and going with 3.0   Because I can see myself upgrading the mobo/cpu/memory, and then after a while, keeping that mobo and upgrading the video card to whatever is current at that time, which might very well be 3.0!

 

And I don't run dual monitors, and don't plan too anytime soon.   I'd see myself running one big high res monitor over multiple monitors.

[RitualClarity]

 

upgrading the video card to whatever is current at that time, which might very well be 3.0!

your current card is a 3.0, in case you didn't know already. Or if you are stating the next card will be 3.0 that you upgrade to.. perhaps however it is likely to increase. Not a problem. IT will take years to fully saturate the 3.0 bandwidth even with 4 k monitors coming along. Even if it did. running a 3.0 card at x16 would be like running a 4.0 card at 8x anyway.

[Pkatt]

I think I phrased that wrong.   What it should have came across as, is -

 

Because I can see myself upgrading the mobo/cpu/memory, and then after a while, keeping that mobo and upgrading the video card to whatever is the best card at that time, which might very well utilitze the 3.0 far better than cards can do now!

 

[RitualClarity]

I thought that was what you meant. Just was trying to be as clear as possible and cover all the bases. Sound like you have the info you need to make an informed decision for yourself. Soon I will have to upgrade myself or face possible bottlenecks with future graphic upgrades so I know how you feel.

[Pkatt]

To recap, I have the following, currently -

 

AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core cpu   4600+ @2.41 ghz

ASUS M2N32 SLI deluxe motherboard

4 Gb RAM

2 Gb Geforce 770 superclocked

1 Tb HDD + 120 Gb HDD

Seasonic 760W modular power supply

Windows 7 32-bit

 

I also now have acquired a copy of Windows 7 64 bit, I just have not put it on yet, and I have a 300Gb Sata HDD that I forgot I have.

 

In discussing this, it was determined that I should probably upgrade the motherboard and CPU first, to get rid of the bottlenecks that my old ones were causing, before doing anything else.

 

 

Today, I was offered a Dell XPS 730x from a friend for $150.00    He basically got it for free, for doing some repair work.    It Does NOT have a hard drive or a video card.   Everything else in it seems to work fine, he put a generic video card and hard drive in it just to test and said it seemed to work fine.    It has a core i7 CPU, and 6 Gb RAM.    According to what I read, because Dell has ended support on this machine in 2009, and no longer releasing bios updates, it is stuck at 6 Gb.    BUT, I also read where some folks have taken this machine and loaded a modded Alienware A11 bios on it, (because the motherboard is actually an alienware motherboard) and got it to run 12 Gb RAM and accept all the new i7 CPUs, and significant performance increases.

 

So -   Is it worth it?    Basically, the parts he is offering me, seem to be the parts I need.      Do I pay $150, slap my 770 in it, and try to upgrade the bios?   Or do I continue saving and just get the latest and greatest motherboard/cpu/memory combo later when I can afford it?

 

What do you guys think?

[RitualClarity]

UP to you and your trust of the equipment and your friends assessment. If it is from 2009 it might still be a PCI express 1.0 Mobo so all you would be able to do provided that it works as advertised, would be increase your memory. (which might likely still be DDR2)

 

As far as the Bios you need to check the motherboard manufacture number and site. It very well might be a board that still has Bios upgrades available. However If risky or not confident I would be satisfied with the 6gb option (and 64 bit OS).

 

The processor would be very nice boost but if it would be translated into a satisfactory boost for Gambro games. Possibly.

 

Bottom line it is a band-aid to your issue. If you need a band-aid go for it. If you can go without it. wait. The choice is up to you. If you just can't stand the current performance and this machine is good it could "tide you over" until much later. Perhaps even until the newer Intel come out with DDR4 memory.

[mojodajojo]

To recap, I have the following, currently -

 

AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core cpu   4600+ @2.41 ghz

ASUS M2N32 SLI deluxe motherboard

4 Gb RAM

2 Gb Geforce 770 superclocked

1 Tb HDD + 120 Gb HDD

Seasonic 760W modular power supply

Windows 7 32-bit

 

I also now have acquired a copy of Windows 7 64 bit, I just have not put it on yet, and I have a 300Gb Sata HDD that I forgot I have.

 

In discussing this, it was determined that I should probably upgrade the motherboard and CPU first, to get rid of the bottlenecks that my old ones were causing, before doing anything else.

 

 

Today, I was offered a Dell XPS 730x from a friend for $150.00    He basically got it for free, for doing some repair work.    It Does NOT have a hard drive or a video card.   Everything else in it seems to work fine, he put a generic video card and hard drive in it just to test and said it seemed to work fine.    It has a core i7 CPU, and 6 Gb RAM.    According to what I read, because Dell has ended support on this machine in 2009, and no longer releasing bios updates, it is stuck at 6 Gb.    BUT, I also read where some folks have taken this machine and loaded a modded Alienware A11 bios on it, (because the motherboard is actually an alienware motherboard) and got it to run 12 Gb RAM and accept all the new i7 CPUs, and significant performance increases.

 

So -   Is it worth it?    Basically, the parts he is offering me, seem to be the parts I need.      Do I pay $150, slap my 770 in it, and try to upgrade the bios?   Or do I continue saving and just get the latest and greatest motherboard/cpu/memory combo later when I can afford it?

 

What do you guys think?

 

I'd save up for a better rig. I'm currently doing that.  Got my Wiley Coyote cousin eyeing parts and waiting for my money to come in.  Good things come to those who wait.

[ratrace]

I'm running an AMD six core with 8 GB RAM, a 250 GB SSD and a GTX 460 GTX factory OC. You see, not state of the art. The hugest overall impact on the PC performance was exchanging the HDD with a SSD. That really made Skyrim run noticeably smoother and gave the whole rig quite some extra speed. Though I cannot say much about other games.

 

I'd recommend to update RAM as well, at least to 8 GB, and of course to migrate to an 64 bit OS like Win7. Win 8 still needs more fixing. In a year or so it might be ok to use it. I however am completely fine with Win 7 x64.

 

My graphics card is running with a driver that is a year old because NVidia can't get their issues on the fermi based GPU architectures fixed (newer drivers freeze the machine completely), but Skyrim works fine with it. Though I'd recommend an ATI card. The development tends to outsource physics on the CPU anyway. And I've never seen my CPU working on its limits except when I'm transcoding movies or such.

[Pkatt]

From everything I have read, that pc is stuck at 6Gb because Dell has stopped supporting the bios for it, and the last bios had a value that needed to be over 122, and it was 100.   You can't upgrade the bios from that, because it is proprietary, by Dell.   That is the reason someone hacked it and modded it.   According to what I read, the modded bios DOES actually allow for upgrading the CPU and memory now, plus other performance goodies.    But you have to follow the instructions to the letter.   Well, we all know from our Bethseda game mods, that that pretty much applies to anything modded though, right?

 

But yeah, I still may be at PCI 1.0, I haven't found that out yet.    

 

I'm actually fine at the moment with my current machine, with waiting, but here is really the only issue.  I have two games I want to play, both I am in the beta for, and the are 64 bit only, so for that reason I can't play them.   (Star Citizen, and EQ Landmark)      As mentioned, I do have the copy of Win 7 64 bit now (from the same friend, he is a good and trusted one!),   but I haven't loaded it yet.     I was hoping to load that when I do the actual motherboard upgrade, and do the OS and mobo/CPU all at one time, but if I wait and be patient on the hardware, then I will be waiting a while on my 64 bit OS.

 

Since I found that 300 GB hdd that I forgot about, my other option is to load the 64 bit on that, and play with it, and keep the 32 bit on my existing drive until I am sure everything is working.

 

How does dual booting work?    Can I install the 300 Hdd, format it and load Win 7 -64 on it, and still retain the 32 bit version on the existing Tb drive, and somehow boot to either?    I have heard of that before, but I've never tried it.

[RitualClarity]

If you really want an x64 beta games use of your old computer is no longer valid. You have an option for a cheap upgrade to a more modern computer processor, possiblity of 6 gigs of ram. x64 OS (which you already have and easily can upgrade with some time). Even if you only have PCIx 1.0 graphics it is still a nice improvement. If it is PCI x2.0  all the better. I doubt that you will see much change (graphic slot wise) in any newer motherboard you get today (with a reasonable graphics). At this point the processor and memory speed upgrade (DDR 3 memory) will be the main cause for any improvements.

 

I stated this solely because you need the upgrade now to do what you want to do and currently can upgrade to a point where you may be able to do what you really want to do.

 

Looks like you have some work to do. I'd keep the old reliable waiting in the background just in case your current rig fails. (I have my old one waiting as well just in case..)