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Upgrade Advice Please
Oberholzer
Member Posts: 498
Got the itch to upgrade my rig I built in 2009. At first I was only going to do the gpu but then I thought maybe more. I'm currently running:
I7 920 2.66, 6 gigs ram, ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Motherboard, Corsair 750W PSU, GTX 260 1GB GPU. Added and SSD and upgraded to Windows 8.1 along the way.
My question is I have access to for free:
http://www.amazon.com/P8Z68-V-PRO-GEN3-Intel-Motherboard/dp/B005UDITPK
I know it's a couple of years old but is that stuff a significant enough upgrade to build around or should I just go for a newer CPU and board? I have everything else I'd need besides RAM and a GPU. Any thoughts,advice, or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Comments
It'll be about 20% faster. On one hand the CPU is about 27% faster, on the other hand you are going from triple channel memory to dual channel.
I would say your system is from 2009. A 5 year run is pretty good. I would go with a new mobo and cpu despite the $500 difference. If you use the free mobo and cpu you take several risks. The first is the condition you receive it in. It sounds like its used so it potentially won't perform at its optimal output anymore. The second is that it won't have the same operational lifespan. The CPU, Memory, Mobo, and disk drives are things that you probably want to change at the same time because it is a hassle to change after the fact. If in 2 years you find that the mobo and CPU are lacking, then you are still looking at getting a new one that may potentially need new memory and clean OS install.
If you are at the 5 year mark for most of the components, I would also contemplate just replacing it all in one go. Will probably get another 5 years out of your next system. This is just for sake of stability as components begin to fail after 5 years.
If I had your system, I would upgrade the video card and plan on spending $150 - $200. Single-threaded CPU performance hasn't improved a whole lot over the past five years. It isn't worth replacing the OS license for that minimal increase in performance from the new motherboard and CPU.
I don't feel like this is a good time to buy a new system. DDR 4 is coming and the next generation of processors will support it. In addition, both Intel and AMD are shrinking their process which means there is a good chance both will produce decent performance gains over the previous generation of processors.
I don't feel like the five-year rule for gaming PC life is working anymore. Video cards from five years ago are not good enough for today's games, but everything else is. It shows in the console market as well. The previous generation of consoles lasted longer than any before them and the new generation isn't a big leap forward in console performance, unlike other generations of consoles. I blame the shift towards mobile computing and the exponentially-increasing expense and difficulty of shrinking the process node.
Do you overclock? Meaning both, did you overclock your current processor and would you overclock the new one? Sandy Bridge isn't much slower than the latest and greatest Haswell CPU if you'd overclock both, so getting one for free is an awfully nice deal. If you leave things at stock speed, then Haswell's advantage over Sandy Bridge is somewhat larger.
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Usually the reason why you'd replace memory at the same time as a CPU and motherboard is that the new motherboard will require a different memory standard from the old memory. That's not the situation this time, as you got the first CPU to use DDR3, which is still the modern standard. The transition to DDR4 only particularly matters if you're going to run integrated graphics from it and need extra bandwidth because of that.
Going from three memory channels to two does probably mean that you'd want to buy an additional 2 GB memory module so that you could match your old memory in the new motherboard properly, though.
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I wouldn't wait for upcoming CPUs unless you're willing to pay a fortune to get more than four cores from Intel. It's not likely that AMD will have a CPU faster than what you've been offered before 2016. The latest rumors have Broadwell being delayed into next year, with quad cores based on it being delayed far into next year.
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The standard GeForce GTX 260 only came with 896 MB of video memory, not 1 GB. Regardless, it's rather dated now, and a new video card would be a worthy upgrade, whether you upgrade the CPU or not.
No I don't overclock. Always thought about trying but never have. I'm still undecided about the processor but I am definitely going to upgrade the GPU. Thinking a GTX 770 and yes you are correct of course about the GTX260 having 896mb. I just rounded up when I typed his.
That is almost identical to my rig. When I first built it, it was a 920 with a GTX260 as well. Along the way I did upgrade to a 6970 and an SSD. I haven't made up my mind on upgrading yet either - I'm thinking about waiting to see Haswell-E (knowing they will be $$$), or maybe until Maxwell... I've got the itch too but I can't really complain at how my computer runs software; it still runs new titles fairly well at 1920x1200 - and the only difference between our rigs is the video card really.
If you have the motherboard and CPU for free, you only need to check your Windows license - you may be required to buy a new one based on the motherboard upgrade. It will be faster, but not "OMG" faster; it's just one generation newer than what you have.
Upgrading the video card will make a much bigger difference than the CPU. Most 920's are very good overclockers, I have had mine stable over 4.0Ghz from the stock 2.66, and that makes a noticeable difference, but not nearly as much as upgrading that 260 will, or that adding you SSD did. The overclock is free if you have a decent cooler, it's just not guaranteed. I only turn on the overclock if I'm running some software that really benefits from it, otherwise it's just a waste of power (and extra heat). That motherboard is easy to flip the overclock on/off.
If it were me I would use the free CPU / Mobo and upgrade the GPU. Just reuse everything else, worst case scenario is its not much faster or does not work and you buy a new cpu/mobo anyways.
If its free not much downside.
You can probably reuse the windows license. May have to call and get it activated tho. I know you are "supposed" to buy a new one with a new motherboard, but MS will activate that one easily.
Get another 2gb memory module to bump you to 8gb and you should be set.
A new GPU is where you will see the gain at, a 260 is very dated at this point. Just putting a new GPU in your old system would be a nice upgrade by itself.
140711
The 22nm HaswellE 6 and 8c unlocked cpu should be out within three months (3q14) along with the x99 Wellsburg chipset mobo (motherboard). the LGA 2011-3 is not backward compatable with the 2011.
data:
Z97-oc able + Dynamic Storage Accelerator (DST); H97-no oc; (posted 1404) will get legacy support for PCI-Express M.2 storage, as PCI-Express M.2 has roughly 67% more bandwidth available opposed to SATA3 (6 Gbps); lga1150, single 16 slot gpu, 2 dimm/ch, 3 display, 6 sata3.
x99 express wellsburg chipset 6.5W tdp, 22nm hi-k haswellE 6 & 8c unlocked, ddr4 ( <2133MHz, 4 dimm/ch, 16 thread, 288 pin, ?1.2v), lga 2011-3, 5 pci3 x16 (two 16slot gpu + one 8slot, 40 lane pcie gen3), 10 sata3 ports, 3q14, clarksville phy Gb ethernet 5Gtfer/s, realtec audio, 20MB L3 cache, hyper threading 16 logical cores, tdp 130-140W;
not backward compatable with 2011 waimea bay platform (x79), ?no 14nm Broadwell sucession 3q14?, 4c no-gpu config dies gone.
May have to get used to the 140W cpu vs my curent 30-40W amd 2c system... going to help to have a window unit AC near modern computers.