Graphic Cards Upgrading Rig for hardcore Gaming with ATI, advice from experts needed!

P

pcgamers

Disciple
to all TE Gurus,

My current gaming Rig is stated below and I am going to upgrade my Gaming system to a core i7 930/DDR3/socket 1366 mobo/crossfire GPU and most importantly a good/stable overclocking system. probably latest by next 2 weeks for upgrading.

My concerns here are:
1. What brands should i grab for those combination?
I am thinking...
mobo: ASUS/GIGABYTE/MSI/EVGA etc?
DDR3: hw fast? 1600/2000? Corsair/OCZ/Kingston/Adata etc?
i7: 930 is enough? 2.8GHz can OC to maximum of _._GHZ?
GPU: 5870 CFX is a good choice? or shall I go for HD5970?

2. Can I use my TX850 for this new setup, was it enough?

3. How much can I OC core i7 using corsair H50? I read H50 review here and it seems good enough for overclocking. Anyway I already owned it using push pull setup.

Guys, please help to advice and suggest best brands for mobo/DDR3 RAM/GPU and thanks a lot for the help. btw, my budget is around $2000, the lesser cost the better .
 
TX850 should be more than enough for CF. The best CF boost is given by HD5850 and not HD5870 so I would suggest you to pick 2x HD5850. HD5970 is good but it costs around 700$ if I am right and 2x HD5850 costs around 500$ and the performance difference is not worth extra 200$. Same is the case with HD5870.

Corsair TX850 is legendarily stable PSU and it would be least of your worries if you want to walk that extra mile (overclocking core i7).

Better get watercooling kit so that you can mod voltages of i7 930 safely.

DDR3, unfortunately doesn't give much difference in performance with increase in speed. so, 1333Mhz or 1600MHz is more than enough. Get the kit that has low latencies and using quality heat sinks to that even if you overclock, RAM will stay stable.

i7 930 is a good processor and can easily go to 4GHz+ with voltage tweaking but you do need better cooling (water cooling or high quality air cooling).
For mobo, go for EVGA or Gigabyte. But I think EVGA doesn't support CF (checking this now)
 
Regarding GPU go for 2xHD5850 or HD 5970. and as desiibond said get a good cpu cooler for better OCing.

desiibond said:
For mobo, go for EVGA or Gigabyte. But I think EVGA doesn't support CF (checking this now)
Click to expand...
Are EVGA mobos are locally available?
 
If I am grabbing another 5850 then I can save alot of cash and save trouble to sell back my sapphire HD5850 one. I think you're right about GPU. Then I decided to grap one more sapphire HD5850(normal).

CPU: for sure i7 930, DDR3: I really dont know if 1600MHz not much of a difference to 1333MHz. so what brands do you prefer which is great for OC?

mobo: EVGA is hardly available in my country(Malaysia). mostly Asus, MSI, Gigabyte. Maybe i should look into gigabyte mobo's review.
 
Thanks, i think corsair dominator should be fine. Happy to know that TX850 is a very good PSU and capable of running CFX 5850/5870. Thanks again :).
 
pcgamers said:
Thanks, i think corsair dominator should be fine. Happy to know that TX850 is a very good PSU and capable of running CFX 5850/5870. Thanks again :).
Click to expand...

Welcome. That PSU is so solid that you can throw a quad-CF 5850's and it will not even sweat! :)
 
If your PC has the configuration of your signature I do not see the point in upgrading.

The only thing you could do would be to get a Q9450 an OC to 4GHZ I doubt if even that would give you a big performance difference.
 
I would agree with Desibond and would suggest the specified upgrade.

H2O said:
If your PC has the configuration of your signature I do not see the point in upgrading.

The only thing you could do would be to get a Q9450 an OC to 4GHZ I doubt if even that would give you a big performance difference.
Click to expand...

Read title: "Hardcore gaming rig"
 
H2O said:
If your PC has the configuration of your signature I do not see the point in upgrading.

The only thing you could do would be to get a Q9450 an OC to 4GHZ I doubt if even that would give you a big performance difference.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your kind advice, i already thought about that..since my current P35 mobo only support x16 & x4 pcie1.1, it is really a let down for me if i want to add another HD5850. And there is no point to upgrade to P45/X48 mobo either...so i just thinking why not just upgrade to the latest technology available, after all my PC is ageing(nearly 3 years of age). But thanks for the concerns anyway :).
 
pcgamers said:
Thank you for your kind advice, i already thought about that..since my current P35 mobo only support x16 & x4 pcie1.1, it is really a let down for me if i want to add another HD5850. And there is no point to upgrade to P45/X48 mobo either...so i just thinking why not just upgrade to the latest technology available, after all my PC is ageing(nearly 3 years of age). But thanks for the concerns anyway :).
Click to expand...
Then why to go for Gigabyte-X58-UD5 go for Gigabyte X58-UD7 with USB 3.0 and 6.0gb/s :)
 
Well,here's my Suggestion

The Config that you are about to build will cost you too much..

analyze your requirements then go for the purchases

like even for this complete system that you are about to build TX750 is more than enough.

for GPU i'll suggest you to buy one 5850 first & then test it & then if you feel like you need more power then CF it.

for RAM's 1333MHz are good value for money & you can OC them as well considering you have bought a Performance RAM like Corsair,G. Skill,OCZ or Crucial. although Performance Difference won't be that much if you buy a 1600MHz RAM rather than 1333MHz, instead buy a SSD which will boost your PC Performance.

As far as Brands are concerned everyone has it's own choice.

i'll say get a eVGA from KMD,although it would be a tad expensive but it does comes with a LifeTime Warranty.
 
NAV33N said:
Well,here's my Suggestion

The Config that you are about to build will cost you too much..
analyze your requirements then go for the purchases
like even for this complete system that you are about to build TX750 is more than enough.
for GPU i'll suggest you to buy one 5850 first & then test it & then if you feel like you need more power then CF it.
for RAM's 1333MHz are good value for money & you can OC them as well considering you have bought a Performance RAM like Corsair,G. Skill,OCZ or Crucial. although Performance Difference won't be that much if you buy a 1600MHz RAM rather than 1333MHz, instead buy a SSD which will boost your PC Performance.
As far as Brands are concerned everyone has it's own choice.
i'll say get a eVGA from KMD,although it would be a tad expensive but it does comes with a LifeTime Warranty.
Click to expand...

1) He already has TX850 PSU
2) he is living in Malaysia and KMD thing won't work there
3) if you look at reviews of boards that support USB3 and SATA6, it's disappointing, while some benchmarks show that they are tad faster than current gen, in some they are slower. This is dueo the fact that the platform is not yet evolved and there is lot to do here. So, why to spend lot more on something that is not yet optmized and instead spend that extra cash on other things. not to forget that USB3 and SATA6 devices are not yet in the market properly and though there are some, they cost a bomb.
4) one more thing is that lifetime warranty actually means 5yr or 10yr based on company rules/product. This clause is mentioned in the Terms & Conditions page of the manufacturers' manual or website.
 
well yes i do like to have the latest tech available, but it must've been proven that it is worth to purchased. USB 3.0 and sata 6Gbps not so much important in gaming i guess. maybe just a little bit on loading time etc... Most important thing is Power and Performance of the graphics/system. Thats why I already listed down which part to be purchase in my upgrade.

if mobo with usb3 and sata 6gbps were costing quite similar to those usb2 and sata 3gbps then i might consider buying it.

Thanks guys, still researching on best mobo and RAM brands/model for best price for performance.
 
^^ Do you see performance hit in any of the games you play now with the current setup?? If so what are they?? From a gaming standpoint, you setup is still good and kicking..
 
Every games run smoothly except crysis, warhead, metro2033. Maybe some other games soon enough. Actually I am not greed for power, just that I usually do upgrades in 3 years and for this upgrade, i want something that can at least last around 2-3 years and I dont care whatever new GPUs will come out after this upgrade.

btw, I am playing games at 1920x1080 max settings, maxAA ingame, maxAF and this is the first time I switch to ATI after 10 years of loyalty to NV :). I plan to do crossfire between 5970+5850 but still under consideration.

Thanks..
 
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