Upgrading CPU. Worth it?

[Deleted]

Greetings all.

This is my setup at the moment;
MSI motherboard with AM3 socket
AMD II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4 GHz CPU.
2x4 GB RAM
MSI 560ti Twin Frozr II OC Edition
Intel SSD

I play games on a 24" monitor with 1920x1080 res.

Now, I saw a deal today which is a MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) motherboard, an Intel i7 2600k CPU with cooler and another 2x4 GB of RAM for about 430E.

My question; will this be a significant upgrade for me?

I don't really know how much games rely on the CPU ( I mostly use my pc for gaming ) , but it's the oldest part in my computer and this seems like a good deal.

[Deleted]

Depends on the applications you want to run. Since WoW is really, really cpu heavy you will get a big difference there.
But since your GPU is way better than your CPU, you will get better performance none the less. You could try to play something that doesn't run on ultra, and watch your CPU and GPU usage rates. If your CPU is at 90% and your GPU is at 50, you will get a big jump up. If your cpu and gpu are both a high level, than you will only notice a difference on cpu heavy programs like WoW.

[Dizey]

It's a significant upgrade in every way.

[vesseblah]

You'll get 20-30fps more in raids instantly, but for games other than WoW/Rift/SWToR it's not gonna do much.

That package deal is not a good purchase since you could get i5-2500K CPU instead which is just as good for gaming and better motherboard, and save 50€ on top of it. 2600K will do absolutely nothing in gaming and costs 100€ more than 2500K.

[Deleted]

It's a significant upgrade in every way.

Can you also let me know why?

---------- Post added 2012-02-14 at 07:18 AM ----------

You'll get 20-30fps more in raids instantly, but for games other than WoW/Rift/SWToR it's not gonna do much.

That package deal is not a good purchase since you could get i5-2500K CPU instead which is just as good for gaming and better motherboard, and save 50€ on top of it. 2600K will do absolutely nothing in gaming and costs 100€ more than 2500K.

so, besides WoW I won't really notice any difference? ( I'll play Mass Effect 3, Guild Wars 2 and other RPGs and Shooters )

EDIT:
Also, if I'm going to get a Intel board anyway and shouldn't go for this deal, should I wait for the Intel Ivy Bridge?

[Imbashiethz]

Both CPU's are 3.40ghz, is the intel CPU really that much better? 20-30 fps difference, really?

[Deleted]

Both CPU's are 3.40ghz, is the intel CPU really that much better? 20-30 fps difference, really?

frequency isnt all. point made. I'm oooooooout.

[DeltrusDisc]

Also, if I'm going to get a Intel board anyway and shouldn't go for this deal, should I wait for the Intel Ivy Bridge?

I think it is worth waiting. Ivy Bridge is likely ~2 months away and will have at least a slight boost in performance over Sandy and it will run cooler. The 965 BE CPU is not a bad CPU by any means, it is still a decent CPU, however we would not suggest someone buy it, but you're sitting on one already and it works, so I think it's worth it to wait for Ivy, there's no NEED to upgrade, unless you truly cannot bear to stay with the 965.

Both CPU's are 3.40ghz, is the intel CPU really that much better? 20-30 fps difference, really?

.... Frequency should not be the first thing you think about. It is different architecture and the 2600K has considerably better architecture, where yes, it would be a 20-30 fps increase. Don't believe me? Check this out:

lol apparently it's more like a 54 fps increase.

[Asera]

I went from a Phenom II to a Core i5 Sandy Bridge myself.

Honestly, outside of WoW and other CPU heavy games that rely mostly on the vastly superior single thread performance, I didn't notice too much of a difference that affected daily usage.

[Erous]

Even with the stock cooler you can push your Black Edition to at least 3.8 via the multiplier alone. You have a Black Edition and aren't using it to it's potential. However, I upgraded from the same processor to an i5 2500k and it really is night and day in terms of performance (better performance). The i7 is overkill for gaming, however I do wish I got one just for the added boost from hyper threading for multitasking.

[Deleted]

Are you serious Erous..? 3.8 on Phenom II x4 stock cooler... yeah right.
Im already getting 56*C on 3.2ghz with stock cooler during Bf3. the max being 62*C

[dicertification]

Well if you have the money to spare go for it. Personally if I were you I'd invest in a nice cooler and overclock that cpu. It's pretty straight forward, and if you aren't satisfied you could use that cooler on a 2500k and overclock it The 965 overclocked could easily tied you over until z77 and Ivy Bridge are on the market. That's what I'm waiting for personally. If you are doing 25 man raids and absolutely need higher graphics settings then go for a current SB setup.

But really outside of 25 man raids it's overkill unless you absolutely need to turn up the graphics settings. I have done lfr on my brothers 965 that he has at 3.8ghz and it's perfectly fine. I have a i7 920@4ghz. I offered to upgrade my gf's 2.6ghz rig and she asked "why?" because in her eyes it works perfectly fine, although she did mention the heavy AoE in a couple 25 man fights was noticeable.

[Erous]

Are you serious Erous..? 3.8 on Phenom II x4 stock cooler... yeah right.
Im already getting 56*C on 3.2ghz with stock cooler during Bf3. the max being 62*C

Definitely not joking. It was a solid OC with low temps for me. It's been awhile though since I've had the CPU so I don't have the specifics. It's been the easiest OC I've had with any processor and was relatively seemless. I did start losing stability after a few months of gaming with it at that clock, but other than that seemed to be fine.

I had an ASUS MB with an additional CPU fan on the side to blow air out, maybe this helped?

[Deleted]

A motherboard with an additional CPU fan....?
X_X

[DeltrusDisc]

A motherboard with an additional CPU fan....?
X_X

Probably for the North Bridge and/or South Bridge.

[Deleted]

Yeeah well i still doubt that a SB/NB cooler will help you OC your Phenom II to 3.8ghz on this

[Erous]

This was my old MB that I had that OC on:

ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP - motherboard - ATX - Socket AM2+ - AMD 790FX - Socket AM2+: http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CEsQ8gIwAQ

Surprised you can even find it anymore. The MB was able to swap between an AM2 to an AM3 chip with just a bios update and this MB is pretty old school.

[Shakadam]

I wouldn't recommend buying a new CPU for anyone right now. Ivy Bridge CPU's will hit the market on April 8th, I'd wait for that. Performance tests will arrive before that date as well.

[DeltrusDisc]

Ivy Bridge CPU's will hit the market on April 8th

Wait, where did you even hear this?

[Deleted]

Wait, where did you even hear this?

http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2011/2...n_April_8.html