1. #1
    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    thinking about upgrading my motherboard.

    i currently have a intel core i3-2120 cpu @3.3 ghz.(not overclocked) i don't really play many modern games. (most modern one is guild wars 2/skyrim the rest are all from around the 1996-2006 era.) if i don't plan to acquire any new modern games would it be a good idea to upgrade my motherboard or is this good enough for my needs? the only problems i have is when i run gw2 it starts to heat up the computer a little bit whereas the other games dont really cause it get hot at all.(in fact it still stays at the same 30-40 celcius it is when idle when running the older games).

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    Moderator chazus's Avatar
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    The 2120 is a decent processor. I guess you'd be better off playing newer games and going "Do I need to upgrade?". The heat definitely isn't an issue. To be honest, I just upgraded from a much weaker CPU a few weeks ago, and even that system handled those games mostly fine. I upgraded mainly because... well... I could. I didn't NEED to.

    What GPU do you have?

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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chazus View Post
    The 2120 is a decent processor. I guess you'd be better off playing newer games and going "Do I need to upgrade?". The heat definitely isn't an issue. To be honest, I just upgraded from a much weaker CPU a few weeks ago, and even that system handled those games mostly fine. I upgraded mainly because... well... I could. I didn't NEED to.

    What GPU do you have?
    you mean video card? a nvidia 560 with 1gb ddr5 memory.(couldn't afford a beefier video card at the time.) im asking this question because there are a couple mmos/games im thinking of playing that would probably push my cpu/gpu. (thinking of playing tera online.)
    Last edited by breadisfunny; 2012-12-30 at 03:11 AM.

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    Moderator chazus's Avatar
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    560 isnt a bad card. Honestly, if you feel the games you play now are fine, I wouldn't worry about it all that much. Your system is better than what I just upgraded from, both CPU and GPU, so you ought to be fine if you want to save money.

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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chazus View Post
    560 isnt a bad card. Honestly, if you feel the games you play now are fine, I wouldn't worry about it all that much. Your system is better than what I just upgraded from, both CPU and GPU, so you ought to be fine if you want to save money.
    then i guess my next question is how much a fps upgrade in gw2/tera/wow would i get if i were to upgrade either my motherboard or gpu to say a i-5/nvidia 660? currently in gw2 i can play on medium settings but any higher and it starts getting hot/slows down.

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    i5 2500k or i5 3570k with a 660 or her you could play wow i know on ultra with almost constant 60 and over fps.
    did on my i5 2500k and gtx 570 still do even after CPU upgrade i made.

    Not sure about guild wars 2 though never tried it also i play at 1920 1080 so also depends on your resolution but anything that and under should be superb performance.
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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Seiz View Post
    i5 2500k or i5 3570k with a 660 or her you could play wow i know on ultra with almost constant 60 and over fps.
    did on my i5 2500k and gtx 570 still do even after CPU upgrade i made.

    Not sure about guild wars 2 though never tried it also i play at 1920 1080 so also depends on your resolution but anything that and under should be superb performance.
    most of my old games i play on either 1020x640 (mostly because they wont go any higher.) or 1660x660.(my monitor isn't that good and won't go any higher.) how big a jump in resolution is it from 1660x660 to 1920x1080? is there a visual comparison?

  8. #8
    I don't know for me you don't seem like you really need it. That set up will be fine for tera and probably a few years to come, just wont be playing games on max settings with mad FPS. Upgrading is up to you, if you see yourself deciding to get more into modern games start upgrading now and overtime instead of having to pay a lot at one point to catch up. But if you continue your trend of playing older titles but still want to upgrade go for cheaper 1-2 generation old equipment enough to play the games you want but not enough to break the bank : )

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    Moderator chazus's Avatar
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    I have an i5 3570K and Geforce 660 (non ti), and I just popped on GW2, and with everything set to High, I was getting 60-70fps. I changed one thing to ultra (not sure which) and it dropped to 40. But high is still pretty nice.

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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    okay regardeding resolution is there anywhere to get a visual comparison between 1660x660 resolution and 1920x1080 or is it not very significant? i can easily tell the difference between the 800x600/800x400 resolutions and 1000x600 v.s. 1600x600 resolutions.

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    Keyboard Turner
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    Quote Originally Posted by breadisfunny View Post
    most of my old games i play on either 1020x640 (mostly because they wont go any higher.) or 1660x660.(my monitor isn't that good and won't go any higher.) how big a jump in resolution is it from 1660x660 to 1920x1080? is there a visual comparison?
    In this situation, a more logical move would be the display. 1660 x 660 vs 1920 x 1080 is a night/day difference. Should be able to snag a decent Asus/HP/Dell/Samsung/ or LG monitor in the range of $150-200 easily that would make a big difference and won't tax your video card.

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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Harukotosh View Post
    In this situation, a more logical move would be the display. 1660 x 660 vs 1920 x 1080 is a night/day difference. Should be able to snag a decent Asus/HP/Dell/Samsung/ or LG monitor in the range of $150-200 easily that would make a big difference and won't tax your video card.
    i guess that will have to be the next thing i upgrade. though my monitors have a nasty habit of burning out after 2 years.

  13. #13
    First of all, why are you talking about upgrading the motherboard when it has almost nothing to do with gaming performance? Also you haven't even said what kind of motherboard you have.

    1660x660 is not a real resolution for a monitor, there is something wrong there to begin with. 1660x660 would turn out to be something like 25:10 aspect ratio which is way too wide for a normal monitor.

    Your current CPU is powerful enough to play all MMOs on the current market so there is really no point in upgrading that right now.
    Your current GPU is also fine for running most MMOs on high settings.

    If you are having heat issues then it is time to open up your computer and clean it out with a can of compressed air.
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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    i know it is 1600x600 i can't remember the exact number.
    i am asking about the motherboard because the newer mmos have higher requirements and therefore i was wondering if upgrading my motherboard would impact performance.
    the motherboard is asrock, (is there anyway to find out which specific one without restarting/opening up the computer. it doesnt say in system specs in the control panel?)
    i only have heat issues with guild wars 2.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by breadisfunny View Post
    i know it is 1600x600 i can't remember the exact number.
    i am asking about the motherboard because the newer mmos have higher requirements and therefore i was wondering if upgrading my motherboard would impact performance.
    the motherboard is asrock, (is there anyway to find out which specific one without restarting/opening up the computer. it doesnt say in system specs in the control panel?)
    i only have heat issues with guild wars 2.
    Upgrading your motherboard will have no impact on your gaming performance, upgrading your CPU or GPU will.

    1600x600 is still a really funky resolution and highly unlikely. Perhaps you are thinking of 1680x1050, 1600x1200 or 1024x600.

    CPU-z or Speccy can tell you what motherboard you are using.

    When it comes to the heat problem how much heat are we talking? What temperatures for what parts? Intel CPUs can handle above 70C easy and most Geforce GPUs can handle 100C though below 90C is prefered.
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    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    aren't a motherboard and a cpu the same thing?
    the motherboard is asrock h61m/u3s3
    cpu is intel core i3 2120 3.3ghz
    the highest options for my resolution is 1600x900. some others are 1366x768 and 1360x768 and 1280x1024.
    the heat is usually around 59celcius to low 70s celcius.
    Last edited by breadisfunny; 2013-01-01 at 12:46 AM.

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