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  1. #1

    i7 920 to i5 3570k, worth it for me?

    Looking for some feedback on whether it's good sense to upgrade or not

    currently running:
    i7 920 stock 2.66
    6gb ram
    x58 asus mobo
    560ti
    win7

    looking to upgrade to:
    i5 3570k (will use automated overclock)
    16gb ram
    z77 gigabyte ud3h
    560ti (re-using)
    win8

    I am currently only playing WoW, I know my system handle WoW just fine, but having tried gw2, swtor and even diablo3, my system chugs heavily

    Right now, I am using two monitors, one for WoW, the other for other stuff, mostly streams(youtube, netflix, hulu, sports etc), and when I full screen the stream, my WoW would run at around 30fps(WoW stays in the foreground, so it's not the throttle kicking in).

    With this upgrade, I hope to accomplish a few things.
    1. WoW at constant 100fps even in raids (I will be picking up a 120hz monitor sometime in the future)
    2. WoW fps not dip by half whenever I fullscreen a stream on 2nd monitor

    Looking for folks more knowledgeable than me for some feedback! thanks!

  2. #2
    1. No processor on the market gets above 100 fps in raids in WoW. None of them can even stay above 60 fps in 25 man, at least not on ultra.

    2. There are options in your media viewer and in wow that will stop that from happening. Make sure WoW's background fps is not limited, and disable hardware acceleration in your media viewer.

    ---------- Post added 2012-11-08 at 04:43 PM ----------

    That being said, yes, you will see a huge performance boost by stepping up to Ivy, especially if you get an aftermarket cooler and do some overclocking. The difference is night and day.

  3. #3
    A more cost-effective way is to buy a 20-30 US$ or comparable heatsink and overclock it to 3.6-4.2 GHz depending on the particular quality of that specific i7 920; If you're not comfortable overclocking, just remind yourself that you are in minds of replacing it already, meaning if it does go wrong (which it shouldn't) you can just shell out those monies anyway.
     

  4. #4
    And, adding to what tetris is saying, you could use that same heatsink on your new purchase, and any others for years to come.

  5. #5
    I actually tried this last year, and because I don't know what I'm doing, I stepped up to a mild overclock, 3.2ghz, did the tests, and everything was fine... until I watched a youtube video, my computer froze, I dropped it to 3.0ghz and it happened again, so because I'm a novice, I decided to stop playing with it as to not brick the thing. I have a i7 920 'd0', which basically is the easiest thing to overclock according to forums like overclock.net ... I guess I just suck?

    Quote Originally Posted by tetrisGOAT View Post
    A more cost-effective way is to buy a 20-30 US$ or comparable heatsink and overclock it to 3.6-4.2 GHz depending on the particular quality of that specific i7 920; If you're not comfortable overclocking, just remind yourself that you are in minds of replacing it already, meaning if it does go wrong (which it shouldn't) you can just shell out those monies anyway.
    How much of a factor will my aging GPU be in sustaining high fps in WoW?

  6. #6
    A 560ti is plenty enough to sustain high FPS at high/ultra settings in WoW.

  7. #7
    Your video card is fine for WoW. A VGA upgrade will not improve your performance that much at all. Overclocking or replacing your processor is your best bet for WoW.

  8. #8
    Brewmaster juzalol's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Royals Ego View Post
    I actually tried this last year, and because I don't know what I'm doing, I stepped up to a mild overclock, 3.2ghz, did the tests, and everything was fine... until I watched a youtube video, my computer froze, I dropped it to 3.0ghz and it happened again, so because I'm a novice, I decided to stop playing with it as to not brick the thing. I have a i7 920 'd0', which basically is the easiest thing to overclock according to forums like overclock.net ... I guess I just suck?



    How much of a factor will my aging GPU be in sustaining high fps in WoW?
    Your crashing was probably caused by Adobe Flash.

    Open a random youtube video -> Right click on it -> Settings -> Disable hardware acceleration.

    Then try again with your overclocking.

  9. #9
    Herald of the Titans Maruka's Avatar
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    I upgraded those from the stock 920 to a 3570k which is now easily at 4.6 ghz and there is a massive difference, i dont regret it at all. Could probably roll with 8gbs of ram and use the extra money for a newer gpu like a 660ti.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Royals Ego View Post
    I actually tried this last year, and because I don't know what I'm doing, I stepped up to a mild overclock, 3.2ghz, did the tests, and everything was fine... until I watched a youtube video, my computer froze, I dropped it to 3.0ghz and it happened again, so because I'm a novice, I decided to stop playing with it as to not brick the thing. I have a i7 920 'd0', which basically is the easiest thing to overclock according to forums like overclock.net ... I guess I just suck?



    How much of a factor will my aging GPU be in sustaining high fps in WoW?
    No, you are just unfamiliar with it. Patience and stress-testing to verify its stability is key. And fiddling with vCore and FSB and multiplier. Congrats on getting a d0.

    Your GPU? No, in raids your CPU will be what's holding you back regardless of what you upgrade and how; Even with the i5-3570K. It's too many units and spells to render.
     

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by juzalol View Post
    Your crashing was probably caused by Adobe Flash.

    Open a random youtube video -> Right click on it -> Settings -> Disable hardware acceleration.

    Then try again with your overclocking.
    wish I had known about this before...

    I'm sensing overwhelming performance bump by upgrading, and you guys just assured me of that, so that's probably what I'll do

    I appreciate all the expert feedback! Thanks!

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Royals Ego View Post
    wish I had known about this before...

    I'm sensing overwhelming performance bump by upgrading, and you guys just assured me of that, so that's probably what I'll do

    I appreciate all the expert feedback! Thanks!
    That's not what most of us have been saying; It looks more like you were trying to justify what you had already decided to do. And if so, all's well

    I'm not saying you won't notice it, but the performance boost going to a stock i5 3570K will be about the same as if you overclocked the i7 920 to 4.0 GHz.
    If you'd overclock the i5 3570K as well, that's different. But the performance upgrade for the money spent... so-and-so.
     

  13. #13
    Simple answer -> As gamer, you should NEVER upgrade your CPU unless the CPU bottlenecks your graphics card. CPU's are really not interesting for gamers, aslong as it doesn't bottleneck the GPU.

    Forget a 3570k, the cpu you have currently isn't bottlenecking a gtx 680 and for sure not your gtx 560ti.

    I don't see any reason for an upgrade.

    You can try to overclock the CPU but you really need to get rid of the stock cooler if using it.

    Check this i7 920 overclocked at 4.2GHz with a cinebench 11.5 score equal to a 2600k stock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag1wvFzad6o

    You're complety right about the d0 stepping. That 0 is just awesome. The Q9550 e0 stepping was a machine in overclocking compared to the C1 stepping of that cpu. Q9550 C1 at stock needed like 1.25V while the Q9550 e0 only needed 1.075V. The nullies weren't dummies!

    If you try to overclock that CPU, bear in mind you really have to learn a lot about it. You just can't set the voltages at auto and just increase the FSB. I pulled 4.4GHz 24/7 @1.4V stable with my Q9550 e0

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Faithh View Post
    Simple answer -> As gamer, you should NEVER upgrade your CPU unless the CPU bottlenecks your graphics card. CPU's are really not interesting for gamers, aslong as it doesn't bottleneck the GPU.

    Forget a 3570k, the cpu you have currently isn't bottlenecking a gtx 680 and for sure not your gtx 560ti.

    I don't see any reason for an upgrade.
    This might be true for a lot of other games but since he is mainly playing WoW upgrading the CPU over the GPU is the better way.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Faklor View Post
    This might be true for a lot of other games but since he is mainly playing WoW upgrading the CPU over the GPU is the better way.
    In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless. If this game only uses 2 cores, an overclock is helpful but if it's using more than 4 orsomething OC is pointless as well.

    This game is really crap programmed and bad optimized.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Faithh View Post
    In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless. If this game only uses 2 cores, an overclock is helpful but if it's using more than 4 orsomething OC is pointless as well.

    This game is really crap programmed and bad optimized.
    Its pretty much the general consensus around the internet and these forums that WoW and most mmos are more cpu dependent (which are the games hes talking about playing). Whether he decides to oc his 920 or just move on to a 3570k there will be more of a noticable difference than him switching to a new video card. And ivy bridge OC on z77 is so easy that my non computer knowledgeable wife could get 4.2 stable lol. He wont get the 100 fps in 25s hes wanting no matter what he goes 3770k 3570k or 920 oc at 4.0 or gtx 680 but still will have a noticable difference in fps in general.
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  17. #17
    I am Murloc! Cyanotical's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Faithh View Post
    In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless. If this game only uses 2 cores, an overclock is helpful but if it's using more than 4 orsomething OC is pointless as well.

    This game is really crap programmed and bad optimized.
    i thought we went over this, wow is not limited to 2 cores, and the primary limitation is the number of instructions processed per cycle

    and it takes some serious gpu power to truly bottleneck your graphics
    Last edited by Cyanotical; 2012-11-09 at 01:46 AM.

  18. #18
    Since the i7-920 is a decent processor, you could wait for Haswell to come out then make a decision. Otherwise, you'll be buying an Ivy Bridge on the tail end of the generation.

  19. #19
    Brewmaster Biernot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Faithh View Post
    In 25 raids with any cpu currently @ ultra -> CPU usage 20-25% and GPU usage 30-50%. So going for a new CPU is pointless. If this game only uses 2 cores, an overclock is helpful but if it's using more than 4 orsomething OC is pointless as well.

    This game is really crap programmed and bad optimized.
    I know that i am talking against a wall here, but....

    You probably have an i7, and as such have 8 logical cores. WoW uses two main threads and some minor ones on the side. Those two main threads will stress one core each to nearly 100%, while the other six are more or less on idle. So your cpu usage during wow looks a lot like this:

    Core 0: 97%
    Core 1: 05%
    Core 2: 95%
    Core 3: 03%
    Core 4: 00%
    Core 5: 00%
    Core 6: 00%
    Core 7: 00%

    If you take the average load, you will end up with ~25% and that is what windows and other monitoring programs will tell you your usage is. So despite the fact, that your cpu is only running at a forth of it's theoretical performance, it still is bottlenecking your GPU. Because of the simple fact, that the two main threads of WoW can't be split up to use more cores.
    Why do something simple, when there is a complicated way?
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  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Cyanotical View Post
    i thought we went over this, wow is not limited to 2 cores, and the primary limitation is the number of instructions processed per cycle

    and it takes some serious gpu power to truly bottleneck your graphics
    Don't get confused by Nvidia's threaded optimization. I'm pretty sure you have it set to auto and in WoW it gets automatically enabled. The game only uses 2 main threads. CPU is not hiting it's limit or whatever the 2 main threads are.

    "it takes some serious gpu power to truly bottleneck your graphics" Uh? I didnt get that sentence. GPU power bottlenecking your graphics? So you mainly mean that a GPU Ati 2430hd is bottlenecking in wow?

    Quote Originally Posted by Biernot View Post
    I know that i am talking against a wall here, but....

    You probably have an i7, and as such have 8 logical cores. WoW uses two main threads and some minor ones on the side. Those two main threads will stress one core each to nearly 100%, while the other six are more or less on idle. So your cpu usage during wow looks a lot like this:

    Core 0: 97%
    Core 1: 05%
    Core 2: 95%
    Core 3: 03%
    Core 4: 00%
    Core 5: 00%
    Core 6: 00%
    Core 7: 00%

    If you take the average load, you will end up with ~25% and that is what windows and other monitoring programs will tell you your usage is. So despite the fact, that your cpu is only running at a forth of it's theoretical performance, it still is bottlenecking your GPU. Because of the simple fact, that the two main threads of WoW can't be split up to use more cores.
    Haha you aren't talking to a wall

    Actually I'm loving it that you actually understand that the cpu is bottlenecking the gpu due to the limited threads.

    Well you're right that the game uses 2 main threads and others just taking some work off. You could notice it I've said "20-25%" and in my earlier posts that the cpu never exceeded the 25%.

    Big +1 for you

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