Nearing Upgrade time

[jholdaway]

I was just trying to keep it in your budget. I'm using a GTX 660 and I love it but I don't play Rift though. If you're willing to pay a little more I would go with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

[Lathais]

Ok, so I am between this:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($184.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $464.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-08 14:29 EST-0500)

or this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 660 2GB Video Card ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
Total: $479.97
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-08 14:30 EST-0500)

Both fall within budget, though obviously the less I can spend the better. The real question is, how much of an upgrade would either of those be over my current Radeon 6850? Is it small enough that I could not upgrade now and wait until I can grab the 670 I really want? I am fairly certain it is mostly my CPU holding me back in Rift, not necessarily the GPU, so as long as I could turn things up from low-medium/high while raiding with the 6850 I would be happy.

Edit: oops, left cooler out, so add about $30 to each of those. Leave the first option right at budget and the second at $10 over, not bad.

[jholdaway]

I wouldn't go with a single fan Evga gpu as they tend to get really hot. I'm using the http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o05_s00_i00 and it seems to stay pretty cool but there are ones out there that have better cooling. If it would save you a little bit of money I will have a Cooler Master Evo 212 cooler for sale hopefully by next week. I still haven't made up my mind on which watercooler I'm going to get.

[Lathais]

Hmm, wasn't looking at the fan on GPU:

so there's the one you recommended: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/evga-vi...rd-02gp42663kr
or how about this: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-vid...d-n660tf2gd5oc with the TwinFrozrIII?

[jholdaway]

I would go with the MSI as it is cheaper and has a better cooler or the one I posted previously http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

[Lathais]

I would go with the MSI as it is cheaper and has a better cooler or the one I posted previously http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

Link not working, but the one you previously linked is the first one I linked.

[jholdaway]

This is the gpu I was referring to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

[Lathais]

This is the gpu I was referring to http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3938566&SID=

Ah, that makes more sense. I think I'll stick with the MSI, I have no personal experience with Gigabyte, not they I have heard anything bad about them either though. I have had experience with MSI and have heard lots good about them as well. Thanks for your help.

[Gorehowl]

if you can swing it, a gigabyte ghz ed 7870 is one of the best mid price cards ive ever used, the windforce cooler makes it so you dont have to go after market cooling on it, and its extremely quiet, it also overclocks really well. I had mine for a while and im holding on to it just incase i make a second rig that i can use it in. its about 40-50 dollars more though so if youre dead set on the prices then ignore this :P 7870 will get you high fps on most games on ultra at 1920x1080 also.

[DeltrusDisc]

As a fellow Rift-player, and how I know you play Rift a lot.

I seriously suggest sticking to NVidia, I've heard a lot of negativity from AMD GPU-users in Rift. It's unfortunate because AMD offers a lot of better-budgeted GPUs than NVidia, but Rift seriously seriously prefers NVidia and it shows.

I know one guy in Terrible Idea said how his old 8800 or 9800 GT plays Rift better than a far newer AMD HD 6870. That's like a 4-5 generation difference. >_<

MSI and Gigabyte are both good, but I've been hearing better about Gigabyte, more recently, though I think you're good with either.

[Lathais]

As a fellow Rift-player, and how I know you play Rift a lot.

I seriously suggest sticking to NVidia, I've heard a lot of negativity from AMD GPU-users in Rift. It's unfortunate because AMD offers a lot of better-budgeted GPUs than NVidia, but Rift seriously seriously prefers NVidia and it shows.

I know one guy in Terrible Idea said how his old 8800 or 9800 GT plays Rift better than a far newer AMD HD 6870. That's like a 4-5 generation difference. >_<

MSI and Gigabyte are both good, but I've been hearing better about Gigabyte, more recently, though I think you're good with either.

How many of those AMD problems were solved by that driver update not long ago that I read about. I remember reading an article that WoW players saw upwards of 20+FPS gains off a driver update. Totally insane IMO and one reason I kinda wish to avoid AMD altogether, but seeing as I already have a 6850 taht already plays decently outside of raids and conquest, would just upgrading the CPU be worthwhile and waiting to get a 670 until I can afford it or waiting for the 7xx series around Oct?

[DeltrusDisc]

How many of those AMD problems were solved by that driver update not long ago that I read about. I remember reading an article that WoW players saw upwards of 20+FPS gains off a driver update. Totally insane IMO and one reason I kinda wish to avoid AMD altogether, but seeing as I already have a 6850 taht already plays decently outside of raids and conquest, would just upgrading the CPU be worthwhile and waiting to get a 670 until I can afford it or waiting for the 7xx series around Oct?

I think the 7xx series will be out before Oct, but it's often suggested to update every other generation, or even less commonly, because the jump from one generation to the next seems to often be very little. If your current 6850 is working well enough for you, I'd definitely suggest new CPU.

What CPU was it you're using? Rift is both CPU and GPU intensive, so.

Also, WoW and Rift are coded quite a bit different and while I'm not sure how that recent driver did, I do know that WoW players and Rift players have extremely different experiences and Rift players need to pay more attention to their graphics card than WoW. Rift uses more VRAM and GPU-core resources than WoW, that's for sure.

[Lathais]

I think the 7xx series will be out before Oct, but it's often suggested to update every other generation, or even less commonly, because the jump from one generation to the next seems to often be very little. If your current 6850 is working well enough for you, I'd definitely suggest new CPU.

What CPU was it you're using? Rift is both CPU and GPU intensive, so.

Also, WoW and Rift are coded quite a bit different and while I'm not sure how that recent driver did, I do know that WoW players and Rift players have extremely different experiences and Rift players need to pay more attention to their graphics card than WoW. Rift uses more VRAM and GPU-core resources than WoW, that's for sure.

I have an AMD Phenon x4 965 Black Edition 3.4

I know they are different, but that driver update may have helped Rift as well. My current card is a 1GB Radeon HD 6850, so only 1 generation old. Since it is only 1 generation old I was thinking I may be able to wait, though it is also only a 1GB, so leaves me questioning myself.

EDIT: also, the reason I said Oct was this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Rad...ion,20838.html

[DeltrusDisc]

I have an AMD Phenon x4 965 Black Edition 3.4

I know they are different, but that driver update may have helped Rift as well. My current card is a 1GB Radeon HD 6850, so only 1 generation old. Since it is only 1 generation old I was thinking I may be able to wait, though it is also only a 1GB, so leaves me questioning myself.

EDIT: also, the reason I said Oct was this article: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Rad...ion,20838.html

Oh my. First I've seen that article.

Damn it NVidia/AMD. For shame!

I would definitely upgrade your CPU, you'd see a considerable increase in performance across the board in several different applications/situations.

I'm sure you've seen it, but here's your CPU vs the i5-3570K in several situations: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=701

As you can tell, almost double the performance in WoW, it's pretty ridiculous. lol

And yeah, unless you could buy a 670-680/7950-7970, your biggest upgrade would definitely be in the CPU department.

[Lathais]

Oh my. First I've seen that article.

Damn it NVidia/AMD. For shame!

I would definitely upgrade your CPU, you'd see a considerable increase in performance across the board in several different applications/situations.

I'm sure you've seen it, but here's your CPU vs the i5-3570K in several situations: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=701

As you can tell, almost double the performance in WoW, it's pretty ridiculous. lol

And yeah, unless you could buy a 670-680/7950-7970, your biggest upgrade would definitely be in the CPU department.

ok, well, in that case I think I'll save my money for now and wait for the next gen seeing as mine isn't that old. Or at least just see how well I can do with just CPU upgrade then worry about vid card later.

@Delt: You playing PoE? PM your details if you are, I am too.

[DeltrusDisc]

Yeah, go for the mobo, CPU, and if you need RAM too, for now, I'm sure it'll be more an exceptional upgrade! I know I moved to an i5-2500K from a E-5200 dual core, and the jump was INSANE. It's when you get these big 50-100% increases in performance that it's just such an insane feeling of fresh speedy computer use.