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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:34    Post subject: Free hardware upgrade (for me) advice please
Ok so I'm currently running an i5-750 with 4GB DDR 1333MHZ with 2x 5850 cards running in crossfire.

HDD is a standard WD 7200 TB or 500GB drive, cant remember lol Smile

Anyway here is the question, I'm going have about 500 - 600 euro to spend without having to worry at all about how much time I've worked to earn etc, essentially free money for me going on a hardware upgrade for me.

The question.

I primarily play BF3 with a couple of other games, nothing special but GFX cards seem to be the most heavy requirement. Whilst CF seems to do me reasonably fine I'm not running by any means on Ultra settings for example in BF3, mostly high with a few settings off to get a really comfortable fps (most important thing for me)

The question, do I get rid of those 2 cards and buy myself a monster 7970 3GB card which costs around that currently (hahah)

Or do I grab an extra 4gb of DDR and a 128GB or 256GB SSD drive.

Really not sure what to do. I've never been in a position to buy the absolute best GFX card so its kinda a treat really.

Just wondering on the techies on what they think is a good idea. I mean ultimately I'm not 100% even with a 7970 at 1920 I'd be able to run everything at max at 60fps solid anyway.

Which kinda makes me think, is it really worth it?

Advice?

Smile
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sausje
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PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:38    Post subject:
I would personlly get rid of the crossfire setup (i know i got one, but i hate it).
But having SSD in your rig is a nice upgrade aswell

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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:42    Post subject:
Its not that i HATE the crossfire setup but its just never been as straight forward as I'd hoped, some games run great others run shit.... having to wait for driver updates for cf profiles etc. Eugh what an ass.

Instead a monster Single GPU, boom away it goes. But I'd be pretty damn disappointed if for example after buying one of those cards I was still left a bit MEH when playing something like BF3 if I couldnt run it on max 1920 res.

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sausje
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PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:43    Post subject:
Well it is better then the GTX580, so you should be able to play it maxed out at 1080p

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ixigia
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Location: Italy
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:48    Post subject:
I'm not techie at all but personally I'd just add 4GB ram and eventually a SSD. If the two cards in crossfire aren't a problem I would leave them alone Smile

edit: fuuu you're too fast Saus! fxd


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Last edited by ixigia on Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:51; edited 2 times in total
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sausje
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PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:49    Post subject:
ixigia wrote:
I'm not techie at all but personally I'd just add 4GB ram and eventually a SSD. If the two cards in sli aren't a problem I would leave them alone Smile



Confused Razz

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MinderMast




Posts: 6172
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 17:56    Post subject:
Well I would get the extra RAM in any case. Other than that, if it's gaming you want - GPU over the SSD.
For general day to day performance improvements - SSD is a must buy. You will notice more gain from that than from a new GPU.
7950 is about to hit the shelves, and it's likely to be oveclockable close to the stock 7970 levels. That and perhaps an upcoming Nvidia release might drive the prices down a little, if you can wait for that. Then "all of the above" might be the answer Smile

Edit: As far as BF3 goes, according to the reviews the 7970 can't exactly keep the steady 60fps with 1080p if MSAA is at 4x. Every other option it will handle fine maxed out. It might be a bit early to tell how well it does in MP though...
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sausje
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PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 18:06    Post subject:
MinderMast wrote:
Edit: As far as BF3 goes, according to the reviews the 7970 can't exactly keep the steady 60fps with 1080p if MSAA is at 4x. Every other option it will handle fine maxed out. It might be a bit early to tell how well it does in MP though...


Lol bullshit, so double HD6870 is better then a single HD7970? While the HD7970 was what, 20% better then a single GTX580?
Because i got steady 60 fps at 1080p, tho MSAA is at 2x, rest ultra. Does MSAA have THAT big of an impact then on AMD cards?

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Slizza




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Location: Bulgaria
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 18:16    Post subject:
wait for Kepler.

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MinderMast




Posts: 6172
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 18:21    Post subject:
sausje wrote:
MinderMast wrote:
Edit: As far as BF3 goes, according to the reviews the 7970 can't exactly keep the steady 60fps with 1080p if MSAA is at 4x. Every other option it will handle fine maxed out. It might be a bit early to tell how well it does in MP though...


Lol bullshit, so double HD6870 is better then a single HD7970? While the HD7970 was what, 20% better then a single GTX580?
Because i got steady 60 fps at 1080p, tho MSAA is at 2x, rest ultra. Does MSAA have THAT big of an impact then on AMD cards?

You say all that and then you casually add the 2x MSAA bit... I was specifically talking about 4x
MSAA has a huge impact in this game period... doesn't matter if it's AMD or Nvidia Smile
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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 18:38    Post subject:
Yeah I'm fairly sure running at 2x would give me a solid 60fps without an issue. The benchies going around is basically everything at maximum ultra where it doesnt give a solid 60fps. Really not convinced. Lot of money, yeah easy to say wait for this and wait for that.

But thats the neverending problem with hardware these days, there is always something better round the corner and "prices will drop on this when x comes out" which is true, but then its no longer the best gfx card and defeats the point right?

Another 4gb and an SSD would definately make things snappier in windows etc and give breathing room to bf3 which i find after long sessions makes my machine takes ages to recover after quitting out. Must be gobbling all that ram up like a hungry whore.

Like I said, suggestions and discussion is what I'm looking at here as its nice to get a broad view of opinions on the items in question.

i5 -3570k
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Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1
32GB of terrible skill @ FPS games.
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sausje
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PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 18:43    Post subject:
MinderMast wrote:
sausje wrote:
MinderMast wrote:
Edit: As far as BF3 goes, according to the reviews the 7970 can't exactly keep the steady 60fps with 1080p if MSAA is at 4x. Every other option it will handle fine maxed out. It might be a bit early to tell how well it does in MP though...


Lol bullshit, so double HD6870 is better then a single HD7970? While the HD7970 was what, 20% better then a single GTX580?
Because i got steady 60 fps at 1080p, tho MSAA is at 2x, rest ultra. Does MSAA have THAT big of an impact then on AMD cards?

You say all that and then you casually add the 2x MSAA bit... I was specifically talking about 4x
MSAA has a huge impact in this game period... doesn't matter if it's AMD or Nvidia Smile


Ah ok, misunderstood that then, tought it was AMD specific issue Razz
But jippy, ram shouldn't be the problem here, 4GB is what, 25 euros?! So basically you need to make your choice between better windows performance or better fps in games. Razz

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MinderMast




Posts: 6172
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 18:56    Post subject:
I am not the one to wait too long either, but it kinda goes in cycles. The 7950 is supposed to get released next week, for example, so it makes sense to wait until then at least.
And the Nvidia offering is a response to the current generation of cards, so it's not exactly like you are waiting for the next thing. Although Nvidia are lagging behind terribly right now, so I am less inclined to wait for their GPUs myself.

The thing about BF3 benches, is that almost all of them are from single player (although performance in MP is normally worse) and AMD is still working on getting things optimised with the drivers, so it's hard to say how it will perform realistically until you play it yourself. And again, MSAA impact is significant - it takes away over 20fps on each level on my 5870 (from 60-70 to around 40-45 with 2x, and low 20s with 4x). Ultra is 4xMSAA with highest FXAA setting (although FXAA has barely any impact).

And yeah, RAM shouldn't be much of a problem considering its prices... might as well get it not "for free" Smile
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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 19:14    Post subject:
Eheheheh true true true.
I've just put off grabbing the ram as its been a "yeah i'll get it when i get this or that" kinda thing.

I noticed that they've unlocked the 7950s to run at 7970 clocks. Considering I dont really ever OC my gfx cards anyway maybe just unlocked it and leaving it at the higher clock would save me the cash, possible to grab that and an ssd at same time? :O

Alternatively I could try and unlock my 5850s to 5870s but by now is that going to make a big difference performance wise? 4-5 fps maybe?

i5 -3570k
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Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1
32GB of terrible skill @ FPS games.
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MinderMast




Posts: 6172
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 19:25    Post subject:
I don't think it has been confirmed that those cards can be unlocked that way. They definitely can be overclocked to 7970 levels almost, but I didn't see anything about simply unlocking it by flashing. At least not with any tangible gains.

Edit: It seems that they did try flashing the 7970 BIOS on it, but I think it's too early to talk about the benefits of that vs simple overclocking until people get a closer look. Unless it actually unlocks something on a hardware level, OC should be safer.
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Slizza




Posts: 2345
Location: Bulgaria
PostPosted: Wed, 25th Jan 2012 20:39    Post subject:
jippyuk is confusing unlocking with overclocking.
Overclocking the chip to 5870 levels does not = 5780 performance though.

There will be a decent gain though running both cards overclocked.

You are in a position now where waiting for the cards that are being released is not much of a problem So it makes sense to hang fire as we are expecting large gain from the drop to 28nm and new architecture, at least from the nvidia camp.
You wouldn't want to buy a HD7950 in a week or so for it to be totally outclassed in its price range shortly after.
It's not the case that "there is always something just around the corner" because there isn't always something just around the corner..right now there is though.

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Paintface




Posts: 6877
PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 02:21    Post subject:
buy a 7950 and 128gb SSD like the crucial m4. no need to wait for anything else. oh and make sure you have that CPU OCed. The 2 videocards you have now you can sell.
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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 09:30    Post subject:
I've got a decent heatsink on this CPU and I know it can overclock decently. I've had it running at 3.8GHZ without a sniff but tbh I didnt really notice any improvements in terms of FPS in the games I tried.

Strange.

i5 -3570k
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Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1
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Slizza




Posts: 2345
Location: Bulgaria
PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 09:51    Post subject:
jippyuk wrote:
I've got a decent heatsink on this CPU and I know it can overclock decently. I've had it running at 3.8GHZ without a sniff but tbh I didnt really notice any improvements in terms of FPS in the games I tried.

Strange.

You will be GPU limited in those games.
You would be foolish to buy a HD7950 or HD7970 right now.
Especially with the GK104 expected to rival or beat a HD7950 in performance for a heap less cash.

Corsair 750D :: 750W DPS-G:: Asus x370 PRO :: R7 1800X ::16gb DDR4 :: GTX 1070::525gb SSD::Coolermaster 240MM AIO::
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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 09:58    Post subject:
Will sit tight a little then. How long we "supposadly" goign to be seeing those new cards, 3-4 months?

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Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1
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Werelds
Special Little Man



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PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 10:10    Post subject:
Best guess is still late March at the earliest, safer bet is somewhere in April.

Overclocking your CPU should raise your minimum FPS by a lot jippy (and thus counter microstuttering somewhat).

Also, unlocking indeed isn't the same as flashing a "higher" BIOS. A 6950 actually has a disabled cluster which you can reactivate; on the 7950 it seems they're laser cut again. Meaning they're simply not physically there.
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Slizza




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Location: Bulgaria
PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 10:11    Post subject:
Febuary for GK104.

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Werelds
Special Little Man



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PostPosted: Thu, 26th Jan 2012 10:24    Post subject:
If you say so.
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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 10:31    Post subject:
Outta interest then... SSDs

128GB / 256GB << any difference in read / write speeds between the capacity models?

Crucial M4 or OCZ as a new buyer. Granted I might have to update the firmware on either to latest before doing a new OS install. Wondering on advice as to which is faster generally.

Dont want to hear about When they came out these had shitloads of probs etc.

I wanna know if i buy either of these drives now, with latest firmware which is going to get better performance / reliability.

Much thanks
JiP

i5 -3570k
8GB DDR 3
Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Gaming G1
32GB of terrible skill @ FPS games.
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sausje
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PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 10:35    Post subject:
Both are quite equal, can't go wrong with either of them (M4 or Vertex3) Smile
So it's up to you what brand you have more faith in Smile

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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 10:51    Post subject:
Performance wise both very similar?

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Werelds
Special Little Man



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PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 10:59    Post subject:
Yep Smile

Bigger drives are typically a little faster, but don't buy a bigger one for that. only buy it if you need the space Smile
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jippyuk




Posts: 1507
Location: Malta
PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 11:03    Post subject:
Well 128 GB would probably server me okay i suppose. But with windows and maybe one or two games (purely for fast loading) put on there im already going to be using a good half i reckon.

I'd much rather the peace of mind for a little more space. Was just wondering whether there was noticable difference. Enda the day the difference between these and a HDD is huge so i doubt i'd notice the difference between the versions of ssd ehehe

I'm looking at the crucial tbh.

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jippyuk




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Location: Malta
PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 11:06    Post subject:
SSD OCZ Vertex 3 240GB 2.5" Lettura 550 MB/s Scrittura 525 MB/s SATA3 OCZVTX3-25SAT3-240G
SSD Crucial RealSSD M4 256GB 2.5" Lettura 415MB/s Scrittura 260MB/s Sata3 CT256M4SSD2

That correct about the read speed of the Crucial? seems a lot lower than that of the OCZ.

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sausje
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PostPosted: Fri, 27th Jan 2012 11:12    Post subject:
I come by with 120Gb just fine, windows on it and about 5 games (i keep switching games that i play active on that moment), usually around 9gb free space left Razz

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