My friend is currently upgrading his rig with new parts and the time has come to replace his aging Two-Way SLI GTX 275s. This will be a long thread, so prepare to get those reading glasses ready...
First of all, the Specs
Case: NZXT Phantom 410
PSU: Seasonic X850
GPU1: MSi Lightning GTX 275 1792MB
GPU2: EVGA GTX 275 1792MB
Heatsink: Corsair H100
Motherboard: EVGA 790i Ultra SLI
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 @3.8GHz
Section 1: The CPU
The QX9650 (AKA: The 3930K of 2007) is equivalent to an i5-760, the difference between an i5-750 and i5 2500K with a GTX 580 was a whopping TWO FPS in Battlefield 3. Due to it's age, we have decided by the next tick (Broadwell) he will get something to replace the somewhat aging QX9650.
Note: Before you scream "You have a huge bottleneck, get a 3970X and a Sabertooth X79." Read the above and please remember we do not have an unlimited amount of money to spend.
Section 2: The GPU upgrade..
Currently, with his GTX 275 SLI Setup, the card is becoming too impractical and is missing out on DX11, due to these reasons, he wants a new card that will give him both a good performance boost and better power efficiency/noise. Due to his good experience with ATI 4870s, he is open for both Nvdia and AMD Graphics Cards. With his budget of $500, I would have recomended a Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 in a heartbeat, should it have been a single 275, but since GTX 275 SLI=~GTX 460 SLI=~1.5 GB GTX 580. These factors cause me to not be so sure that a 7970 would really be that big of an upgrade that he is also striving for. Although the new features of Southern Islands and DX11 are great, I am fearing the main gaming performance will not be increased so much or will it be a great/massive increase? What are some options he could consider that within the budget?
First of all, the Specs
Case: NZXT Phantom 410
PSU: Seasonic X850
GPU1: MSi Lightning GTX 275 1792MB
GPU2: EVGA GTX 275 1792MB
Heatsink: Corsair H100
Motherboard: EVGA 790i Ultra SLI
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333
CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 @3.8GHz
Section 1: The CPU
The QX9650 (AKA: The 3930K of 2007) is equivalent to an i5-760, the difference between an i5-750 and i5 2500K with a GTX 580 was a whopping TWO FPS in Battlefield 3. Due to it's age, we have decided by the next tick (Broadwell) he will get something to replace the somewhat aging QX9650.
Note: Before you scream "You have a huge bottleneck, get a 3970X and a Sabertooth X79." Read the above and please remember we do not have an unlimited amount of money to spend.
Section 2: The GPU upgrade..
Currently, with his GTX 275 SLI Setup, the card is becoming too impractical and is missing out on DX11, due to these reasons, he wants a new card that will give him both a good performance boost and better power efficiency/noise. Due to his good experience with ATI 4870s, he is open for both Nvdia and AMD Graphics Cards. With his budget of $500, I would have recomended a Sapphire Vapor-X 7970 in a heartbeat, should it have been a single 275, but since GTX 275 SLI=~GTX 460 SLI=~1.5 GB GTX 580. These factors cause me to not be so sure that a 7970 would really be that big of an upgrade that he is also striving for. Although the new features of Southern Islands and DX11 are great, I am fearing the main gaming performance will not be increased so much or will it be a great/massive increase? What are some options he could consider that within the budget?