Core-i7 920 bottleneck new GPU?

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BadAtVidyagames

Commendable
Jul 21, 2016
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Hi everyone. Great place you've got here, been lurking for nearly a decade.
I'll get to the point. My rig is starting to struggle a bit to run newer games at max settings, and that just won't do considering I'm only playing at 1080p 60hz. So here's my dilemma; a new graphics card and a bit more RAM seems to be the obvious solution, but I'm still running a Core i7 920 D0. The thing works fantastic and I've never had any problems with it, but I'm concerned that we're at that point where it will start bottlenecking GPU's.
I would prefer to just buy a triple channel DDR3 RAM kit and either a GTX 1060 or 1070 - but would it really be worth it to upgrade the processor? This thing runs on a 1366 socket which means buying a new CPU will also require me to get a whole new motherboard. I'm not really looking to drop that amount of money right now.

So tl;dr would a 10 series Nvidia GPU hold me over for a few more years pretty well? Or do I really need to go all out and replace the mobo and CPU also? I'm not playing at 4k or anything so I'd like to think the GPU and RAM would be enough, but I figured I'd ask the experts. Thanks in advance.

Here's my specs:
Motherboard: ASUS P6T LGA 1366
PSU: CORSAIR Enthusiast Series CMPSU-850TX 850W
CPU: Core-i7 920 D0 with Xigmatek Dark Knight 2 cooler
RAM: OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3
HDD: Western Digital Black WD6401AALS 640GB x 2
SSD: Samsung 840 Evo
 
Solution
L
1. When buying graphics card, go for value for money. Literally divide the speed of the card by the cost, biggest number wins..
For example, you could compare speed of different GPU by using the passmark.com score, or you could read some reviews and use the fps on your favourite game for each card as a score.
IMHO an RX480 or a GTX970 are pretty good buys. Don't know how much a 1060 is going to cost yet.
Don't worry about bottlenecks, just get yourself a decent GPU and fit it to your PC.

2. Some games require a fast CPU, and some don't. Therefore try gaming with your new GPU. Probably your old i7 will be enough for most games. If you find some games where the CPU is going at near to 100% and the game is lagging, start saving for a new...
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helpstar

helpstar

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Dec 25, 2012
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A good friend of mine has an old i7 920 as well. He bought more ram and a gtx970 and he is totally fine with it. So a similar 10 series of NVIDIA and a triple channel ram kit would be great. The 920 is a very good CPU, it will bottleneck a bit though, but you shouldn't have to buy a complete new rig for a while.
 
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BadAtVidyagames

Commendable
Jul 21, 2016
13
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Awesome, that's what I was hoping to hear. I'd almost be sad to retire the 920 anyway, this thing has been doing it's job exceptionally well since I bought it in 2009.
I guess my question now would be, GTX 1060 or 1070? I'm thinking the 1060 is probably my best bet since it may not be ideal to throw so much money at a bottleneck. Is my thinking correct on that, or would a 1070 still provide a worthy performance increase over the 1060? I'm gonna hold off on a new mobo/CPU for as long as I possibly can so I'd like to get a GPU that will carry me through a few more years of high end gaming.

Additionally, I've heard mixed opinions on mixing RAM. I was thinking I could buy another 6GB kit of the RAM I currently have, but it's been discontinued. On the surface it would seem that as long as both kits have the same timings, there shouldn't be an issue, but I've read that mixing can in fact cause some instability. Is there any truth to that? If there is then I'll just buy a whole new 12GB kit, it's cheap enough that I don't want to risk anything.
 
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lodders

Admirable
Nov 2, 2015
1,888
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1. When buying graphics card, go for value for money. Literally divide the speed of the card by the cost, biggest number wins..
For example, you could compare speed of different GPU by using the passmark.com score, or you could read some reviews and use the fps on your favourite game for each card as a score.
IMHO an RX480 or a GTX970 are pretty good buys. Don't know how much a 1060 is going to cost yet.
Don't worry about bottlenecks, just get yourself a decent GPU and fit it to your PC.

2. Some games require a fast CPU, and some don't. Therefore try gaming with your new GPU. Probably your old i7 will be enough for most games. If you find some games where the CPU is going at near to 100% and the game is lagging, start saving for a new processor and motherboard. Your GPU will work great with a new CPU when you buy it.
 
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coozie7

coozie7

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Jun 2, 2007
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Lodders has pretty well nailed the GPU choices, but be aware, that old CPU IS going to hold back a fast card, even if it doesn't cards of the ( in ascending order of performance ) GTX970/RX 480/GTX1060 class are all good for 1080/60Hz gaming. look for the cheapest available if you plan on sticking with the current i7 for a while, if you plan on a big upgrade soon-say before the end of year-go for the GTX1060.

If you're running the system at stock speeds, consider overclocking the current i7, that cooler will handle the extra heat easily enough.

It's not a good idea to mix memory on those older 'boards, new gen parts are more tolerant of it so I suggest you follow helpstars' advice and go for a 3x4Gb kit.
 
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BadAtVidyagames

Commendable
Jul 21, 2016
13
0
1,510
I think I'm going to go with a 1060 as soon as third party versions are available, since it's a bit cheaper than the 970 anyway and looks to have better performance. Third party versions of it are gonna run around $250 which is perfect for me. I'll throw in a 3x4GB RAM kit and I think I should be set for a while. As some of you suggested, I'll just do a full mobo/CPU upgrade when I find my needs demand it. Maybe at the end of the year I'll be able to drop around ~$550 on a decent mobo and an i7-6700k. Until then I'm definitely going to consider overclocking my 920 if I find its holding back the 1060 in certain games. At the time of purchase (2009) this heatsink was the best air cooler around. I just never bothered overclocking because it hasn't seemed necessary yet. I've known for the last year or two that this was coming; I'm glad I've figured out a general idea for my upgrade path.
Thanks for all the help everyone
 
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