I5-750 + RAM + MOBO?

[Guest]

Hello fellow Tom's Hardwarians.

I am planning on upgrading some of my current desktop's components for gaming purpose. The games I mostly play are World of Warcraft, League of Legends and Call of Duty 4/5/6.

I am looking to upgrade my CPU / RAM / MOBO to something that will stay viable for atleast another 1-2 years.

I feel the bottleneck of my rig is (correct me if I'm wrong) the CPU.

Currently, I'm using the following parts:
GPU - Asus EAH5770 CuCore
CPU - AMD Athlon x2 7750 BE @ 3.2ghz (Coolermaster Hyper TX3 CPU cooler, also possible to use for socket AM3/LG1156)
RAM - 3gb of ddr2-800 Kingston ValueRam
MOBO - ASRock K10N78M
PSU - OCZ StealthXstream 500W
I am using a microATX case.

For now my idea is to upgrade to:
CPU - i5-750 (planning on overclocking it to the 3.6-4.0 ghz range)
GPU - As soon as I need more graphic processing power I'd like to upgrade to a crossfire 5770 setup.
RAM - 4/6gb of ddr3-1333/1600
MOBO - Not yet decided.

My questions to you:
Would you think that using 6gb of RAM will improve my performance enough to be worth the cash?
Would you recommend using ddr3-1333 or ddr3-1600 (taking the OC in account)?
Would you consider it a smart idea to upgrade to a crossfire 5770 setup as soon as more gpu power is needed?
It would be great if you could recommend a MOBO.
It would be great if you could recommend a good RAM kit.

My budget for the complete set of the CPU, RAM and MOBO would be around 500 dollars.

Thanks a lot.

 

[falseg0d]

There is no real need for 6gb over 4gb. You won't really notice much of a difference.
DDR3 is DEFINITELY better than ddr2, and ddr2 is becoming obsolete.
if you want crossfire 5770 is a good way to go. If you don't mind spending more go for a 1gb GTX 460. I saw a benchmark and the 460 donimates the 5770.
I'll get back to you on your other questions

 

[falseg0d]

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

 

[MadAdmiral]

The bottleneck for gaming is hardly ever the CPU. That said, you have a good GPU already, so that shouldn't be the problem either. It would help to know what settings you're trying to play at, mainly the resolution, and what you consider a bottleneck.

1.) No. The i5 (and why not consider some AMD solutions?) uses dual channel RAM. Getting 6 GB would actually make the RAM run slower than getting 4 GB.

2.) 1600 mhz. Of course, you'll want CAS Latency 7 as well.

3.) Depends on the settings, but generally yes. Dual 5770s are really good and can handle almost every game at any detail level at higher resolutions. Of course, you'd need a new PSU for that, as 500W isn't enough and OCZ isn't that great of a brand for PSUs.

Here's your options for $500. I personally think AMD is the way to go, since Intel's bringing in new sockets by the end of the year, making the i5 obsolete.

Intel:

CPU: i5-750 $195
Mobo/RAM: Asus P7P55D-E Pro and Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $240 after rebate

Total: $435

AMD:

CPU: X4 955 $160 with $10 gift card
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H $140
RAM: Corsair XMS3 2x2 GB 1600 mhz CAS Latency 7 $95 after rebate

Total: $395 with $10 gift card

EDIT: @falsegod: Getting a 460 is a horrible idea. The OP already owns a 5770. If the OP switches to the 460, that'd be $200-230 more. For that money, the OP could buy another 5770 (actually for $65-95 less) and get nearly double the performance of a single 460. That makes recommending the 460 practically the worst recommendation possible. Why spend $200 for similar performance?

 

[falseg0d]

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412

 

[falseg0d]

If you go the AMD route go with a phenom ii 955. If you go the intel route go with the i5-750. Intel is better than AMD performance wise.

 

[falseg0d]

The 460 is better than the 5770, so I'm saying if he has the money he should go for it, If not the 5770 is a great contender. My next build will include a 5770, dual 5770s are quite beast.

 

[MadAdmiral]

The i5 is barely better the X4. However, in the real world (i.e. outside of benchmarks) the CPU makes practically no difference in gaming performance (max 2-3 FPS). The reason this isn't the case in benchmarks is they artificially handicap the builds to bring out the differences between the CPUs. If you set everything at normal settings, there wouldn't be any difference.

Also, that Gigabyte board wouldn't be good for adding a second GPU down the road. In fact, none of Gigabyte's P55 boards would be because you get either USB 3/SATA III support or Crossfire, not both. It's a problem found only in Gigabyte P55 boards, so they're to be avoided for the i5.

Again, the OP ALREADY OWNS A 5770. A single 460 isn't that much more powerful than a single 5770, and it certainly gets DESTROYED by two of them.

 

[falseg0d]

I posted that mobo with consideration that he went the single 460 instead of the dual 5770. I'm searching now.

 

[falseg0d]

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130298
I'm fairly new to intel, I've been trying to learn about it. Would that mobo be good?

 

[MadAdmiral]

It'd be alright, but I'm not a huge fan of MSI boards. They're what I consider second tier quality. Usually you want to stick to Asus and Gigabyte (regardless of socket) for the highest quality. After that, ASRock, MSI, and EVGA are the next best. Any other brand should be ignored.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the great replies people, though keep in mind I'm using a case suited for microATX boards.

 

[MadAdmiral]

Crap. Didn't notice that....

Here's a mATX i5 board: Asus Maximus III Gene (with same RAM) $215 after rebate (total is $410)

And here's an AMD one: MSI 890GXM-G65 $120 (total is $375 with $10 gift card).

I should point out that I couldn't find any mATX P55 boards with USB 3/SATA III support. They just don't see to exist...

 

[Guest]

To further clarify myself on my needs:

-About the bottleneck, I know that it is usually the GPU that bottlenecks a system, For World of Warcraft though, that is a whole different issue. WoW is very CPU heavy, especially when playing in 25-man raid environments (a group with 25 people playing together to defeat boss monsters). WoW supports upto 2 big threads, with the rest of them being used to handle small threads, so an i7 wouldn't make much sense (I guess) hence my choice for the i5.

-I am playing on 1600x1200, and would like to play games such as COD6 on max settings (guess upgrading my CPU wouldn't help much for that though) on 60-ish fps.

 

[promoth]

For 60fps at 1600x1200 gaming you should not need 2x crossfire 5770.

I just ordered an i5-750 system with a second 5770 to go with my 5770 vapor-x.
http://i.imgur.com/L5j2p.jpg
Mobo and case were the hardest parts for me.

ASUS SABERTOOTH 55i $114 after rebate
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=BD11454
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131601
This motherboard does not have usb3.0 or 6Gb/sec SATA. But is you need them you can get addon cards I guess.

The inside of the case sold me. It has some fan issues for some people with big CPU coolers.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10011751

 

[MadAdmiral]

WoW isn't anything heavy. It's about the least power hungry game you can get. If it needed a lot of CPU or GPU power, the majority of people playing wouldn't be able to play anymore. You would be perfectly fine with an X3 440 (about $75) and a single 5770 for WoW. That'd be enough to even play at higher resolutions.

You do realize that getting 60 FPS is pretty pointless right? Anything that's gets above 30 FPS minimum (or around 40 FPS on average) is perfectly smooth. Any FPS you get over 60 is wasted simply because the monitor won't be able to display it. Current monitors (unless you paid a massive amount for it) are 60 Hz models, which means they refresh 60 times per second (aka 60 FPS). The only thing paying more to get a GPU that lets you get over that is doing is inflating your benchmarks.