Keep x4 955 or upgrade to i5 2500k

[markuk1]

hello just wondering what i should do i currently have a x4 955 with a gtx 480 soc but i want to upgrade my motherboard to an atx and i would also like more performance i can sell my 480 for about £220 witch nearly pays for the 6870s what should i do

buy asus crosshair v £180+2 6870s £280 and keep the x4 955@4ghz a total £460-220 for gtx 480 = £240

buy i5 2500k £170 gigabyte mob o£160 keep gtx 480 soc and buy second one later on down the line when i can find one total £330 + gtx 480 later on when i can find one
for sale

the amd looks like the best deal but im not sure. would an i5 2500k give much more performance in games than the x4 955 i need help!!!!!

 

[nagol567]

I say stick with the 955 and upgrade your video card. What board do you currently have?

 

[markuk1]

msi 890gxm-g65 but i was hoping for to buy that asus board if i was sticking with amd

 

[casualbuilder]

the PhII4 is a great chip. i have one, and quite frankly, i dont see a big enough benefit from that to the i5 to spend $220 on it. Until you are running heavy SLI with GTX 570's or higher, i dont believe you will need anything more than that cpu. I may be mistaken, but i believe 2 GTX560's wouldnt bottleneck that chip. So, unless you are going extreme gaming rig, the PhII4 is plenty, and shouldnt need to be upgraded.

 

[jjb8675309]

yeah im in your guys same boat here with a P2 955 @ 4.0ghz and for me its not worth it to go SB and especially not BD after reading about the 8 core this morning, get a second gtx 480 and oc your cpu to high hell and enjoy some awesome performance...

Lets put it this way... my gtx 560ti is what holds me back in a couple games way before the cpu is ever a factor imo

in the end upgrading to an i5 2500k is not worth it imo, keep waiting buddu, at least that what im doing

I think it is capable of running 480s in sli and if there is any bottleneck with a nice oc on that cpu it will be small...

Upgrading to a next gen cpu will not net you nearly as much fps as upgrading your graphics subsystem, which ever route you may choose

 

[jjb8675309]

msi 890gxm-g65 but i was hoping for to buy that asus board if i was sticking with amd

oh nevermind my banter about sli 480s if your sticking with your current board, I have the same motherboard and you are limited crossfire... problem is midrange crossfire is a crap solution, so id keep your single 480, oc it and your cpu and wait for next gen of gpus, either that or buy a 990(x/fx) motherboard and run sli 560s (or 480s )

what psu do you have and what are the clock frequencies of your cpu and gpu? any oc's currently applied?

 

[casualbuilder]

^^ agreed. a second gpu, even a 480 will not bottleneck that chip much if at all. With an aftermarket HSF, like the new EVO thats out and extra fan ($50 total), you can easily take that cpu to the 4.0GHz+ range, and never need to upgrade until the Ivy Bridge platform. Seems like intel will be gaining a lot of AMD desktop builders in the next 2 years. I hope they have enough production lines to handle the increase in demand.

 

[jjb8675309]

I have mine at 4.0ghz with a CM hyper 212+ with 1.4v and in prime 95 maxed out temps never exceed 59C... so really a nice oc can be achived on a 30 dollar cpu cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

honestly I feel that the 955 gains a good deal of performance (and fps) when goign from stock to a nice overclock, my cpu could run 3.8ghz by just increasing the multiplier and running stock voltage, so to the OP you should start ocing that cpu and then the gpu

 

[jjb8675309]

even to this day the 955 is still a good value for the money lol you get like 90% of the performance (in gaming) of the i5 2500k and pay about half the price... for gaming that is..

 

[casualbuilder]

totally agreed jjb8675309. Best AMD gaming chip out there. Also, it has major OC capability just like the i5 2500k. So, i really think that the 955BE, or any chip in that series of PhII4's is a great buy. Im running mine at 4.12GHz on air and only 1.39v. I never have cpu bottlenecking in games, and plan to either buy a 2nd GTX560 or go with a full blown GTX580 or GTX590 with the GTX560 for physx (no sense in throwing out a perfectly awesome gpu).

 

[nagol567]

i dont see any reason to replace your board unless you are thinking about getting one of the new fx processors. having said that they are supposed to overclock to 4.5 on air over all cores.(and thats on the 8core model!) anywho. if your going with 955 stick with the board you got theres nothing you will gain from a AM3+ accept ability to have a FX.

 

[Mastervivi10]

I'd also recommend to stay with the 955BE and upgrade your Video Card.

 

[nagol567]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-crossfire-nvidia-sli-multi-gpu,2678-5.html

 

[markuk1]

yea i think every ones right here going intel just doesnt sit well with me for sum reason my 955 just feels so much more bang for buck. can any one suggest a good upgrade for my gtx 480 soc that are amd cards would 6850s/6870s give me good performance over the 480 @1920x1080

 

[jjb8675309]

^ in terms of raw performance maybe , but certainly not worth it given the putrid microstuttering that you will inevitably have to deal with, I had 6870 crossfire on my sig rig below and abandoned them bc of absolutely terrible microstuttering across multiple games and drivers, it was definatley not worth it...

 

[casualbuilder]

you're kidding right? amd better than a 480? im going to ignore that last comment. If you are going to spend $280+ on a vid card, get one to match your current. AMD will not touch that card for the price, and quite frankly, SLI is a much better set-up than spending the same amount for 1 card. Just my opinion.

 

[jjb8675309]

^ what the heck are you talking about you are very contradictory in your statement, im just saying that midrange crossfire is crap, sli is a different story, but id take a single 480 over dual 6850/70s anyday bc of the terrible inherent microstuttering of the 68XX series... clarify yourself im confused

 

[casualbuilder]

what i meant was this:

If you are going to spend close to $300 on a vid card, aka a 6950 or GTX480, why not spend it on a card you can actually team with the current. Reason i say this is that a 6950 is really the only option for spending that kind of money on AMD with the current 480 he already has, otherwise he is buying a lower quality card, which would force him to buy 2 anyways. So, in spending the $300, he can SLI 480's, therefore, getting double instead of buying AMD/ATI.

 

[jjb8675309]

ok ok yeah I agree if what you are saying that SLi 480s are the best option for the op just need a proper mobo and psu to do so

 

[nagol567]

sorry thought you had another card. but yea get another 480 if you wanna upgrade!