U2711 - upgrade GFX card for SC2 gameplay

[itsgrandpa]

I've been considering getting a 2560x1440/1600 monitor for almost 2 years now. It seems that the U2711 for just under $800 is a steal, but I'm not certain if my rig will be able to keep up.

I'm currently running:
920 @ stock
6gb ram
p6t v2 deluxe
sapphire 5850 @ stock
corsair 850HX

I primarily play starcraft 2 and I could not find any reliable benchmarks for SC2 at 2560x1440, even less for comparing single/mutli card configurations.

I want to keep my budget under $1,000 so I'm considering:
- Cross-firing the 5850 and/or overclocking the card(s).

- Overclock my 920 back to 3.3 (perhaps higher if needed)

As of now, gaming on my u2311 my frame rates dip down around 30 with high settings but average in the high 50's.

I would like to utilize the most out of the game by turning all the graphics to ultra. I would love to hear about anyone experience on a 2560x screen.

Edit:
Here was the bench that works but lacks CF benches. Running 980x
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3987/amds-radeon-6870-6850-renewing-competition-in-the-midrange-market/10

Also if I were to CF 5850's I may need water cooling which I am on the fence about.

 

[gmcizzle]

Definitely overclock your 920, it's begging you to. Get a good aftermarket CPU cooler if you are using the stock one first though. As for your GPU, I'll see if I can find some SCII benchmarks.

 

[gmcizzle]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850-barts,2776-14.html

It seems SC2 is very CPU limited, so I would overclock your 920 as far as possible as see what performance you get from that.

 

[itsgrandpa]

And that's with the 920 overclocked to 3.61 GHz - which is very close to your's...
Did you change/fix the voltage? Did you run your 920 at a higher clocks?

 

[lemlo]

I think your cpu and ram are fine. Though more ram could definitly help a little with the larger resolutions. I have run an i7 875k and a 2600k, both overclocked with dual 580's and the cpu will not bottleneck you much. No real noticeable amount.

I run a u3011 at 2560x1600 with dual gtx580's and am pretty happy with the performance so long as the program is run in full screen exclusive mode. I like to run windowed maximized as i have a 24 in side monitor for surfing etc and have to turn the settings down on some games just a hair, other games a little more than I like.

Honestly at that res I would do 3x 6970's or 2x 580's if you want to have the highest graphic settings 90% of the time or greater. Though I do have to reccomend using the nvidia cards for their ease of use and setup time for multi-card and drivers. Also the nvidia cards should run windowed mode a bit easier if your like me and want to use a multi-purpose monitor on the side of your main screen.

 

[gmcizzle]

And that's with the 920 overclocked to 3.61 GHz - which is very close to your's...
Did you change/fix the voltage? Did you run your 920 at a higher clocks?

Mine is at about 1.38v running 3.6ghz, but it's a C0 revision CPU, which typically do not overclock as well as a D0 revision one. A D0 can get 4.0ghz or more at the same voltage. To check which stepping you have, get CPU-Z and see what it says under "Revision". Also, all 6 of my RAM slots are filled, which may or may not affect my overclocking stability, I'm not 100% sure.

 

[itsgrandpa]

When I pulled the trigger I made sure I was getting a D0. I OC'd it when I first got it to 3.3GHz but my temps idled around 35 and load around 55 even with my megahalems. I don't have any prior experience to OC so I didn't want to play with the voltages. Do you have a link/updated reliable websites that you referenced when OCing?

 

[gmcizzle]

Yeah I did, I'll see if I can find it. Even at 1.38v I idle at around 35-40c and full load on prime95 it stays in the low 60s. It's pretty cool out now though in the eastern US, and in the summer time it gets a bit hotter. As long as your temps are 70c or below you are perfectly fine.

 

[gmcizzle]

Can't find the exact one I used but these are just as good if not better:
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_i7_920_overclocking
http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/overclocking/22106-core-i7-overclocking-guide-beginners.html

 

[itsgrandpa]

Best answer selected by itsgrandpa.

 

[itsgrandpa]

Found some more:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-920-overclocking.html
http://www.techreaction.net/2010/09/07/3-step-overclocking-guide-bloomfield-and-gulftown/
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?board_id=1&model=P6T+Deluxe&id=20081220191040237&page=1&SLanguage=en-us