Is it necessary to upgrade now?

[Cuzzin Chizzy]

Just built this computer a year ago.

ASUS Rampage iii Formula Motherboard
Intel i7 960 @ 3.2 GHz stock
Corsair H70 cooler
12GB of Corsair Dominator RAM
EVGA GTX 570 HD 2.5GB



My question is will this processor be okay for gaming for a while? I want to be able to play games like Battlefield 3 at 1080p with a smooth frame rate. I can currently max all the settings but the frame rate seems a little low.

Should I buy another 570 and run them in SLI OR Is my 960 gonna bottleneck my system and render SLI useless?

Damn should've gotten a motherboard with PCIE3.0 and a 2600k. Can't afford to spend the time of redoing my whole windows installation now though. Have my system and programs configured just how I want em.

 

[rolli59]

It is still a very powerful CPU and sufficient for gaming still! It can easily handle a SLI GTX570 setup!

 

[InvalidError]

Damn should've gotten a motherboard with PCIE3.0 and a 2600k.

You cannot have PCIE 3.0 with any Sandy Bridge (i3/5/7-2xxx) nor SB-E (i7-38xx/39xx) CPUs so putting a 2600k on a "PCIE 3.0" motherboard is pointless.

The x16 PCIE slots are connected to the CPU's on-chip x16 PCIE controller either directly or through a switch IC and only Ivy Bridge CPUs support PCIE 3.0 so you would need to get either an i5-3xxx or i7-37xx to get PCIE 3.0 for crossfire/SLI.

 

[amuffin]

No point of PCIE 3.0.

 

[jaguarskx]

You could not have bought a motherboard with PCI-e 3.0 last year because they only just came out recently with the release of the Ivy Bridge CPUs. While PCI-e 3.0 isn't necessary now, it will probably be in about 2 or 3 years.

The i7-920 is still a capable CPU so there's no real reason you need to upgrade. However, you should have gone with a Sandy Bridge CPU last year.

Just buy another GTX 570 to setup SLI.

 

[Cuzzin Chizzy]

The i7-920 is still a capable CPU so there's no real reason you need to upgrade. However, you should have gone with a Sandy Bridge CPU last year.

Yeah I know, I didn't read up enough on it. Got a job workin 60hrs a week in a factory. The good= good money, the bad= little time. Next build will be more informed.

 

[Cuzzin Chizzy]

You cannot have PCIE 3.0 with any Sandy Bridge (i3/5/7-2xxx) nor SB-E (i7-38xx/39xx) CPUs so putting a 2600k on a "PCIE 3.0" motherboard is pointless.

10-4 on that. I was getting the two confused. Have been looking at parts for a gaming rig for a friend and he is going to get a motherboard that is PCIE 3.0 capable for future use but is going to go with a 2600k over the Ivy bridge processors. Just a mild case of jealousy from somebody getting something better than what I have. Guess I should think before I type.

 

[Cuzzin Chizzy]

Best answer selected by Cuzzin Chizzy.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by MouseMonkey