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Upgrade Time - I7 960 to I7 990x?

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Ok, so I built my rig about two years ago.

I have upgraded over time, and I don't really care for the newer 2011, or 1155 boards.

I am probably going to wait until this time next year to build a complete new rig when the 6/8 core Ivy Bridge-E shows up in either 2011 or 1150. Or whatever newer pin, chipset they come out with.

Current Build:
I7 960
Intel X58 DSO2 Extreme Board
Patriot 100GB Gen 2 SSD
1 TB WD Black
32GB Kingston 1066 RAM 1.5v
ATI 7970 Video Card
Corsair 850W Pro PSU
Corsair H80 CPU cooler
Dell 27" Ultrasharp U2711 2560x1440

I can get a I7 990x for around $700 (OEM) new, that would just be a drop in upgrade to 6 cores.

I am thinking about plus adding a Nvidia GTX690.

Do you think the CPU upgrade is worth it, am I going to see noticeable improvements in performance? WOW, D3, SC2, TL2, GW2, and other games coming out this year.

I also do video editing, ripping, encoding etc.

I also think a upgrade on the boot drive to a 4th gen Samsung SSD would be a great upgrade. I run Windows 8 x64.

More about : upgrade time 960 990x

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In gaming it would be almost the same, insignificantly faster when running both at default settings. Again, OCed 990x will be similarly perfroming to OCed 960.

Obviously in applications using as many threads as are available it will destroy i7-970. So for video encoding, 3d rendering etc it is perfect.

But I think it's not worth another $700.

As for changing 7970 to GTX690, I think it's better to buy another 7970 or go GTX680 SLI.

Bejusek said:
In gaming it would be almost the same, insignificantly faster when running both at default settings. Again, OCed 990x will be similarly perfroming to OCed 960.

Obviously in applications using as many threads as are available it will destroy i7-970. So for video encoding, 3d rendering etc it is perfect.

But I think it's not worth another $700.

As for changing 7970 to GTX690, I think it's better to buy another 7970 or go GTX680 SLI.


What would you recommend as a good stable OC for the 960?

I am not that big on OCing, as I prefer rock solid reliability and no glitching, overheating.

I actually have an opportunity to acquire a free GTX690, so free is free, and I can just sell my old 7970.

It really depends on your cpu. 3,8 - 4 GHz would make a difference in performance. If it can do it without raising voltage too much, it's worth the shot. With water cooling you don't need to worry about the heat as much as people overclocking on air and even 1,35 Vcore shouldn't be too hot (I wouldn't go more than 1,375V). Maybe you could push it even beyond 4GHz. Google some guides on OCing 960 and see what results people get. Unfortunately it requires a lot of testing and tweaking various settings to make sure it's rock solid.

As for GTX690, if it's for free then there is nothing to think about. Just take it :) 

And save money from sold 7970 for your future build, you will buy some monstrous Ivy Bridge-E then.
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