PC upgrades!

[Dectomax]

So I've had a PC for a while now and recently upgraded it.

The previous specs were:
AMD HD7850 2GB MSI ( 1050 and 1350 )
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM
AMD FX-8120 ( Clocked to 3.8Mhz ) Water cooled
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB
500WT PSU

Now for my recent upgrade I moved up to the XFX7870 2GB GHz edition Dual dissipation, 16GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM and a 850WT Corsair PSU.

My 7870 clocks in at 1100 and 1300, anything higher than that is unstable and BSODs after about 10 minutes of play.

To be honest, the difference is notable but, I'd like a little more performance. I've been looking around for the past few weeks and I've decided that I'd like a new Motherboard most of all ( This one only has 1 PCIe x16 slot and the 1333Mhz RAM support is making me sadface. )

I'm also looking into upgrading to an AMD 7970 ( I'm not sure which model yet - MSI, ASUS, XFX etc. ) and possibly an AMD FX-8350. Those are the definite pieces I'm looking at, I'm not too sure on the motherboard, I like the ASUS sabertooth Z77, but the Motherboards are where my knowledge fails me.

So, good people of the escapist - what would you recommend and do you think the performance boost is worth it? And for extra discussion, what parts do you think are particularly good at the moment?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well I hate saying this but if you go for absurd performance(which you seem to be) then the only way right now is Intel / nVidia, obviously the prices are also absurd but that is just how the highest end market works.

 

[Dectomax]

Well I hate saying this but if you go for absurd performance(which you seem to be) then the only way right now is Intel / nVidia, obviously the prices are also absurd but that is just how the highest end market works.

I've been looking at Nvidia and Intel, but after digging through benchmarks and reviews, the 8350 actually outperforms the 3770K in a fair few tests. Plus, at the price point it's a nice CPU. In regards to the GPU, I'm not a fanboy but, AMD have been good to me - The 7850 did everything I wanted it too and the 7870 is a perfectly good card. ( I'm running Metro last light at Max, with 45-60FPS )

I've got roughly £400-£500 sitting about that I'd like to put on this and AMD just seems like the best value for money. But hey, I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks for your input!

 

[Crises^]

So I've had a PC for a while now and recently upgraded it.

The previous specs were:
AMD HD7850 2GB MSI ( 1050 and 1350 )
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM
AMD FX-8120 ( Clocked to 3.8Mhz ) Water cooled
Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB
500WT PSU

Now for my recent upgrade I moved up to the XFX7870 2GB GHz edition Dual dissipation, 16GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM and a 850WT Corsair PSU.

My 7870 clocks in at 1100 and 1300, anything higher than that is unstable and BSODs after about 10 minutes of play.

To be honest, the difference is notable but, I'd like a little more performance. I've been looking around for the past few weeks and I've decided that I'd like a new Motherboard most of all ( This one only has 1 PCIe x16 slot and the 1333Mhz RAM support is making me sadface. )

I'm also looking into upgrading to an AMD 7970 ( I'm not sure which model yet - MSI, ASUS, XFX etc. ) and possibly an AMD FX-8350. Those are the definite pieces I'm looking at, I'm not too sure on the motherboard, I like the ASUS sabertooth Z77, but the Motherboards are where my knowledge fails me.

So, good people of the escapist - what would you recommend and do you think the performance boost is worth it? And for extra discussion, what parts do you think are particularly good at the moment?

I have that motherboard and I absolutely love it, will say one thing though turn of the turbo overclock function it clocks the voltage levels way to high.

Here is a benchmark of that Fx VS an I5 3570k - the i5 wins in most sections (mainly the gaming sections)
But the FX 8350 has a great price for the performance it gives.
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/11/06/amd-fx-8350-review/6

Really you can't go wrong with those specs I personally would go the I5 route as I built mine for gamming ( i5 3570k oc to 4.4 ghz gtx 670 sli 16 gigs g.skill ram 1886 mhz(16 gigs was on sale would of got 8 gigs otherwise)

You will love that rig and it will perform very well.

 

[Dectomax]

-snip-

That FPS difference is pretty huge - I've been seeing a few where they haven't been to far off ( Tek Syndicate had a video on them and he was pretty impressed with the 8350 )

Would you recommend staying with this Motherboard and just staying with one GPU? I really do like the idea of a crossfire configuration ( Plus, I have a spare 7850 just kicking about...) that and the 1333mhz RAM limitation has me wondering if it's not maybe a good idea to upgrade?

Again, thanks for your input

 

[Crises^]

-snip-

That FPS difference is pretty huge - I've been seeing a few where they haven't been to far off ( Tek Syndicate had a video on them and he was pretty impressed with the 8350 )

Would you recommend staying with this Motherboard and just staying with one GPU? I really do like the idea of a crossfire configuration ( Plus, I have a spare 7850 just kicking about...) that and the 1333mhz limitation has me wondering if it's not maybe a good idea to upgrade?

Again, thanks for your input

Are you looking to overclock? that ram is fine but if your overclocking the cpu I would get faster ram with better timings.
Single GPU V crossfire depends on what you are looking for. I went sli because I am going to get a high res monitor soon like 2600x1600 res if your not going to go past 1920x180 and are happy with 50-60 fps with everything on ultra in most games stick with one GPU.

Looking at your rig right now I would say wait for maybe a year, there isn't really anything at the moment that warrant having to drop that rig to upgrade unless you want ultra and high fps that is.

what resolution and fps are you looking for? as that best helps answer the question on whether you should upgrade or not.

 

[Dectomax]

-snip-

That FPS difference is pretty huge - I've been seeing a few where they haven't been to far off ( Tek Syndicate had a video on them and he was pretty impressed with the 8350 )

Would you recommend staying with this Motherboard and just staying with one GPU? I really do like the idea of a crossfire configuration ( Plus, I have a spare 7850 just kicking about...) that and the 1333mhz limitation has me wondering if it's not maybe a good idea to upgrade?

Again, thanks for your input

Are you looking to overclock? that ram is fine but if your overclocking the cpu I would get faster ram with better timings.
Single GPU V crossfire depends on what you are looking for. I went sli because I am going to get a high res monitor soon like 2600x1600 res if your not going to go past 1920x180 and are happy with 50-60 fps with everything on ultra in most games stick with one GPU.

Looking at your rig right now I would say wait for maybe a year, there isn't really anything at the moment that warrant having to drop that rig to upgrade unless you want ultra and high fps that is.

what resolution and fps are you looking for? as that best helps answer the question on whether you should upgrade or not.

I'm currently playing on a 1920x1080 monitor and still getting a good 45-60FPS on Metro:LL on the highest settings. I guess my main want for upgrading came from being, not underwhelmed, but expecting a slightly more tangible increase in FPS. That and the 7970's look pretty awesome.

 

[Crises^]

Well considering your performance at the moment wait for Haswell to come out and the 700 series GPU's, then you can laugh while every game kneels before your mighty power

 

[Dectomax]

Well considering your performance at the moment wait for Haswell to come out and the 700 series GPU's, then you can laugh while every game kneels before your mighty power

On the topic of the 700 series GPUs...
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/introducing-the-geforce-gtx-780

 

[Crises^]

Well considering your performance at the moment wait for Haswell to come out and the 700 series GPU's, then you can laugh while every game kneels before your mighty power

On the topic of the 700 series GPUs...
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/introducing-the-geforce-gtx-780

Looks sweet, will say one thing though I normally go for the 70 series card as there isn't that much performance difference between them and their normally $100 less.

Though I haven't seen the 770gtx yet so can't speak for that card.

 

[Dectomax]

Well considering your performance at the moment wait for Haswell to come out and the 700 series GPU's, then you can laugh while every game kneels before your mighty power

On the topic of the 700 series GPUs...
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/introducing-the-geforce-gtx-780

Looks sweet, will say one thing though I normally go for the 70 series card as there isn't that much performance difference between them and their normally $100 less.

Though I haven't seen the 770gtx yet so can't speak for that card.

I'll probably be sticking to the AMD cards for a while, I'm no fanboy by any chance, but their cards have been good for all I've been doing!

 

[Crises^]

Yeah both card shine in different areas, If AMD cards have been good for you stick with them. I could never understand people being obsessed over one make just go with what suits you the best.

 

[Dectomax]

Yeah both card shine in different areas, If AMD cards have been good for you stick with them. I could never understand people being obsessed over one make just go with what suits you the best.

Cheers for all the advice bud, I guess afetr going through one upgrade I got kinda excited and wanted more stuff! :')
I'll probably save another upgrade 'till Christmas.

 

[Crises^]

No problem at all, happy to help.

 

[SnowyGamester]

snip

Would you still recommend upgrading to a newer Motherboard? I'd like the extra PCIe slots and RAM capabilities to be honest. I keep hearing all this talk of 2100Mhz RAM and I get all sadface! That and I currently have a spare 8GB Of it I'd like to chuck in the system. ( I bought a new set of 16GB and then...had nothing to do with the old 8GB ).

Like I said, you're already getting pretty good performance and you could easily ride out your current build for quite a bit longer. I'd definitely consider a total rebuild in the future but your rig is actually quite high end and you aren't going to get a huge improvement for such a meagre upgrade. I just came from a core2quad and 4GB 800mhz single channel RAM rig to one with a top tier i5 and 16GB 1600mhz dual channel RAM (keeping my current GPU) and it made barely any difference at all...it's mostly about the graphics card for you, and even that is still fairly powerful. As nice as it feels to max everything out at 60+ FPS it will cost you volumes less to lose a few frames or turn off some of the more taxing graphical features.