What would be a good upgrade for me?

  • Thread starter Thread starter GaryR
  • Start date Start date
G

GaryR

I'm running -

ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe
AMD 64 FX60 Dual Core @ 2.61Gz
2 - ATI 1900 XT's in Crossfire
4 GB Corsair
2- 500 GB 7200 RPM drives
Vista 32 bit (also have 64 bit) Ultimate

Would a new dual core 4870 offer me much? Am I CPU limited? New MB
with top Intel or AMD CPU called for along with new vid card?

Used primarily for flight and racing sims, some FPS..

Thanks
Gary
 
GaryR said:
I'm running -

ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe
AMD 64 FX60 Dual Core @ 2.61Gz
2 - ATI 1900 XT's in Crossfire
4 GB Corsair
2- 500 GB 7200 RPM drives
Vista 32 bit (also have 64 bit) Ultimate

Would a new dual core 4870 offer me much? Am I CPU limited? New MB
with top Intel or AMD CPU called for along with new vid card?

Used primarily for flight and racing sims, some FPS..
Click to expand...

I had what was basically a very similar setup...Opteron 185 (2Mb L2 dual
core) at 2.9Ghz, 4 Gig OCZ DDR and an 8800GT OC 512Mb unit. Twin 74Gig
Raptors in RAID0 . I thought it was a pretty good performer and the card
wasn't too CPU limited. I upgraded to an E8400 (6Mb L2) on a Gigabyte
EP35-DSR3 clocked at 3.8Ghz with hi-perf 4Gig OCZ DDR2 and the same video
card and RAID0. I can tell you that even with a single 8800GT 512Mb card,
the difference in real and synthetic benches and framrates was vast...as in
40-50%. If I had been using a 9800GX2, a GX280 or a 4870X2 it would have
been a lot more, especially pronounced at resolutions above 1280x1024. My
wife has inherited the Opteron 185, memory and mainboard with a different
RAID0 setup. She's a musician and uses Cakewalk Sonar 7 and CuBase....her
video needs are more than adequately done by an HD2400 Pro. The Opteron
setup is still plenty fast for Photoshop and her digital music processing.
I upgraded her from a single core San Diego 4000+ and she said the
difference is vast.
 
Thanks Augustus, I just priced out the EP35, E8400, 4 GB of OCZ Flec
XLC (PC2 9600), and a Powercolor 4870 X2 2 GB (big $$) at about $900..
Now if I can sell my current A8R32-MVP, 4GB, AMD FX60, and two 512MB
ATI 1900XT Crossfires for a reasonable amount i'll go for it.
 
GaryR said:
Thanks Augustus, I just priced out the EP35, E8400, 4 GB of OCZ Flec
XLC (PC2 9600), and a Powercolor 4870 X2 2 GB (big $$) at about $900..
Now if I can sell my current A8R32-MVP, 4GB, AMD FX60, and two 512MB
ATI 1900XT Crossfires for a reasonable amount i'll go for it.
Click to expand...

Not as unlikely as you might think. Sell the FX60 by itself. The FX60 is a
highly sought after item....eBay prices on completed auctions for used
FX60's show them going for an average of $350-$360....no joke. The m/b and
ram I'd throw together as a package deal....probably with a BIN of $100.
Should move also. That gives you $450 to start with. Get the E8400 and
EP35-DSR3 and the 4 Gigs of DDR2 with that money. Stick your two X1900XT's
in there for now (you'll be surprised at how they perfrom actually) and save
up for that HD4870X2.
 
I'll see what the package brings, if I can get $600 for all of it I
would be good to go... and someone would be getting a nice system. I
actually am running the FX60 at a 14X FSB multiplier right now
(2.81Gz) and have upped the 1900XT's to about a 50% overclock (1/2 the
slider in ATI CCC) and the system is 100% stable.. 8-)
 
GaryR said:
I'll see what the package brings, if I can get $600 for all of it I
would be good to go... and someone would be getting a nice system. I
actually am running the FX60 at a 14X FSB multiplier right now
(2.81Gz) and have upped the 1900XT's to about a 50% overclock (1/2 the
slider in ATI CCC) and the system is 100% stable.. 8-)
Click to expand...

I would rethink that sales strategy.....lots of people with a S939 box want
an FX60 .....but very few will want to spend $550-600 for an entire m/b,
DDR, CPU and twin X1900XT S939 package. Consider what $550 will get you
new....HD4870 512Mb $250, E8400 $170, EP35-DSR3 $85, 4Gig OCZ Gold
$80....total $585.
 
Not really a strategy but I understand the point. I know enough people
that I may be able to work it into a system build and that would be
most advantageous to me. I would even include my 500GB HD and Vista 32
on it to make the re-build go easily. I do agree with you, selling it
in pieces on EBay will undoubtedly bring the most money in if it comes
to that.

Thanks again
G
 
Made the jump to take advantage of a couple rebates available on
Newegg for the 4GB OCZ2FX12002GK R and the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R. I'm
going to hold off and see what the 1 1900XT's perform like on the new
system, can always get a 4870X2 a little later on as prices drop a
bit.. Hopefully I have a E8400 that likes 3.6Gz!
 
GaryR said:
Made the jump to take advantage of a couple rebates available on
Newegg for the 4GB OCZ2FX12002GK R and the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R. I'm
going to hold off and see what the 1 1900XT's perform like on the new
system, can always get a 4870X2 a little later on as prices drop a
bit.. Hopefully I have a E8400 that likes 3.6Gz!
Click to expand...

My settings on my E8400 / DSR3 system are simply this: FSB 423 and all else
set to auto. No voltage boost or any other tweaks.
 
Augustus said:
My settings on my E8400 / DSR3 system are simply this: FSB 423 and
all else set to auto. No voltage boost or any other tweaks.
Click to expand...

I believe you will find that on your DS3R, CPU voltage set to auto raises
it quite a bit as you overclock.
 
Back
Top