Considering Motherboard and CPU upgrade

[ZionZA]

I'm considering upgrading my motherboard and CPU.

I currently run an i7 930 and Gigabyte x58a-udr3 motherboard.

I'll be keeping the two GTX 660's in SLI.

Would an upgrade show any significant performance gains and if so what would be a good upgrade?

 

[ihog]

In some games, you'll see an increase in performance, so it will depend on what games you play. But, the real question you have to ask yourself is, "Is the performance I am currently getting satisfactory?"

 

[James Godsil]

^ +100

You do need to think about the price to performance ratio and whether or not upgrading will really do you any good. Are your games running really slow? If not, then there is no reason to upgrade yet. It wouldn't hurt to upgrade, but unless you have a few hundred dollars lying around, there isn't a point to upgrading.

 

[James Godsil]

I have done a bit of research, and the i7 930 only supports RAM with speeds up to 1066MHz, among other things. I would suggest an upgrade, as right now there are many great choices from Intel. If you do upgrade I suggest a 4th gen i5. You will get all the new technology for great prices. Note, you would have to upgrade your motherboard as well. Check Asus or Gigabyte for good motherboard upgrades with the 1150 socket.

 

[ZionZA]

I have done a bit of research, and the i7 930 only supports RAM with speeds up to 1066MHz, among other things. I would suggest an upgrade, as right now there are many great choices from Intel. If you do upgrade I suggest a 4th gen i5. You will get all the new technology for great prices. Note, you would have to upgrade your motherboard as well. Check Asus or Gigabyte for good motherboard upgrades with the 1150 socket.

Memory support for the x58 chipset comes from the motherboard. I can go up to 2.2ghz. Currently running 1.6Ghz.

The reason I'm asking is because its been 3 years since I bought this motherboard and cpu. Was just wondering if a performance difference would be noticable. I'm unsure as to what kind of benefits an upgrade would give me. I know I'll get more performance. But would it be worth it? Thanks for the info though.

 

[ihog]

What games do you play?

 

[ZionZA]

What games do you play?

I play fps games like crysis and battlefield. Wow too and starcraft 2

 

[ihog]

So, back to my first thought: Is your performance at the level you want it?

 

[ZionZA]

So, back to my first thought: Is your performance at the level you want it?

That's the issue. I don't know if that CPU is causing a bottleneck for the two 660's. Its part of the reason I'm considering upgrading. Other reason is reliability of hardware.

 

[ihog]

It probably isn't in most games. I'd say you're fine for at least another year.

 

[ZionZA]

It probably isn't in most games. I'd say you're fine for at least another year.

Ok thanks. Just for interest sake. How do you tell if there is a bottleneck?

 

[ihog]

In the game, if your CPU usage is 98-100%, and your GPU usage is something like 60%, then your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU. The same goes vice versa.

 

[ZionZA]

In the game, if your CPU usage is 98-100%, and your GPU usage is something like 60%, then your CPU is bottlenecking your GPU. The same goes vice versa.

Ok thanks. that's what I assumed was just never sure

 

[ihog]

No problem!