Good hardware for gaming?

[Harry_CityWok]

I'm upgrading my PC from a Asus M5A78L, AMD FX - 4170 and Arctic Cooling Freezer 13.
What i'm currently looking at is, Intel i5 3570k, MSI Z77 - MPower 1155 mobo , Coolermaster Seidon 120M watercooling and another AMD Radeon HIS 6950 for CrossfireX (2x 2Gb GDDR5 and 840Mhz clock speed)
I mostly play Guild Wars 2 and i'm wondering-will these components significantly improve my Fps compared to my current set-up? will i experience any drops in Fps?

I also have 14gb of 1333mhz RAM
I also would like to be able to overclock, i've read that the MSI mobo is capable of good results

 

[KareemGT]

Dude , Upgrade the CPU to FX-8350 8 cores @ 4 Ghz for 200 $ , it will fit in your current motherboard and it's great for upcoming gaming since the new games will start using the 8 cores in processors
the FX-8350 will be way better than the 3570k for the decent games and the next generation games .
btw , stay away from crossfire and SLI , you will face many issues with 2 GPU's , go for 1 Strong graphics card .

 

[markwp]

Yup - what Kareem said. I'm an Intel kinda guy and not sure the AMD is better than the I5, but you have the basics already. Buy the best single card gpu you can afford (gtx 770 will run anything), and a good psu to go with it. No need to water cool at this point unless you plan on folding or gaming 24/7 with a 5ghz o/c, etc.

 

[danielbsipe]

Dude , Upgrade the CPU to FX-8350 8 cores @ 4 Ghz for 200 $ , it will fit in your current motherboard and it's great for upcoming gaming since the new games will start using the 8 cores in processors
the FX-8350 will be way better than the 3570k for the decent games and the next generation games .
btw , stay away from crossfire and SLI , you will face many issues with 2 GPU's , go for 1 Strong graphics card .

^^ What he said.

But seriously, the FX-8350 costs a bit less than 3570k and has significantly better performance as well as 8 cores. Stick with nvidia cards as you will have less driver issues.

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

I take it that you're having issues in GW2 with your minimum frame rates due to the fact that the game only makes use of two cores and relies heavily on single threaded performance.

I take it that you think going to an Intel rig will remedy this issue. Well you're indeed correct it would but at a hefty cost. Is Guild Wars 2 that important to you?

If so then the parts you have chosen seem good though depending on how much you'll be paying for that second 6950 you might be better off getting a new card.

 

[KareemGT]

Dude , Upgrade the CPU to FX-8350 8 cores @ 4 Ghz for 200 $ , it will fit in your current motherboard and it's great for upcoming gaming since the new games will start using the 8 cores in processors
the FX-8350 will be way better than the 3570k for the decent games and the next generation games .
btw , stay away from crossfire and SLI , you will face many issues with 2 GPU's , go for 1 Strong graphics card .

The op is playing GW2 which means intel cpus are the only option right now. Also the fx8350 won't be way better then the 3570k, even tomshardware have the i3 3220 ahead of the fx8350 on there benchmark suite for games and in the future it might close the gap to the i5 but not be way better. The i5 is a better all round chip taking over 100w less electricity to. Intel cpus are the most futureproof and all I hear is the number 8 core amd and futureproof when its not.

Buddy , it's benchmarks ... ya i agree with " the FX-8350 not better than the i5 CPU's but it's not worse too
it's only about 1 ~ 5 FPS Trust !!
am using that CPU , and it's Beast for gaming & Editing ... ETC , and it's the best choice for the price and the Future ..

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

The AMD FX-8350 is a good processor and under most circumstances it can keep up to a 3570K (surpassing it under some instances in gaming).

That being said... under Guild Wars 2 the FPS difference between an AMD FX based system and an Intel Core i5 based system is noticeable... VERY noticeable when you're playing with many other people on the screen.

This is because GW2 only uses 1-2 cores... so it relies heavily on per core performance. If GW2 is very important to the OP (like a must-game-he-plays-all-the-time) then it makes sense to go for a Core i5 3570K.

I'm not judging AMD v. Intel here just making a reasonable argument in the OPs interests.

 

[Harry_CityWok]

the reason i wanted to crossfire rather than buy another card is because i found a 2gb radeon 6950 for £122, whereas last year it was £220.
If i were to go into the amd 8350 route(which i have considered) it would mean i would need to overclock it to compete with the i5 3750k.
This wouldnt be a problem if it wasnt for my motherboard being quite cheap and i can't even overclock my amd fx 4170 above 4.5ghz (from 4.2) without the blue screen coming up, and getting over 70degrees c temps. Therefore if i were to get the 8350 it would mean spending £100+ on a new mobo too.
For gaming, amd bulldozer/piledriver processors aren't known to be very good because they have relatively weak single threading which is important in gaming.
Also, someone told me that they've known MSI motherboards to be quite unreliable - is this true with the z77 mpower?
Thanks for the answers guys

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

the reason i wanted to crossfire rather than buy another card is because i found a 2gb radeon 6950 for £122, whereas last year it was £220.
If i were to go into the amd 8350 route(which i have considered) it would mean i would need to overclock it to compete with the i5 3750k.
This wouldnt be a problem if it wasnt for my motherboard being quite cheap and i can't even overclock my amd fx 4170 above 4.5ghz (from 4.2) without the blue screen coming up, and getting over 70degrees c temps. Therefore if i were to get the 8350 it would mean spending £100+ on a new mobo too.
For gaming, amd bulldozer/piledriver processors aren't known to be very good because they have relatively weak single threading which is important in gaming.
Also, someone told me that they've known MSI motherboards to be quite unreliable - is this true with the z77 mpower?
Thanks for the answers guys

£122 seems like a good deal because paired with your other 6950 you'll get better frames than if you bought a £122 new card.

The FX-8350 overclocked can help it in many games except it does little in Dual core game scenarios. Your current board also lacks a stable enough VRM to power an overclocked 8350 so you'd likely be looking at a new board if you went that route.

Most people I know who have bought the MSI Z77 MPower are pleased with their purchase.