Should i get better CPU or 2 GPU's?

[therabidwookiee]

Currently I have the I5 2500K Sandy Bridge CPU. I also have a GTX 670 4gig Superclocked. The games that I play I have always been able to run all maxed out... until I got Far Cry 3. I have to bring the graphic settings down to be able to perform better. I just recently built a PC for a guy and he gave me money for it. This is my last hoorah for my PC for a long while ( i have a baby on the way) so i want to get my PC as upgraded as possible to keep current with the new games coming out in the next gen age. So, should I upgrade my i5 2500 to i7 (if so then which one) or get another GTX 670 4gig Superclocked?

 

[itzdanielp]

The 2500K is a beast, and it OC's like a dream. I would absolutely suggest getting a second 670, as most newer games are GPU throttled before CPU.

Also, there would be no difference with upgrading to an i7 in games. If you really must upgrade your CPU you should get a i5 3570K, but in order to get the best performance out of that, it would also require a MB upgrade to a Z77 chipset.

So, second GPU all the way

 

[iceclock]

getting a second 670 would def be wiser for more performance in games,

what mobo do u have and powersupply,?

 

[therabidwookiee]

I have the ASROCK p67 extreme 4 generation 3 motherboard.. and i cant remember what PSU I have.. i know on the box it said 1200wat ( i used to have 2 6870's)

 

[infinitynmc]

670 SLI since buying a new CPU won't be necessary in your case.

 

[iceclock]

is it high quality? id need to know also, overclocking ur cpu and buying a watercooling system just for the cpu ud get nice performance, so it be like 65$ for cooler+360 ish for the 670 ud be rocking it cool.

 

[therabidwookiee]

honestly im not too sure about the PSU... I am at work right now so i can't look to see what it is exactly. I haven't tried over clocking my CPU yet.. it just makes me nervous. I don't have liquid cooling but i do have an awesome cooler master heatsink aftermarket that keeps my cpu pretty cool. In terms of performance and frames per second, what do you think it would be able to run Crysis 3 maxed out if I had 2 670 superclocked?

 

[itzdanielp]

Yes, you should be able to with the SLI 670's, especially since Crysis is more of a GPU bound game than a CPU bound game.

 

[Derza10]

Your CPU should overclock to 4.4-4.5Ghz with no voltage changes. Its as easy as going into the bios and changing the multiplier on the CPU to x44 or x45, then benchmarking your CPU to check for stability while watching temptures(don't do this unless you have an after market CPU cooler and let us know the one you have before you try it). The i5 2500k is still one of the best gaming CPU's so any CPU change will be more of a side grade than anything, So i'm going to have to agree with everyone else, get a second 670 and overclock your CPU.

 

[ittimjones]

OC the i5 and SLI!!!!!!

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Heck with cooler like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo/+ you can get the Intel Core i5-2500K up to a 4.4 to 4.5GHz fairly easy.

 

[therabidwookiee]

I just got home from work, and here is my powersupply (link to it on newegg) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814019

 

[therabidwookiee]

Would this be able to handle 2 670's?

 

[itzdanielp]

Yes, easily.

I haven't really heard of the brand, but if it is truly an 1.1kw PSU it would be able to handle 4 670's lol

 

[therabidwookiee]

lol awesome! how long do you think 2 670's and an i5 sandy bridge will last me in hardcore gaming with either high or maxed settings?

 

[Derza10]

2-4 years

 

[therabidwookiee]

Your CPU should overclock to 4.4-4.5Ghz with no voltage changes. Its as easy as going into the bios and changing the multiplier on the CPU to x44 or x45, then benchmarking your CPU to check for stability while watching temptures(don't do this unless you have an after market CPU cooler and let us know the one you have before you try it). The i5 2500k is still one of the best gaming CPU's so any CPU change will be more of a side grade than anything, So i'm going to have to agree with everyone else, get a second 670 and overclock your CPU.

My after market CPU cooler is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus

 

[itzdanielp]

Yeah, with that cooler in push pull you should be able to push 4.5 easily. It will be a bit loud, but doable.

That with a pair of 670's is gonna give you another 2-4 years as the above poster mentioned.

 

[therabidwookiee]

Awesome! I have never over clocked a CPU before it had always made me nervous..... I guess I'll try and do it..I hope I don't freak out my pc

 

[itzdanielp]

To be honest, you couldn't have picked a better CPU to start out with. It is incredibly simple and forgiving. And you can get some awesome speed boosts out of it without putting to much into it. If you search the internet for "Overclock 2500k guide" you will find a ton of step by step guides, telling you exactly what you should be looking for. Chances are someone may even have a guide using the same motherboard as you. And since the chip is so well used, they will tell you exactly what to put the different numbers at, just to get the results you want. You can always post back here in the OC group, and get more info than you could ever want lol.

Best thing to do when OC'ing is to tinker around and try to understand how the different aspects such as base clock, multiplyer, voltage, and other factors work together. Then you will be able to adjust the different aspects individually to get exactly what you are looking for

Best of luck!

 

[therabidwookiee]

Thank you so much! You have all been a great help!

 

[conkerman]

I have the same CPU and Motherboard and a 212. I use a 6870 for gaming. Its fine for 19x10 with shiny in most games.

Overclocked to 4.4 with a slight voltage increase. I actually have it back at stock settings now and truly don't seen any susbstantive difference. Its a cracking processor.

For your situation I would go SLI and then buy a good Heatsink, 212 is OK but LOUD. Then go mad, a good cooler should see you heading towards 5GHz.

 

[itzdanielp]

I have the same CPU and Motherboard and a 212. I use a 6870 for gaming. Its fine for 19x10 with shiny in most games.

Overclocked to 4.4 with a slight voltage increase. I actually have it back at stock settings now and truly don't seen any susbstantive difference. Its a cracking processor.

For your situation I would go SLI and then buy a good Heatsink, 212 is OK but LOUD. Then go mad, a good cooler should see you heading towards 5GHz.

As he said the 212 is loud. Especially under a load.

If you want a recommendation of a cooler for down the road, if you have 2 120mm fan slots available (usually on the top of the case) I would highly suggest a Corsair H100i. Or if you wanted to stick with Air the Noctua D14 is very solid. Although it can have issues fitting in some cases.

 

[Derza10]

HMM... I have the hyper 212 plus and it is not loud... I'm running my i5 2500k at 4.8GHz with it and with only 1 fan in push. My temps on full load with prime95 stay right around 70c. While gaming its normally in the 50-60c range.

 

[iceclock]

thats a very nice powersupply at the time was over 230$ i beleive, abs used to make top quality gaming pcs 😀

just get a hyper 212+ and overclock it, and add a 670 gtx and ull be flying bro for a while