Upgrading my rig - thoughts?

[mekanick]

Hi guys,

This is my first post here at TH, so my apologies in advance if I am posting in the wrong section, etc.

Currently this is my setup:

ASUS M4A785-M Mobo
Sapphire 6870 @ stock
AMD PHenom II x4 955 @ 3.2GHz stock
4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
OCZ 120 GB SSD
650W Corsair PSU

I am looking to buy a Sapphire 7870 GHz edition as seen here:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7542561&CatId=7387

The reason for my upgrade is because in almost every game I play now I can see my GPU activity at almost 100%, and the CPU hovers around 80-85% and I'm struggling to get decent FPS on medium settings. Also with the next-gen games coming out like BF4, I can barely play in the 64 player servers with everything on medium-low, even on the 13.11 beta drivers.

In the future I plan to upgrade my mobo and ram..but not at the moment.

So my question is..will my 955 bottleneck the 7870?

Thanks in advance for reading and any comments...

 

[rolli59]

It will slightly but can be reduced with OC the CPU. Overall it will though be an upgrade although not large.

 

[mekanick]

It will slightly but can be reduced with OC the CPU. Overall it will though be an upgrade although not large.

Hi,

I have a Corsair H50 water block on my CPU and as it is, this chip runs ice cold. So, I would be willing to over clock without worrying about heat. What would you suggest overclocking my chip to with the 7870?

And if I were to upgrade the CPU, which AMD chip would fit best for a ~$350 budget for the upgrade?

 

[rolli59]

I had 955BE married with HD7850 and I got a nice boost at 3.6GHz.
If you have a $350 CPU and board budget Go Intel I5. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7tvU

 

[danscan11]

i5 is the best straight up gaming CPU. Is the $350 just for CPU? If so the Intel Core i5 4670K 3.4 GHzQuad core Unlocked can be had for $225, save the rest for mobo upgrade with DDR2 looks like the mobo needs some love.
I saw this $40 under your budget
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1475323
Personally I'd go with this mem:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2952326&CatId=4534
But I understand budget, this is about $10 more than $350 when you add it all up but here's a 4GB module:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1412138&csid=_61
OR
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-i5-3570-Quad-Core-Processor-Cache/dp/B0087EVHTE/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1384741897&sr=1-8
http://www.amazon.com/P8B75-M-CSM-Intel-Micro-Motherboard/dp/B007RIFMQA/ref=pd_sim_pc_9
http://www.amazon.com/Vengeance-Memory-single-CMZ4GX3M1A1600C-Corsair/dp/B007W1VAO0/ref=sr_1_60?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1384742454&sr=1-60
This last one should be right @ $350
If youre stuck on AMD which if you look at any performance material they cannot outperform i7's or i5's or i3's for that matter then try this
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-FD8320FRHKBOX-FX-8320-8-Core-Black/dp/B009O7YU56/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1384743574&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Chipset-2000MHz-Motherboards-GA-970A-D3P/dp/B00DJ3DWFK/ref=sr_1_13?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1384743257&sr=1-13
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-Desktop-Memory-CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10/dp/B005T63BJM/ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1384743430&sr=1-9

That sir should be right @ your budget top 5 CPU for AMD, 8GB of Corsair DDR3 mem, and a gigabyte mobo x-fire ready.
Hope I helped some cheers

 

[Vic 40]

If you're just looking to upgrade your gpu go for the next one,
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8585461&CatId=7387
it does better than the hd 7870 for the same price.

Edit:

if you're not looking to overclock you could take a look at the next cpu/mobo/ram upgrade,

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/23gtv

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/23gtv/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/23gtv/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.98 @ PCM)
Total: $288.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-18 10:05 EST-0500)

With a cpu like that you don't need a Z77 motherboard but at that price it's a good choice.It also supports a proper crossfire set-up with two pcie x16 slots.

You could even look at overclocking with the next set-up,

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/247L2

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/247L2/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/247L2/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($205.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston Black Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.98 @ PCM)
Total: $345.94
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-11-18 10:13 EST-0500)
still under that $350 budget.

My question,does that budget has to include the graphics card?