Upgrading!

[droylock2]

I've been wanting to upgrade my PC for the longest time and I've finally got the opportunity and the money to do so. I want to get the best performance without spending ridiculous amounts of cash. I've been stuck with the same Motherboard and CPU for the past 4 years now and things aren't going so swell. My pc specs are:
X6 1055t @3.5ghz
Antec Kuhler H2O 620
Asus M4A79XTD Evo Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance 8gb 1600mhz
HD 5850 1gb
Western Digital 500gb Hard Drive
BFG 1000w Power Supply
Storm Scout 2
Which here in about a week i plan on ordering a new graphics card the GTX 670 2gb, and in about another month ordering a second for SLI. But, I need to figure out what CPU and Motherboard to upgrade too. Something that is great for gaming, I can overclock easy, and that will benefit me in the long run. My budget for the CPU and Motherboard together is under $500. I forgot to add I am thinking about going Nvidia Surround for a triple monitor configuration. I would really appreciate the input to help figure out what to buy! Thank you!

 

[excella1221]

I would normally say get an i5-3570K since you're familiar with OC and all and it's currently the best bang for buck CPU for gaming, but it won't really be much of an upgrade from the 1055T.

If you really want to though, get the i5-3570K and an ASRock z77 Extreme3, 4, or 6. Any of those would have SLI/Crossfire support and have some features you'll only find on more expensive boards from other brands.

As for the GPU, if you don't mind AMD, the 7970 outperforms the 670 and is more or less on par with the 680 - at the same price point as the 670. AMD Eyefinity is the best for 3-monitor setups, plus the 670's 2gb would bottleneck on x3 1080p monitors.

There's a 4gb version, but it's already at the price of a 7970 GHz which is currently the most powerful single GPU at the moment.

You would also want to consider getting an SSD, faster boot up for the system and programs/apps, little to no loading times in games.

 

[droylock2]

Well thank you for the quick response! But like I said, I was thinking about going with a triple monitor configuration but, I don't think that will be the case. I'm more leaning towards just a bigger display rather then getting 3 monitors. Anyways, will the i5-3570k OC well? And will the gtx 670 sli bottleneck the processor to a certain clock?

 

[michxymi]

For sure, the only thing that needs an upgrade is the GPU! Do not spend your money in something that It won't give you perfomance according to the money you spend!

I would go for either a 7950/7970 plus a SSD. Nothing else

 

[excella1221]

No, I doubt the 3570K would bottleneck a 2-way SLI 670.

Ivy Bridge technically overclocks really good, but they have heat issues. With a high-end air cooler, you could reach 4.5-4.6GHz but with a relatively high temp score.

 

[droylock2]

You sure that I shouldn't upgrade my CPU? If I keep it I would have to get another motherboard cause the OC on this POS motherboard are absolutely terrible!! So to overclock it to lets say 4ghz or 3.8ish, I would probably have to get a higher quality motherboard! Im just not that impressed with AMD or ATI, I've had nothing but problems, but all of my friends are huge Nvidia and Intel fans. Their pcs, blow mine out of the water!

 

[bjaminnyc]

You sure that I shouldn't upgrade my CPU? If I keep it I would have to get another motherboard cause the OC on this POS motherboard are absolutely terrible!! So to overclock it to lets say 4ghz or 3.8ish, I would probably have to get a higher quality motherboard! Im just not that impressed with AMD or ATI, I've had nothing but problems, but all of my friends are huge Nvidia and Intel fans. Their pcs, blow mine out of the water!

I think excella1221 made great points. A new processor isn't going to provide much of a discernible improvement over the x6. $ for $ I'd keep your existing setup, add a SSD, a 670 or 7950, then take the money you were considering spending on a CPU & MB and buy a killer monitor or three. (I love my eyefinity setup, can't go back to 1)

Your MB doesn't have Sata III, don't worry about it. It really makes very little difference in real world applications.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sata-6gbps-performance-sata-3gbps,3110.html


IMHO, if you go the above route you have all the kick*ss pieces in place for when you do upgrade the CPU&MB.

 

[patrucker]

I have to disagree. I thik your processor will bottleneck the 670's. I went with an Asrock Z77 Extreme4 and a an i5-2500k. I know of 5 people running this same setup. We have all been able to hit at LEAST 4.7 ghz by simply raising the multiplier. No voltage changes at all. I have a buddy running the SAME AIO cooler you have and he's idling at 38C. Under load he's around 44C.

Food for thought.

 

[droylock2]

It's just a lot to think about in a little under a week but, I really appreciate the points you all have made and for some reason I keep thinking that the gtx 670s will bottleneck my processor even if I got it to 4ghz. The monitor setup will have to wait but I can get a single monitor for now, but later on add another two monitors for nvidia surround. Let's just say if i did upgrade to a new motherboard and cpu, should I go for the i5-2500k or the i5-3570k?? If I get an ssd, which one should I get?

 

[excella1221]

i5-3570K. Like I said, there's no point getting a CPU that's a generation behind simple 'cause it overclocks to higher levels that you won't even need.

An OC'd 2500k @ 4.7GHz is the same as a 3570k @ 4.4-4.5GHz.

SSD = Vertex 4. Best 128gb on the market.

 

[droylock2]

Sounds good! Thank you!