Question about processors

[McLeod63]

Hi fellow gamers,

 

I'd just like to know whether installing a new processor (say, CPU Intel Quad Core i7 Extreme Edition965 Nehalem 3.2GHz FSB 6.4GT/s

) would give me the FPS I need to play IV and other power hungry games, or is it a little more complicated than that? I'm not very computer savvy to say the least...

 

Here are my specs:

 

 

OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium

Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2, v.286 Build 6002

System Model 965P-S3

System Type X86-based PC

Processor Intel® Pentium® Dual  CPU  E2180  @ 2.00GHz, 2010 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)

Video Card ATI Radeon HD 3870 512.00 MB

Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB

Total Physical Memory 3.50 GB

Available Physical Memory 1.97 GB

Total Virtual Memory 7.22 GB

Available Virtual Memory 5.53 GB

 

 

I'm quite happy with my graphics, it just lags like hell. So would upgrading my processor fix this or should I just buy a new computer?

 

[oldage]

I'm no pc expert but I think that HD3870 would be a bottleneck.

[Quiteso]

I think your CPU is indeed slowing down GTA 4 a bit. I don't know 'bout the graphics card, though. I'm not too knowledgable on ATI's side but as far as I know that's fine.

 

As for the i7, someone can come in and correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think your motherboard will support it. Your CPU is socket 775 whereas i7 is socket 1366.

 

If you were to upgrade to quad core, you'd need to look at the Core 2 Quad series of CPUs (Q6600, etc. etc.)

Edited March 11, 2010 by Quiteso

[Ryan]

Both of you are right.

 

In order to upgrade to an Intel i7, you need to have/or buy an LGA 1366 or LGA 1155 socket motherboard. You don't have that, so unless you buy a new motherboard, an i7 isn't going to work in your PC. You could however upgrade to an Intel Core 2 Quad. It runs on the socket 775 motherboard which you already have, so it's about your only option unless you want to upgrade your motherboard.

 

In addition to that, the HD 3870 isn't a great video card for gaming. At the moment, it's alright considering your CPU isn't great, but if you were to upgrade to a Core 2 Quad, it would definitely cause your system to bottleneck at the graphics end of things. You'd pretty much need to upgrade the video card too.

[Ebernanut]

In addition to needing a new motherboard for an i7 you would also need DDR3 memory. You would then want to upgrade that graphics card(as others mentioned) which might mean that you would also need a new power supply. Of course the 965 is overkill so you could get the i7 930(maybe overclock it to beyond the 965) and pay for most or all of the other parts with the money you save by going with the 930.

[leik oh em jeez!]

930? The new craze is apparently the I7 920. It's like the new Q6600.

[Ebernanut]

930? The new craze is apparently the I7 920. It's like the new Q6600.

The 930 is the new 920, it just came out in the last week or so and is less than $10 more on newegg than the 920. It's basically the same chip but with an extra multiplier.

[Quiteso]

Perhaps you could tell us how much you're wanting to spend, Mr. OP? Then we can decide from there the best things to upgrade.

[Pico]

Gotta love those multipliers! Definitely worth the extra couple of bucks.

 

As for you McLeod, you're statement: "I'm quite happy with my graphics, it just lags like hell."

Well... it makes me laugh. Not trying to be a dick but it's the cause and effects thing going on here. Sounds like you've got settings too high, so it looks nice, but lags. So in reality, you're not happy with your graphics CARD because it's not doing it's job good enough for you at the graphics quality you want it at, hence the lag.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you didn't build that PC (for obvious reasons), so you don't know the wattage of the power supply. Therefore, can't really make any suggestions on a graphics card.

And as others have said, you'd need a new motherboard to get an i7. You can't just throw any Intel processor into any motherboard, there's several different socket types out there for CPUs. The best I'd say you could get is a high end C2D or possible a C2Q, but the extra two cores won't do you as good for gaming as a higher over all clock speed would. If you could get an E8XXX series dual core in there I'd bet it'd fly. But you really need to figure out what your motherboard can accept, you might have to update the BIOS to get a higher end CPU in there.

 

So basically:

Your graphics card (GPU) is pretty low end. That'll contribute a lot to performance and quality.

You can't get an i7, at best a C2D or C2Q (and most likely not even a higher end one of those).

 

Also, I may be wrong here, but it looks like you're wasting some RAM there.

"Total Physical Memory 3.50 GB"

You seem to have GB installed, but you must have a 32-bit version of Vista installed. This means that it accepts up to 4GB of RAM, but you don't get all of that because Windows allocates some asside, so you end up with 3.2GB or so for use. The rest isn't used.

Upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit. You -might- be able to do an inplace upgrade, but don't hold me to that. Not sure how going from 32 to 64-bit would work. But that would liven it up as well, in all areas including gaming.

[anus]

Like others have said, to install an i7 CPU, you'll need to get an i7 motherboard and DDR3 RAM as well (preferably triple channel).

 

Its not just your CPU that's holding you back though. Your video card is pretty outdated by today's standards.

 

So I recommend upgrading the CPU and video card, or if that's too expensive, overclocking your CPU as far as you can and upgrading the video card and PSU if required.

 

Also consider getting a 64 bit OS to fully utilise the 4GB of RAM you have.

[McLeod63]

Okay guys, thank you very much, you've all taught me a bit here. My cousin is very computer savvy so I'm going to get him to build me a new one. Probably only willing to spend $2500 or so. I actually got my current computer built for me by my (at the time) local computer store a couple of years ago. I spent $2000 on it I always knew I was ripped off hard, but you've all made me realise just how much now, haha.

Thanks again

[Fozzy Fozborne]

Is that $2500 USD or 2500 [insert name of local currency]? If it's USD then 2 grand will get you an i7, DDR3, a new graphics card, and a lot more.

[McLeod63]

Oh sorry! I completely forgot I'm on a form that many different nations use! haha

I meant Australian dollars.

[Pico]

Holy sh*t, that's still a LOT of money. You can get an a top of the line computer for that much.

[Democrab]

AU$2500? Okay, this stores in Melbourne.

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_p...oducts_id=13681 and http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_p...oducts_id=13200

Get that system and put the 80GB Intel Solid State Hard Drive in it, for Windows and some programs. (The rest goes on the stock 1TB HDD)

 

You'll have a blazing fast DX11 system.

[McLeod63]

Sweet

 

Pico- Yeah, it's a fair amount but I'm just sick of having a lame ass computer that can never manage to do the things I want it to do. Then in 5 years it'll be out-dated and I'll have to start all over again

[anus]

Here's a system I put up:

 

Case: Coolermaster HAF932 - pretty much one of, if not the best case for air cooling

 

PSU: Corsair HX-650 650W - enough power if you decide to crossfire with another 5870

 

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R - SATA 6Gbps and USB 3.0

 

CPU: i7 930

 

CPU cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems with 2x Scythe Ultra Kaze in a push/pull config - BEASTLY cooler, will keep the CPU at some great temps

 

Thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-3

 

RAM: Corsair 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 1600 PC12800 CL7 - really low timings for DDR3 1600 RAM

 

Video card: Sapphire HD5870 1GB

 

HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6 Gbps - INSANELY fast, being SATA 6Gbps

 

SSD: Corsair Nova V64 64GB - thought this would be enough for the OS, it's pretty fast too

 

ODD: LiteOn 24x SATA

 

Totals to 2364 AUD. Killer rig. Its better than the system Joe posted up too in certain areas like the case, CPU cooler and the motherboard.

 

Hope this helps .

[McLeod63]

*drooools*

That all sounds really good!

I looked at the video for the Sapphire and saw that bit about gaming with three monitors! How amazing would that be!?

I can't start buying parts quite yet because something came up, but I'll post some updates when I do.

Thanks again guys