Can't decide which upgrade

[Slayer]

My system is 3 years old...usually I upgrade every 2-3 years. Can't decide which route I want to go: (see sig for current sys specs)

 

Keep current system and instead get 3 new 3D Vision 2 capable monitors (for 3D vision surround setup)

 

I'm only using 1 screen now so this seems like it would be great for DCS

Or

 

Upgrade motherboard /processor/memory with an i7-3930K

 

I've read a ton of reviews and benchmarks but from what I can see my OCed 920 @ 4ghz is about the same performance as this chip in games ( the only thing I use it for )

 

I'm not going to downgrade to AMD their Bulldozer is still slower than a 920 for many games and their latest chipset/processor doesnt even support the PCI-E 3.0 that they are pushing on their latest 7000 series graphics card??

 

I refuse to get a 1155 system, they have less PCI-E lanes and memory channels than my current system and is a dead end once Ivy bridge comes out..

 

2 generations later of Intel processors and pay $1600.00 for a upgrade that isn't faster? At least thats what it seems to me. With no real competition from AMD, Intel seems to be holding back. I'ts not like when they first released Core 2 and the performance from one generation to the next was HUGE.... doesn't seem to be that way with the Sandy Bridge and the Sandy Bridge-E. Ivy bridge looks like it will be more low end/mainstream garbage and I don't want Intel graphics mixed in with a processor it's useless for gaming.

 

I've got pretty much everything I want for sims like TIR, TM WH, MFD's, mini USB screens etc so don't need to upgrade on any of that.

 

Maybe some of you have either the new 3930K or 3D vision surround setups can comment on if you feel your purchase was worth it? I'm in no hurry I always research my purchases for a while before I pull the trigger....

[Druid_]

I'm in the same position as you. Personally I am going to wait until Ivy Bridge is out before I pull the trigger on my wallet. About then nvidia will have Keplar out and maybe AMD will have proper drivers for the 7970 sorted. My other purchase will be a couple of 256gb SSDs and raid em. April/May is gonna be an expensive month methinks.

 

Sandy bridge and Ivy bridge are much easier to overclock than your 920 and certainly faster at comparible clock speeds due to the new architecture and amount of onboard cache. A few ppl have compared their clock speeds with sandy bridge before and after the upgrade, its on the forums somewhere.

 

Forget sandybride E, its not for gamers!

 

Don't know much about 3D vision but I'm guessing it'll eat frame rates on my 3 screen setup. Seems like a fad also.

[Rhinox]

If I understand correctly, your 2 options are:

a) Keep current system and instead get 3 new 3D Vision 2 capable monitors

b) Upgrade motherboard /processor/memory with an i7-3930K

 

Well, I'd suggest something different:

c) Upgrade your GPU.

 

2xGTX480 is nice for common user, but I think it would bottleneck in case of 3x full-hd screen setup. Especially if you play BS/A10 on higher settings (LO is not so gpu-hungry)...

[spikenet]

your system looks pretty good to me as is. Only thing I'd think you could do is as you mentioned, upgrade your GPU to single card solution, bit more RAM (to run ramdrive for pagefile/tempfiles) and install win7 64 home premium.

 

Your spec doesnt list your HDD, a couple of SSD's would spruce it up also :)

[Slayer]

Forgot to update my sig, already running 2-128gig SSD in Raid 0 :P

[Lallan]

Forgot to update my sig, already running 2-128gig SSD in Raid 0 :P

 

I honestly do not know why you need anything new... THAT is a monster of a machine and the only real reason to get the i7 3000 series would be if you are doing a lot of video rendering/highly demanding tasks (most games are not programmed to support 6 core CPU's and with Intel's hyper-threading.... it is more or less 12 cores)

 

Save your money for now or maybe get more RAM but personally I would just wait till later on this year and then up your systems performance

[Slayer]

Well today I made my move. The I7-3930K came up for sale on Newegg as I was browsing I had my wishlist already made and bought it. Damn things are nearly impossible to get without being ripped off another hundred dollars.

 

I decided against trying 3 3D monitors in surround it's just too expensive for my budget. Instead I ordered a new processor, board, ram, case, corsair C100 cooler and 3-24" LED displays for about the same price. I also ordered the triple monitor mount adapter for my Obutto.

 

I'll post pics of everything in a couple of weeks once I have the new system built and I get it integrated into my pit. Going to hold off on graphics upgrade until I see Nvidias next offering. The 2 480's run everything except DCS over 100 FPS and are fine for now.

[Cali]

I'd say keep your system for a little longer, once your system looks like mine then it's time to upgrade!

[Depth]

Keep current system and instead get 3 new 3D Vision 2 capable monitors (for 3D vision surround setup)

 

I'm only using 1 screen now so this seems like it would be great for DCS

Or

Go with the full system update. I have the 3D Vision (first one) and and it doesn't go well with DCS. You're either looking at the cockpit (really close) or terrain (really far). It looks neat at 300 feet AGL but at any altitude at all it'll just give you a headache trying to shift your focus between the cockpit and anything else.

 

On top of that the mouse cursor is layered on top of everything, so when focusing on the mouse you'll go cross-eyed and all the buttons split in two. Focus on the button and the mouse will be split in two.

 

TGP is represented by a 2D screen so you won't get any lovely Depth* there either.

 

 

*Hilarious pun intended

[Slayer]

I did order a full system upgrade but will be using Nvidia surround with 3 Asus LED monitors. 3D with 3 monitors would've cost me more than a full system upgrade(minus the graphics cards) Just not worth it for me yet. I haven't decided if I want to keep the USB 7" displays. Right now there is no performance hit using them at all but everything will change once I load up the cards with 2 more 1920 x 1080 displays. I'll do some FPS testing before and after the upgrade.

 

Thanks for all the feedback.

[MackTheKnight]

Congrats on the i7-3930K. I got mine on sale as well and love it! :)