Upgrade advice ?

[funkster]

Hi I am planning an upgrade to my aging system and wanted some advice on whcich way to go. I.e CPU / Mobo or GPU. I don't really want to replace the whole system just yet but thought I may get a boost with a intermediate step? Basically I just want to increase FPS and up settings. I only use,this pc for flight Sim(s). Budget circa £400

 

Current system is (don't laugh :smilewink:):

 

• AMD Phenom II X4 quad-core 3.4GHz
  
• 8gb ddr3
  
• gtx 295
  

 

Running 1920*1080 42lcd (main) and 2x8 Lilliput USB monitors. (2nd one not installed yet)

 

Any suggestions? Thinking HD7950 or 7970 but have always had nvidia. Any help / guidance would be really really appreciated :helpsmilie

 

 

 

Slightly off topic - I also have a second networked PC running some Helios screens - is it possible to export veiwports over yet?

 

:

[funkster]

No advice? Or have I missed some relevant information out?

 

I am leaning towards purchasing the hd7970 but is the CPU passable?

[Cali]

Mine is worse then yours, look at sig. Maybe save up some more money and just buy a new system. Are you happy with the FPS/preformance your getting now?

[funkster]

The performance is ok at the moment but since I've added the mfcd screens I've had to reduce some settings to maintain 30fps. I am not at pc at monent but setting are Basically;

 

Texture / scenes high

Water low

Shadows Medium

Hblur off

Msaa off

TSAA off

Hdr cold with tweak

Bushes 100

Tree vis 1500

 

I'm thinking if I could get the 7970 now and then upgrade

Mono/CPU in a few months.

[EtherealN]

As long as you have the requisite PSU and PCIe power connectors, that certainly is an option. (Though do consider the GTX680 as well - it's easier on the wattage for one thing and performs roughly equal on average to the 7970.) However, I'm not sure I would be able to guarantee how much of an improvement you would get - there would be some and you would definitely be able to crank up TSAA and MSAA settings since those happen almost exclusively in the graphics card, but you might still be generally held back by the CPU.

 

Still, getting the GPU card now and then holding on mobo/cpu upgrades might let you get a proper Ivy rig, which would probably be worth the wait at this point. (There's still no 100% sure release date AFAIK, but a couple months should do it.)

Edited April 2, 2012 by EtherealN
Brainfart correction.

[Buckram]

To be honest, your PC is pretty well right at the moment. I would suggest perhaps getting a Radeon 6950 or 6970 as they have come down heaps in price with the release of the 7000 series cards.

[HiJack]

If you don't upgrade to the Ivy Bridge CPU (or at least i7 CPU) there is no point in upgrading your GPU with the current CPU!

[sobek]

Though do consider the GTX580 as well - it's easier on the wattage for one thing and performs roughly equal on average to the 7970.)

 

Sorry, but what?

 

Did you mean the 680, by chance? In that case, i'd agree, the 680 is cheaper, has comparable to favourable game performance and uses less power. The downside is that it has less GPGPU power, but that doesn't factor in for most users.

[EtherealN]

Ah, lol, yes, 680 is what I meant. Brainfart. :)

EDIT: Corrected my post above. Thanks. :)