To push higher or just save for next build?

[xkm1948]

My current rig is seven years old. Alone the way I did some upgrades but it is definitely showing its age. Right now I get my QX9650 running at 4G stable on air. I have 8gigs of DDR21000 RAM and a slightly OCed 5870. It is a good PC but it simply cannot perform well in newer titles with high resolution. So I've been thinking about this. I got two options.

Option 1: Push the QX9650 as high as it can go and be settled with the performance. Get a 7870LE for graphic upgrade and wait until all the other parts start to fail.

Option 2: Save up for a while, build a new Haswell based new rig and sell my old pc to cover the expense. The new rig will definitely perform better and has better energy efficiency.

What do you guys think? Do you think the QX9650 can be pushed above 4G, say 4.5 on air? Is it gonna worth it?

 

[[Ion]]

I don't think that the Yorkfield CPUs will do much more than 4GHz with reasonable cooling. Maybe 4.2GHz, but that's starting to ask a fair amount from it.

I'd suggest purchasing a Tahiti LE card ATM, then a SSD later on, and then you can get a new motherboard/CPU/RAM later on and sell what you have left over.

 

[xkm1948]

Do you think the Haswell will be worth upgrading to? I must say I am more than satisfied with the performance of the X38 platform which is why I am probably gonna stick with intel platform.

 

[OneMoar]

DDR2 =nope throw it and build anew
see the name of my system for the awes-er to question #2

 

[The Von Matrices]

Part of this depends on the games you play. What titles are you playing that you experience slowdowns. Are you running the system at 1680x1050 on that Samsung monitor you have in your profile?

Also, have you considered a SSD? It won't help in games but it will make your system much more responsive in everything else. I know that for my friend's old Q6600 system a SSD upgrade made the difference between keeping the system for another year or replacing it immediately.

Edit: It might be worth consulting this article for advice.

 

[[Ion]]

Do you think the Haswell will be worth upgrading to? I must say I am more than satisfied with the performance of the X38 platform which is why I am probably gonna stick with intel platform.

From a Core 2 Extreme? Certainly. Even a Nehalem i7 would be an improvement, and a Sandy or Ivy Bridge i5/i7 even more so. Haswell's improvements are supposed to be primarily in the GPU department, which obviously is less relevant to gamers with dedicated graphics, but the CPU part is supposed to see a 5-10% boost as well

 

[rtwjunkie]

I saw a huge increase in my own gameplaying perceived responsiveness and ability to push games for higher settings when I went from my own QX9650 last year to an i7-2600k. It is able to push more data to the graphics card, especially on a very easy 4Ghz overclock. I was like you, holding out, but I finally said "what the heck" and upgraded. I don't regret it.

On a similar note, my son is running a Q9450 on a EP45-UD3P with a GTX 480, and he is still plenty satisfied with the performance of his system. His Q9450 is overclocked to 3.4 and it plays Battlefield 3 pretty decently on high settings as well as Skyrim with tons of mods including texture.

Bottom line, it's up to you. But if you decide to, I'm sure you won't miss the old system at all.

 

[xkm1948]

Well, it's been fun and exciting for the last 7 yrs on the old x38 system. But what the hell, i'm gonna start a new build! Haswell platform it is! Thanks for all the advice guys!