Possible bottlenecks using old hardware?

[megapolom]

Hi

 

So I got an old PC from my dad and was thinking of using it for either a home media NAS or a retro gaming rig, but I'm not sure if any of the components might cause a bottleneck.

So the components are:

CPU: Intel i5 750 (yes that's the first gen i5 processor)

MoBo: GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-P55A-UD3-rev-20#ov

GPU: GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD (Powered by Radeon HD 4870 GPU) https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-R487D5-1GD#ov

RAM: 8gb dual channel DDR3 1333MHz

 

As far as the MoBo is concerned it has 8 sata ports (really like that for NAS purposes) so that's cool and I really like the ugliness of the old blue and white combination, but I would like to replace the CPU and here's the problem. Is it even worth it since the only compatible CPUs with the LGA 1156 sockets are Nehalem and Westmere gen processors? If I go the retro gaming way what kind of upgradability am I looking at concerning the GPU (was thinking about something like an used GTX 750 2GB or GTX 960 4GB) before CPU or motherboard become a bottleneck?

 

Thanks in advance

[Fasauceome]

You could put a first gen i7 with decent graphics cards like an RX 570 or the new 1650 (when we get performance data for that anyways) to great effect, they're not fully obsolete yet.

[Mira Yurizaki]

It depends on the game. Considering that most games before 2010 relied more on single core performance, it should be easy to spot if a game is going to be bottlenecked by CPU performance.

[TheDelphiDude]

Older titles should have no problems with that i5, provided it's paired with a decent GPU. Mine was bundled with a GTX 760 and 8GB RAM and ran Star Wars Battlefront (the first one) without any real issues other than ensuring there wasn't too much running in the background gobbling up RAM.

As for home NAS use, I'd go another route. A cheap mainboard with soldered on processor (such as a Celeron 847), 4GB of RAM and possibly a RAID controller (the chipsets of low-end mainboards are unlikely to support hardware RAID) will do just as well, without the need for a relatively power hungry CPU like the i5 750. Not to mention the additional power draw from the GPU as the 750 has no IGP.

Unless of course you don't mind a fairly steep electricity bill.

[megapolom]

On 4/23/2019 at 6:53 PM, TheDelphiDude said:

Older titles should have no problems with that i5, provided it's paired with a decent GPU. Mine was bundled with a GTX 760 and 8GB RAM and ran Star Wars Battlefront (the first one) without any real issues other than ensuring there wasn't too much running in the background gobbling up RAM.

As for home NAS use, I'd go another route. A cheap mainboard with soldered on processor (such as a Celeron 847), 4GB of RAM and possibly a RAID controller (the chipsets of low-end mainboards are unlikely to support hardware RAID) will do just as well, without the need for a relatively power hungry CPU like the i5 750. Not to mention the additional power draw from the GPU as the 750 has no IGP.

Unless of course you don't mind a fairly steep electricity bill.

Thanks man, I didn't think of that power draw during the entire day with a NAS (probably because I haven't build one yet). So I guess I'll go the gamin' way, again

The motherboard does have 2 GSATA ports so if I understand those correctly, it should have native support for HW RAID, but that comes in handy even if I don't use it for a NAS. How's the compatibility with SATA SSDs? Would they work fine or must I stick to HDD?

[megapolom]

On 4/23/2019 at 6:04 PM, fasauceome said:

You could put a first gen i7 with decent graphics cards like an RX 570 or the new 1650 (when we get performance data for that anyways) to great effect, they're not fully obsolete yet.

Was thinking the same thing, until I checked the prices on eBay for used i7 880 and realised I could use those 50-80€ for a new Celeron, add a cheap Mobo and have a NAS. Caught me by surprise tbh, didn't think 10 yo HW is that expensive.

Thanks anyway

[Fasauceome]

5 hours ago, megapolom said:

Was thinking the same thing, until I checked the prices on eBay for used i7 880 and realised I could use those 50-80€ for a new Celeron, add a cheap Mobo and have a NAS. Caught me by surprise tbh, didn't think 10 yo HW is that expensive.

Thanks anyway

Instead of an i7, consider a Xeon, far cheaper. P55 boards work with 1156 Xeons like a Xeon X3440 which is dirt cheap.

 

Edit: I think the x3450 is what you would like, 4 cores with HT and the same turbo as that i5, or the x3460 or 3470 if the pricing is still good.

[TheDelphiDude]

14 hours ago, megapolom said:

The motherboard does have 2 GSATA ports so if I understand those correctly, it should have native support for HW RAID, but that comes in handy even if I don't use it for a NAS. How's the compatibility with SATA SSDs? Would they work fine or must I stick to HDD?

I wouldn't use SATA SSDs with the Gigabyte SATA ports, as those run off a Marvell 9128 controller, which may very well have issues with the TRIM command:

https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/does-marvell-9128-controller-support-trim.2339766/

 

I'd recommend using SATA HDDs, and if at all possible in conjunction with the Intel SATA controller. It may only be SATA I, but you're not limited to just RAID 0 or 1.

PS: When using RAID and SATA HDDs, use something like WD Reds. I can almost certainly guarantee problems when using regular HDDs, from actual failing arrays to needless rebuilds of arrays because the controller thinks something's amiss.