i7 920 upgrade or bust.

[AliensOfGold]

I feel my forever young i7 920 is finally meeting it's match in Far Cry 5. For some reason no matter what settings I select from low to high I average about 30-40 (I think) FPS during regular game play at 1080p.

 

i7 920 @ 2.66 GHz with a CoolerMaster Hyper T4 CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

24GB RAM Corsair Vengeance CMZ12GX3M3A1600C9

Leadtek GeForce GTX 1060 WinFast 6GB (latest drivers 391.35)

Silverstone 750W PSU

Viewsonic VP3268-4K 32" Monitor

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

Bunch of storage drives.

DVD-ROM (SATA)

BD-ROM (SATA)

 

I'm not sure if the game is under performing for my system or what because my brother's system runs the game at 1600x900 at a near constant 60 FPS with a mix of low to high settings.

 

i5 4570 @ 3.20 GHz with stock cooler

MSI H81M-E34

8 GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

Inno3D GeForce GTX 1050 Ti X2 4GB

Corsair 550W PSU

500GB SATA Hard Drive

DVD-ROM

 

This machine runs the game perfectly smooth. My machine, whilst mostly smooth, runs at a much lower framerate and also stutters a little now and then.

Can it be that my CPU is just getting too old or is too slow even compared to the i5?

 

I've looked into a few options for upgrades and just building an almost entirely new system. A new CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, PSU for an i7 coffee lake or Ryzen 1800x will cost me around $2000. Alternatively I've found i7 980's on Ebay for around $200 but they're from China and I'm not sure how reliable they would be. China seem to be hoarding 1366 chips.

 

Would I see an improvement in framerates if I were to upgrade to an i7 980. It would also only have to last me another 6-8 months.

 

 

EDIT: I wrote the memory down incorrectly for my i7 machine so I fixed up the model number.

[aisle9]

Xeon X5650. $20 for 6 cores, 12 threads on the X58 platform. I just ordered one for $30 shipped off of eBay for my X58 Sabertooth.

[ScratchCat]

Given the CPU is the only weaker components it is highly likely to be the limiting factor. Try overclock the CPU if possible - it seems the i7 920 can reach around 3.6-3.7 GHz (4GHz with a very high voltage).

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-core-i7,2268-4.html

[DeadlyTitan]

Its the game's problem. There are other people with same issues with that game, even people with i7 8700 are having inconsistent FPS, its just a crappy port and there is nothing we can do about it. Not the fault of your CPU or anything. 

[AliensOfGold]

Yeah it's really strange because in the first area I was getting around 60 FPS and the BS benchmark backs that up with 60 FPS also.

[Emberstone]

See what kind of overclock you can get out of your 920. X58 chips are overall fairly good overclockers.

 

If that doesn't give you the performance you want, see if you can grab one of the six-core Xeons that work on the platform, or something like an i7-980X or i7-990X. The overclock the snot out of that too.

[Intelfreak]

Overclock the crap out of it. Be aware of that there are two revision of I7 920 CO and DO. CO is the least overclockable cause this revision usaly needs higher voltage than DO to do the same overclock and that means more heat development. With a good air cooler I7 920 DO can do about 4 GHz. I had I7 920 DO that cut do 4.4 GHz but keept it at 4.1 GHz to keep temp with in safe limits.

 

Else ass other told al ready get a 6 core I7 or Xeon like the X5660. The xeons can be found on ebay for dead cheap. I replaced my I7 920 DO to a I7 980X last year and oc it to 4.25 Ghz also on air cooling and dam this chip flyes throw all the games i can pull a gainst it also Far Cry 5 it runs like a champ at max ultra settings and 1600P together with a GTX 1080 TI card.

 

Just to give you some help.

 

This is my old setup with I7 920 at 4.4 GHz.

 

 

And as i ride this down i have FC5 open as well.

 

 

This is how my system performs in the build in benchmark at 1200P, 1600P and 4K resolution with settings set to ultra. 4K really kills the GPU throw.

 

 

So yeah with a good overclock your I7 920 shut handle it much better. And if that fails one of the 6 core X58 chips with a nice 4 GHz+ oc can deffently do it for sure. Hope this can help your desision. I can really just say that a change to 6 cores and a nice oc really gives X58 a new life again.

[PCPartListsYT]

4 hours ago, ScratchCat said:

Given the CPU is the only weaker components it is highly likely to be the limiting factor. Try overclock the CPU if possible - it seems the i7 920 can reach around 3.6-3.7 GHz (4GHz with a very high voltage).

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-core-i7,2268-4.html

Great idea. Overclock the Hell out of it.

5 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

i7 920 @ 2.66 GHz with a CoolerMaster Hyper T4 CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

24GB RAM Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Leadtek GeForce GTX 1060 WinFast 6GB (latest drivers 391.35)

Silverstone 750W PSU

Viewsonic VP3268-4K 32" Monitor

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

Bunch of storage drives.

DVD-ROM (SATA)

BD-ROM (SATA)

If overclocking fails, I would suggest this. It has the 8600k for great gaming performance, Corsair H60 (2018) for overclocking and good tempatures, Gigabyte Z370-XP for SLI and overclocking support, and Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3000 for a good brand and certified performance.

 

5 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

Leadtek GeForce GTX 1060 WinFast

Never heard of this. Might be the cause of the problem.

[AliensOfGold]

Roughly how much will my idle temps increase if I attempt an overclock? I'm at around 45-50 degrees when idle. I was happy to find to find out I'm running a D0 so I just need to find a good guide and I'll try tonight.

 

7 hours ago, PCPartListsYT said:

Never heard of this. Might be the cause of the problem.

Leadtek is just a brand. Maybe not as common as Asus or Gigabyte, but the card is good.

[TahoeDust]

12 hours ago, DeadlyTitan said:

Its the game's problem. There are other people with same issues with that game, even people with i7 8700 are having inconsistent FPS, its just a crappy port and there is nothing we can do about it. Not the fault of your CPU or anything. 

I have not heard anything about this.  I feel like it is well optimized.  I average ~90fps in ultra at 3440x1440.  It runs much better for me than many other AAA titles.

[John Andrew Santiago]

12 hours ago, DeadlyTitan said:

Its the game's problem. There are other people with same issues with that game, even people with i7 8700 are having inconsistent FPS, its just a crappy port and there is nothing we can do about it. Not the fault of your CPU or anything. 

I do not own the game, but from the many reviews I've seen they the game is well optimized. It's the poster's CPU that's bottlenecking his GTX 1060. A Ryzen 5 1600 or i5 8400 is what I would AT LEAST recommend for him.

[Sin Stalker]

13 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

I feel my forever young i7 920 is finally meeting it's match in Far Cry 5. For some reason no matter what settings I select from low to high I average about 30-40 (I think) FPS during regular game play at 1080p.

 

i7 920 @ 2.66 GHz with a CoolerMaster Hyper T4 CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

24GB RAM Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Leadtek GeForce GTX 1060 WinFast 6GB (latest drivers 391.35)

Silverstone 750W PSU

Viewsonic VP3268-4K 32" Monitor

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

Bunch of storage drives.

DVD-ROM (SATA)

BD-ROM (SATA)

 

I'm not sure if the game is under performing for my system or what because my brother's system runs the game at 1600x900 at a near constant 60 FPS with a mix of low to high settings.

 

i5 4570 @ 3.20 GHz with stock cooler

MSI H81M-E34

8 GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

Inno3D GeForce GTX 1050 Ti X2 4GB

Corsair 550W PSU

500GB SATA Hard Drive

DVD-ROM

 

This machine runs the game perfectly smooth. My machine, whilst mostly smooth, runs at a much lower framerate and also stutters a little now and then.

Can it be that my CPU is just getting too old or is too slow even compared to the i5?

 

I've looked into a few options for upgrades and just building an almost entirely new system. A new CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, PSU for an i7 coffee lake or Ryzen 1800x will cost me around $2000. Alternatively I've found i7 980's on Ebay for around $200 but they're from China and I'm not sure how reliable they would be. China seem to be hoarding 1366 chips.

 

Would I see an improvement in framerates if I were to upgrade to an i7 980. It would also only have to last me another 6-8 months.

 

I had the i7-930 with your exact motherboard. Last year I sold both and bought the new Ryzen 7 1700x. 

 

The great thing is that the motherboard goes for worth alot on the used market. It is a great over-clocked. So you could probably sell it and buy a newer system, like a R5 1600x and Mobo for the same price. Only thing is the ram...

 

Or you could grab a 6 core Xeon processor. There are several that fit and work with that Mobo. Grab an awesome tower cooler, like the nh-d15 or an aio and then increase the MOBO's multiplier for a nice mild overclock 

[AliensOfGold]

13 hours ago, aisle9 said:

Xeon X5650. $20 for 6 cores, 12 threads on the X58 platform. I just ordered one for $30 shipped off of eBay for my X58 Sabertooth.

According to my board's CPU list that one isn't listed, but the Xeon W3690 is and is only around $150 on eBay.

[KarathKasun]

6c/12t will help a bit.  Overclocking is also something you can do on that platform, regardless of the CPU being locked.  Good ol FSB/BCLK overclocking.

[JR1988]

yeah like the xeon x5650 and clock it....

 

or it's like what a lot did skip a lot of gens up to z270/370. It's quite some performance. 

[CPUguy101]

16 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

I feel my forever young i7 920 is finally meeting it's match in Far Cry 5. For some reason no matter what settings I select from low to high I average about 30-40 (I think) FPS during regular game play at 1080p.

 

i7 920 @ 2.66 GHz with a CoolerMaster Hyper T4 CPU Cooler

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R

24GB RAM Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9

Leadtek GeForce GTX 1060 WinFast 6GB (latest drivers 391.35)

Silverstone 750W PSU

Viewsonic VP3268-4K 32" Monitor

Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD

Bunch of storage drives.

DVD-ROM (SATA)

BD-ROM (SATA)

 

I'm not sure if the game is under performing for my system or what because my brother's system runs the game at 1600x900 at a near constant 60 FPS with a mix of low to high settings.

 

i5 4570 @ 3.20 GHz with stock cooler

MSI H81M-E34

8 GB Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

Inno3D GeForce GTX 1050 Ti X2 4GB

Corsair 550W PSU

500GB SATA Hard Drive

DVD-ROM

 

This machine runs the game perfectly smooth. My machine, whilst mostly smooth, runs at a much lower framerate and also stutters a little now and then.

Can it be that my CPU is just getting too old or is too slow even compared to the i5?

 

I've looked into a few options for upgrades and just building an almost entirely new system. A new CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, PSU for an i7 coffee lake or Ryzen 1800x will cost me around $2000. Alternatively I've found i7 980's on Ebay for around $200 but they're from China and I'm not sure how reliable they would be. China seem to be hoarding 1366 chips.

 

Would I see an improvement in framerates if I were to upgrade to an i7 980. It would also only have to last me another 6-8 months.

Ok not the best advice(it's the geek in me) but your 920 has some overclocking potential maybe get a beast AIO or heatsink and OC that thing more and then you can bring it over to your newer build.  You could get that thing to 4ghz even. 

 

I just think you should OC that thing to see what it can do, then save some money for your new build since ram is so pricey ATM

 

In reality though if you can afford it you will notice a BIG difference with a 8700K i mean your CPU lasted you quite awhile. 

 

Your CPU was out when Amd had the Phenom II x4

[AliensOfGold]

4 minutes ago, SMBGUY said:

I just think you should OC that thing to see what it can do, then save some money for your new build since ram is so pricey ATM

I'm going to try an overclock on the 920 first and see how it goes, but in the long run I think I'll get the best Xeon I can fit an AIO and overclock that so I can hold off on upgrading completely for a while longer.

 

Next big thing will be to add a 1080ti to this machine.

[CPUguy101]

1 minute ago, AliensOfGold said:

I'm going to try an overclock on the 920 first and see how it goes, but in the long run I think I'll get the best Xeon I can fit an AIO and overclock that so I can hold off on upgrading completely for a while longer.

 

Next big thing will be to add a 1080ti to this machine.

That will work out well for you man the I7 920 brings back memory's i always wanted one but at the time i could only afford a Athlon quad core lol

[ItzRuben]

Hello, I currently use an x5650 @ stock (2.67Ghz) and I’ve paired it with a MSI GTX 1060 6gb oc. It works fine and I’ve tested the bottleneck (in a system with an 5 gen i7) and it shows no bottleneck at all. But the main thing is my pc can run FarCry 5 at ultra on a steady 60 ~ 100fps.

I hope this helped.

[PCPartListsYT]

21 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

I've looked into a few options for upgrades and just building an almost entirely new system. A new CPU, Motherboard, RAM, Case, PSU for an i7 coffee lake or Ryzen 1800x will cost me around $2000. Alternatively I've found i7 980's on Ebay for around $200 but they're from China and I'm not sure how reliable they would be. China seem to be hoarding 1366 chips.

Everybody. Stop recommending the X5650! If his performance doesn't suffice from the OC, he even says he has $2,000 USD to build a new PC!

[PCPartListsYT]

5 hours ago, AliensOfGold said:

I'm going to try an overclock on the 920 first and see how it goes, but in the long run I think I'll get the best Xeon I can fit an AIO and overclock that so I can hold off on upgrading completely for a while longer.

 

Next big thing will be to add a 1080ti to this machine.

What Xeon? A X99 Xeon or a X58 Xeon.

[AliensOfGold]

1 hour ago, PCPartListsYT said:

What Xeon? A X99 Xeon or a X58 Xeon.

X58 Xeon. The Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard doesn't have the Xeon X5650 listed as a supported CPU so I'm planning on getting a Xeon W3690 as long as my overclock proves successful.

 

$2000 AUD and will have after months of saving, not right now. Just looking at my options and seeing if I can make my current machine perform better for at least another year. This machine will also more than likely be handed down to someone else to use when I do move on to whatever I get next.

[Pasi123]

Xeon X5650 and similar Xeons should work on the GA-X58A-UD3R even though it's not officially listed.

[MaratM]

If you have problems with high overclocks just put some fans on top of the vrm and NB heatsinks, it will improve you overclocking capabilities.

If overclock does improve your rig’s performance just go with x56xx or w3680 or 3690 can get them at aliexpress delivered to your door dirt cheap. This way you can get a couple more years from your rig.

here is some good thread about x58 

 

[bimmerman]

I have an X5675 running on a UD3R motherboard. Just use your i7-920 to update the bios to the latest revision before installing the Xeon, and you'll be fine.

 

I've got mine running stably at up to 4.7 GHz, though at elevated temps relative to my 'everyday' 4.5 GHz. (read: negligible difference in performance that doesn't justify the higher temps). This is with a 240mm AIO cooler, nothing fancy (just a lot of voltage tweaking).

 

I highly recommend this budget chip if you're wanting to keep your X58 system going and have a good cooler. My plan is to upgrade the GPU and keep going with it.