MSI X58 platinum i need upgrade help

[axlzero]

I'm currently trying to max out my old PC to give it more life i wanna do a FINAL upgrade on it.  This is the specs I'm looking for the strongest CPU ram and GPU's (SLI or crossfire) it can handle.  I need advice on what to upgrade also i wanna go with an improved air cooler if anyone has suggestion please help me out.  This is the current specs.

 

cpu             intel I7 cpu 920 @2.67ghz 8 core
ram             24GB other DDR3? 1066mhz DIMM 9.9mb reserve 
gpu             amd radeon HD 7900  
mainboard       MSI X58 platnium exress
power supply    1000wt coolmaster
case            centurion 590
disc            intel ssdsc2bw2404a4 ata
disc            samsung 860evo 2 tb
disc            wdc wd3000glfs-10f8u0 ata device
disc            wdc wd5002abys-01b1b0 ata device

 

I'm planning on upgrading to another SSD for the C drive disc 1.  Game drive is fine (disc 2) and storage are the last two i'm gonna swap them out for large capacity spin drives.  I wanna max out the CPU and GPU and go to a fast high capacity ram all the maximum the board can handle.  I cannot afford to build a new PC yet i need this one to last a few more year i'm not that smart with PC but if you make suggestion on what to get i can get it and build it.  I have aslo put in a pic with the cover off of this old gal.

[kelvinhall05]

Xeon X5675 or similar, maybe consider faster RAM, a good cooler, and the fastest GPU you can get with the leftover money.

 

 

Don't do SLI or Crossfire unless you are absolutely certain that *everything* you do on this PC will scale well with two GPUs.

[Zando_]

W3690 (very specifically only that Xeon) or one of the 6 core i7s, an OC on the CPU and RAM, and GPU depends on what you do. I and a few others have ran 1080 Tis with X58 lol, at 1440p or 4K it's not as massive a bottleneck as you'd think, though it is at 1080p. I currently have a project rig with an i7 920 and SLI 780s, plan to upgrade the CPU to an i7 950 or 6c Xeon since it holds the cards back a bit right now. 

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Xeon X5675 or similar, maybe consider faster RAM, a good cooler, and the fastest GPU you can get with the leftover money.

Reeeeeeeeeee I'm double posting but no. Not an X56xx xeon, very specifically only the W3690 or an i7. MSI boards often don't play nice with Westmere-EP, if you wanna avoid headaches you need the W3690 (again, the only compatible Xeon) or one of the i7s. 

[kelvinhall05]

2 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

Reeeeeeeeeee I'm double posting but no. Not an X56xx xeon, very specifically only the W3690 or an i7. MSI boards often don't play nice with Westmere-EP, if you wanna avoid headaches you need the W3690 (again, the only compatible Xeon) or one of the i7s. 

Sorry lol, not super familiar with X58, especially on MSI boards.

[Moonllacer]

yeah... it looks like you need a better gpu or at least any newer one

[Zando_]

Just now, kelvinhall05 said:

Sorry lol, not super familiar with X58, especially on MSI boards.

Yeah, it's just the MSI ones that are funky. A few others, but ones like the EVGA boards can be hardware modded to support Westmere-EP. Most of the weird issues with CPUs I've seen came from MSI boards, they really don't like the vast majority of Xeons, don't exactly know why. The W3690 is the only one that's actually Gulftown, the other W series Xeons are still Westmere-EP and will likely misbehave. Maybe it's a microcode thing, IDK. For the least headaches though, i7s are the way to go. Sadly they cost a good bit more than they should still, but if you can get one for around $60 or less then that's not too bad (similar pricing to X5690s). 

[Moonllacer]

Just now, Moonlacer386 said:

yeah... it looks like you need a better gpu XD

 

[Fasauceome]

10 minutes ago, axlzero said:

I have aslo put in a pic with the cover off of this old gal.

Some cable managing might help a lot lol, improve airflow

 

I say get a new cooler first for some good OCing, upgrade your GPU to something that fits your performance target (if you're only looking at 1080p 60fps, a used RX 580 is excellent) and then as @Zando Bob recommend, a W series Xeon like the W3690 (or any of the lesser SKUs like a W3670 if you get it for even cheaper) would be a good move. Faster memory helps, but with triple channel you're already sitting on a lot of bandwidth.

[axlzero]

i was thinking of a Intel Core i7-990X can the board handle it?  will there be a bottle necks or compatibility issues?  I don't understand the lingo will i how many cores and threads does this CPU have i currently have 4 cores and 8 threads on mine

 

[axlzero]

cable management for this thing is a nightmare it has two seperate sets of cables for older pc and newer i was thinking about a more manageable 1000 watt supply

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Fasauceome said:

or any of the lesser SKUs like a W3670

That's Westmere-EP. I have one, it won't work with mobos that don't work with Westmere-EP. I know I sound like a hardass, but it has to be the W3690 or an i7. Latest BIOS also only supports up to Gulftown. 

 

 

1 minute ago, axlzero said:

i was thinking of a Intel Core i7-990X can the board handle it?  will there be a bottle necks or compatibility issues?  I don't understand the lingo will i how many cores and threads does this CPU have i currently have 4 cores and 8 threads on mine

990X is likely incredibly overpriced. An i7 970 is likely much cheaper, and still 3.2Ghz base/3.46 boost. The 970 and higher are 6c/12t CPUs, which helps a lot as well. The low core count and especially the 2.8GHz clock is what holds back the i7 920 in anything modern, the hexacores do much better. I don't know of any boards that are halfway decent that won't run a stock i7, OCing is where you may run into issues depending on the VRMs. 

[Fasauceome]

35 minutes ago, axlzero said:

I don't understand the lingo will i how many cores and threads does this CPU have i currently have 4 cores and 8 threads on mine

if the cpu has hyperthreading, it has some amount of cores and double that amount in threads (in a oversimplified sense, hyperthreading sort of allows a CPU core to act like 2). Almost every single i7 has hyperthreading except the 9700K.

 

33 minutes ago, axlzero said:

cable management for this thing is a nightmare it has two seperate sets of cables for older pc and newer i was thinking about a more manageable 1000 watt supply

I've had some cases where cable managing is a nightmare, the ideal strategy is to bundle as many cables as you can in a single line going up the case. not perfect but it can look nice.

[axlzero]

what do you recommend for graphics cards i want the best the motherboard can handle

 

[NubCak]

50 minutes ago, axlzero said:

what do you recommend for graphics cards i want the best the motherboard can handle

I recently upgraded from my i7-970 overclocked on water to 4.4ghz x58 rig to a X570 rig. On the i7-970 gulftown, things were looking a bit better, specially games that support Vulkan API.

The CPU is showing it's signs of age already. Something like a RX580 or the upcoming RX5500/5500XT or 1660ti or something along those lines will be realistically the limit without bottlenecking the card. 

Alternatively you can play at a higher resolution than 1080p, then you can still take advantage of something better than a RTX2070 super or RX5700 XT etc.