Looking for some upgrade advice!

[Skwoad]

Hey guys, ---- All prices in AUD -please keep in mind

I'm looking at upgrading my computer over Christmas, and would like some help choosing the upgrade that would impact my performance the best.

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong area to be posting this

So these are my current specs:

Graphics Card: AMD HD 7950 3gb

Cpu: i7 920 Bloomfield @ 2.6 ghz with a noctua d14 cooler 

Mobo: Asus P6T

Ram: 8 Gb Gskill ram

Psu: 520W Corsair something

I'm looking at either getting a GTX970 or another card for around the price of $500,

Or at upgrading my CPU to probably an i5-4690k @3.5ghz, as well as getting a new mobo that has better features.

I'm really just looking for the best upgrade that would remove any bottlenecks in the pc and improving performance. 

Thanks in advance,

Skwoad

[vlkn´]

If your psu can handle it, get another 7950

[Skwoad]

Yea i forgot to mention, on a corsair 520W psu. Il add that in the OP.

Have not had any experience in doing any xfire, is it easy? Also, do you need two of the same brand 7950's? 

[xnoobftw]

Yea i forgot to mention, on a corsair 520W psu. Il add that in the OP.

Have not had any experience in doing any xfire, is it easy? Also, do you need two of the same brand 7950's? 

520W is no where near enough for xfire.

No need for same brand, just the same chip will do. 

[vlkn´]

you´ll need to buy a new psu.

Get the 970, will save you power and the money for a new psu.

[Skwoad]

520W is no where near enough for xfire.

No need for same brand, just the same chip will do. 

The only problem with doing xfire, even if I were to upgrade the psu to around a 650w? Is that no stores around me sell the 7950 anymore. Would it be better to just go for a 970? Or try find something on ebay?

[vlkn´]

I would go for the 970, it´s not worth it to me, to stress me out searching for a functional used 7950.

[xnoobftw]

The only problem with doing xfire, even if I were to upgrade the psu to around a 650w? Is that no stores around me sell the 7950 anymore. Would it be better to just go for a 970? Or try find something on ebay?

Yes. A single 970 will perform slightly worst BUT it will prevent any problems that might occur with multi GPU setup and save you some $$ at the same time. 

[Skwoad]

Yes. A single 970 will perform slightly worst BUT it will prevent any problems that might occur with multi GPU setup and save you some $$ at the same time. 

Ok, is the $500 pricetag worth the preformance increase from a HD 7950 -> GTX 970? Or would an older 780ti or 770 be worthy while saving some money?

[vlkn´]

500$? damn, get a 780ti

[Skwoad]

Mk ill have a look, so overall, better to get GPU > CPU?

[vlkn´]

Yes it is.

[xnoobftw]

Ok, is the $500 pricetag worth the preformance increase from a HD 7950 -> GTX 970? Or would an older 780ti or 770 be worthy while saving some money?

A 7950 = r9 280... Do you really need an upgrade... I would say save your money, are you not getting the performance that you want? 

[xnoobftw]

Ok, is the $500 pricetag worth the preformance increase from a HD 7950 -> GTX 970? Or would an older 780ti or 770 be worthy while saving some money?

If you must i would say wait for intel skylake before deciding (your CPU and mobo are really outdated and i would take those as priority... Same goes to PSU as it lacks of power, maybe change it to the EVGA g2 750 watts for single GPU and 1 CPU or 850 watts with 2 gpu and 1 CPU) 

[Briggsy]

I wouldn't bother with crossfiring a 7950 at this point.. for games that are optimized for crossfire, you would see sometimes more and sometimes less performance than a single 290 depending on the game (+/- 15%). Grab a 970 if you must upgrade, but I would wait, personally.

[Skwoad]

So at this point I'm kinda split between waiting or getting this:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193_1483&products_id=27975

The main reason I'm wanting to upgrade is that I've been having some off issues in certain games due to the catalyst control centre. I had to roll back to a version from last year to fix most of the problems.

I spoke to someone else using the i7 920, and they reckon its fine for my use, and if I were to upgrade I should try overclocking the 920 before to see how much I could get out of it.

As fair as I'm aware a 7950 < 780 by a fair amount. I was looking at some benchmarks and it out preforms it in all areas by a large margin. 

I'm aware that my mobo is fairly old at this point, but would it be limiting my performance that much? My cpu seems to run fairly well considering how old it is, I'm never really feeling my pc is slow or anything.

 

If you must i would say wait for intel skylake before deciding (your CPU and mobo are really outdated and i would take those as priority... Same goes to PSU as it lacks of power, maybe change it to the EVGA g2 750 watts for single GPU and 1 CPU or 850 watts with 2 gpu and 1 CPU) 

In the current state of my pc, 520W is more than enough, even if I were to upgrade to a 780 I would still be fine I believe. I might be able to get a psu with that graphics card as well, and look at getting one of those skylakes next year or something.

[xnoobftw]

-

520w is not enough(well it depends on the PSU itself too, it might be sufficent if it is good) . Trust me i tried running my 290x on a 600w PSU before, the amount of black screens / BSOD i've gotten is real until i changed to my current PSU (evga g2 850watts).

Take a look at your PSU and tell me it's name (hopefully it is the hx520, if it is you're good! ) Get the 970/780 whichever is cheaper 

[Skwoad]

Yea its a HX520,

Probs end up getting the 780 because its $100 cheaper. 

Thanks for the help all- really good community here

Might just put that 100 towards a new monitor or something,

Thanks,

Skwoad