Upgrade I7 970

[nosreborg]

I'm way overdue for a upgrade if at all possible?  Can you guys suggest a good upgrade over my current I7 970 3.2 Ghz CPU.  I don't want to change my motherboard, just the CPU & GPU.

Thanks...

 

CPU:

Intel Core I7 970 3.2GHz, Gulftown, Socket 1366 LGA, 32 nm, 6 Cores.

 

Motherboard:

Asus Rampage III Extreme, Chipset Intel X58, Southbridge Intel 82801JR (ICH10R), LPCIO Winboard W83667HG.

 

Memory:

DDR3 12280 MBytes.

 

GPU:

AMD Radeon HD 6970, Memory 2048 MBytes.

 

Is strictly used for gaming.  I'm thinking about getting another GPU and want to go with a Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 570 4GB.  I am all ears for any advice or possible upgrade to any of my components.

Thanks...

 

 

[Jurrunio]

CPU is good. Overclock it and you will get a kickass machine

 

GPU can definitely get a good upgrade. The RX cards (and GTX 10 series in that regard) are very expensive due to cryptocurrency mining, so might as well get a used card like the 980Ti

 

Check whether the PSU model is any good as well. What's its name?

[nosreborg]

5 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

CPU is good. Overclock it and you will get a kickass machine

 

GPU can definitely get a good upgrade. The RX cards (and GTX 10 series in that regard) are very expensive due to cryptocurrency mining, so might as well get a used card like the 980Ti

 

Check whether the PSU model is any good as well. What's its name?

PSU:

Antec True Power Quattro 1000.

[Jurrunio]

18 minutes ago, nosreborg said:

PSU:

Antec True Power Quattro 1000.

If it's more than 5 years then consider replacing it. PSUs wear out over time.

[NelizMastr]

12 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

If it's more than 5 years then consider replacing it. PSUs wear out over time.

Not that quickly, though. Not on high end PSUs like this. It doesn't even get 50% load with these components.

 

41 minutes ago, nosreborg said:

I'm way overdue for a upgrade if at all possible?  Can you guys suggest a good upgrade over my current I7 970 3.2 Ghz CPU.  I don't want to change my motherboard, just the CPU & GPU.

Thanks...

Get a better CPU cooler, overclock the CPU to 4GHz if you can and get a faster GPU (your current one is honestly shite in 2018). Because of the hyperinflation of GPU prices, I'd say buy a GTX970 2nd hand for now. Should be a nice upgrade until the market improves.

[nosreborg]

7 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

If it's more than 5 years then consider replacing it. PSUs wear out over time.

So I built this back in I'm guessing early 2011???  The Quattro 1000 has a bearing or fan whine for over a year now, just a faint little high pitch hum, nothing really bothersome.  Works perfectly other than that.  Just how long can this rig as a whole continue to carry on into the future???  So yes, I already have been looking at changing out my PSU. 

[trevrez]

It'll carry on as long it's performing well enough for your day to day tasks or something dies.   I have a Xeon W3550, 4core 8thread from that same era and it's still going strong.  It's no longer my primary workstation but still capable.  

 

Are you running your OS on a SSD?  If not I'd make that a priority.  It'll bring new life to the system. 

[nosreborg]

7 hours ago, NelizMastr said:

Not that quickly, though. Not on high end PSUs like this. It doesn't even get 50% load with these components.

 

Get a better CPU cooler, overclock the CPU to 4GHz if you can and get a faster GPU (your current one is honestly shite in 2018). Because of the hyperinflation of GPU prices, I'd say buy a GTX970 2nd hand for now. Should be a nice upgrade until the market improves.

I pretty much can tell that my PSU is fine less the high pitch hum, still looking for another though but not quite yet broken at the moment.

 

Current Cooler on my CPU is Corsair Hydro H80, with my I7 970 3.2GHz untouched it's temp is fine.  Over clocking it I'm not sure how much cooling I would need. 

 

Yeah, noticed GPU's are very over priced at the moment. 

[bimmerman]

Yea-- your CPU is just fine-- it's basically an X58 Xeon branded as an i7. Peruse the X58 thread if you're curious about overclocking it!

 

I've posted links to OC guides a couple times in that thread, as have others.

 

Your motherboard is pretty top tier so you have a platform to support a pretty good OC, depending on cooling, PSU age, and your specific chip.

 

I built my system in 2010 before refreshing the CPU with the 6 core Xeon (realistically the same as your i7), and have been enjoying it at a healthy 4.5 GHz for the last year. 4GHz+ overclocks are pretty common, higher is possible but is more of a crapshoot depending on chip, cooling, PSU, mobo, etc etc. I have a Cooler Master Glacer 240 for cooling but nothing super fancy is really necessary.

 

I've still got the same PSU as it had on day one, so if it seems to be working I wouldn't bother touching it.

[Nightmaresmk]

Swap the cooler to a noctua or larger Corsair and buy a x5675 xeon 6 cores over clock to 4ghz and enjoy it's what i'm running. i upgraded from an I7-920. I run at 4.1ghz limit is my tuniq tower and 1333 ecc memory. very stable setup. As suggested a used 970 or 780 would be a good upgrade. new power supplies come with 7-10y warranties so unless it's showing signs don't worry about.

[nosreborg]

45 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

Yea-- your CPU is just fine-- it's basically an X58 Xeon branded as an i7. Peruse the X58 thread if you're curious about overclocking it!

 

I've posted links to OC guides a couple times in that thread, as have others.

 

Your motherboard is pretty top tier so you have a platform to support a pretty good OC, depending on cooling, PSU age, and your specific chip.

 

I built my system in 2010 before refreshing the CPU with the 6 core Xeon (realistically the same as your i7), and have been enjoying it at a healthy 4.5 GHz for the last year. 4GHz+ overclocks are pretty common, higher is possible but is more of a crapshoot depending on chip, cooling, PSU, mobo, etc etc. I have a Cooler Master Glacer 240 for cooling but nothing super fancy is really necessary.

 

I've still got the same PSU as it had on day one, so if it seems to be working I wouldn't bother touching it.

I downloaded the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and right now it doesn't look to be adjusted.  Note to self, before I do anything to read much more before I go changing anything.  I'll also start looking at the OC treads.  Have a lot to go over before I start pushing my CPU.  I did read somewhere that some Intel CPU's are locked, any info about this known? 

 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24075/Intel-Extreme-Tuning-Utility-Intel-XTU

 

 

[bimmerman]

Seriously, read through the X58 thread. It is full of information on how to tweak these CPUs.

 

The CPUs are locked multiplier but BCLK is unlocked, which is how you OC these.

[nosreborg]

14 minutes ago, bimmerman said:

Seriously, read through the X58 thread. It is full of information on how to tweak these CPUs.

 

The CPUs are locked multiplier but BCLK is unlocked, which is how you OC these.

Thanks bimmer, really appreciate your help. 

Assuming it's this thread. 

 

[Jurrunio]

5 hours ago, nosreborg said:

So I built this back in I'm guessing early 2011???  The Quattro 1000 has a bearing or fan whine for over a year now, just a faint little high pitch hum, nothing really bothersome.  Works perfectly other than that.  Just how long can this rig as a whole continue to carry on into the future???  So yes, I already have been looking at changing out my PSU. 

Change the PSU if it's out of warranty. The warranty period is pretty much the manufacturer saying 'past this period and we do not guarantee it will work well'.

 

For overclocking, just do it and monitor the temperature (and dont let vcore get past 1.35v). You can see whether you need better cooling this way