What would be a good upgrade for me?

[GaryR]

I'm running -

ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe
AMD 64 FX60 Dual Core @ 2.61Gz
2 - ATI 1900 XT's in Crossfire
4 GB Corsair
2- 500 GB 7200 RPM drives
Vista 32 bit (also have 64 bit) Ultimate

Would a new dual core 4870 offer me much? Am I CPU limited? New MB
with top Intel or AMD CPU called for along with new vid card?

Used primarily for flight and racing sims, some FPS..

Thanks
Gary

 

[Augustus]

I'm running -

ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe
AMD 64 FX60 Dual Core @ 2.61Gz
2 - ATI 1900 XT's in Crossfire
4 GB Corsair
2- 500 GB 7200 RPM drives
Vista 32 bit (also have 64 bit) Ultimate

Would a new dual core 4870 offer me much? Am I CPU limited? New MB
with top Intel or AMD CPU called for along with new vid card?

Used primarily for flight and racing sims, some FPS..

I had what was basically a very similar setup...Opteron 185 (2Mb L2 dual
core) at 2.9Ghz, 4 Gig OCZ DDR and an 8800GT OC 512Mb unit. Twin 74Gig
Raptors in RAID0 . I thought it was a pretty good performer and the card
wasn't too CPU limited. I upgraded to an E8400 (6Mb L2) on a Gigabyte
EP35-DSR3 clocked at 3.8Ghz with hi-perf 4Gig OCZ DDR2 and the same video
card and RAID0. I can tell you that even with a single 8800GT 512Mb card,
the difference in real and synthetic benches and framrates was vast...as in
40-50%. If I had been using a 9800GX2, a GX280 or a 4870X2 it would have
been a lot more, especially pronounced at resolutions above 1280x1024. My
wife has inherited the Opteron 185, memory and mainboard with a different
RAID0 setup. She's a musician and uses Cakewalk Sonar 7 and CuBase....her
video needs are more than adequately done by an HD2400 Pro. The Opteron
setup is still plenty fast for Photoshop and her digital music processing.
I upgraded her from a single core San Diego 4000+ and she said the
difference is vast.

 

[GaryR]

Thanks Augustus, I just priced out the EP35, E8400, 4 GB of OCZ Flec
XLC (PC2 9600), and a Powercolor 4870 X2 2 GB (big $$) at about $900..
Now if I can sell my current A8R32-MVP, 4GB, AMD FX60, and two 512MB
ATI 1900XT Crossfires for a reasonable amount i'll go for it.

 

[Augustus]

Thanks Augustus, I just priced out the EP35, E8400, 4 GB of OCZ Flec
XLC (PC2 9600), and a Powercolor 4870 X2 2 GB (big $$) at about $900..
Now if I can sell my current A8R32-MVP, 4GB, AMD FX60, and two 512MB
ATI 1900XT Crossfires for a reasonable amount i'll go for it.

Not as unlikely as you might think. Sell the FX60 by itself. The FX60 is a
highly sought after item....eBay prices on completed auctions for used
FX60's show them going for an average of $350-$360....no joke. The m/b and
ram I'd throw together as a package deal....probably with a BIN of $100.
Should move also. That gives you $450 to start with. Get the E8400 and
EP35-DSR3 and the 4 Gigs of DDR2 with that money. Stick your two X1900XT's
in there for now (you'll be surprised at how they perfrom actually) and save
up for that HD4870X2.

 

[GaryR]

I'll see what the package brings, if I can get $600 for all of it I
would be good to go... and someone would be getting a nice system. I
actually am running the FX60 at a 14X FSB multiplier right now
(2.81Gz) and have upped the 1900XT's to about a 50% overclock (1/2 the
slider in ATI CCC) and the system is 100% stable..

 

[Augustus]

I'll see what the package brings, if I can get $600 for all of it I
would be good to go... and someone would be getting a nice system. I
actually am running the FX60 at a 14X FSB multiplier right now
(2.81Gz) and have upped the 1900XT's to about a 50% overclock (1/2 the
slider in ATI CCC) and the system is 100% stable..

I would rethink that sales strategy.....lots of people with a S939 box want
an FX60 .....but very few will want to spend $550-600 for an entire m/b,
DDR, CPU and twin X1900XT S939 package. Consider what $550 will get you
new....HD4870 512Mb $250, E8400 $170, EP35-DSR3 $85, 4Gig OCZ Gold
$80....total $585.

 

[GaryR]

Not really a strategy but I understand the point. I know enough people
that I may be able to work it into a system build and that would be
most advantageous to me. I would even include my 500GB HD and Vista 32
on it to make the re-build go easily. I do agree with you, selling it
in pieces on EBay will undoubtedly bring the most money in if it comes
to that.

Thanks again
G

 

[GaryR]

Made the jump to take advantage of a couple rebates available on
Newegg for the 4GB OCZ2FX12002GK R and the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R. I'm
going to hold off and see what the 1 1900XT's perform like on the new
system, can always get a 4870X2 a little later on as prices drop a
bit.. Hopefully I have a E8400 that likes 3.6Gz!

 

[Augustus]

Made the jump to take advantage of a couple rebates available on
Newegg for the 4GB OCZ2FX12002GK R and the Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R. I'm
going to hold off and see what the 1 1900XT's perform like on the new
system, can always get a 4870X2 a little later on as prices drop a
bit.. Hopefully I have a E8400 that likes 3.6Gz!

My settings on my E8400 / DSR3 system are simply this: FSB 423 and all else
set to auto. No voltage boost or any other tweaks.

 

[Fishface]

My settings on my E8400 / DSR3 system are simply this: FSB 423 and
all else set to auto. No voltage boost or any other tweaks.

I believe you will find that on your DS3R, CPU voltage set to auto raises
it quite a bit as you overclock.