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Slightly upgrading a few componants. What kind of performance increase to expect?

cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

Good morning.  I usually receive hand-me-downs from my brother in terms of computer hardware.  It has served me well, until I tried playing rift, and most recently GW2 beta. 

Currently my set up is the following:

-Intel Duo Core 2 6600 @ 2.4 ghz (overclocked to 2.81 ghz)-

-6 gig DDR2 ram-NVIDIA 460GTX

-MSI MotherboarD(honestly cannot remember what specific model it is, sorry.  Its about 5 yr old).

I can run WoW on ultra, no problems.  I run Tera on High withi minimal hiccups.  I run MW3 with no problems at all, I run Diablo 3 no problems at all. 

The only times I began noticing issues was when I played rift a few times.  I would dummy down my video settings, tinkered with the graphics profile for rift in the nvidia control panel to optimize it for best performance, I tinkered with the .cfg settings for rift.cfg, etc.  Ive read all the nifty little articles and tips and tricks.  I still get an abysmal 15-20 FPS in Meridian, and 25 FPS during a rift with several people.  If i am questing on my own, its fine...I run at 30+ FPS. 

I participated in GW2 BWE 1 and 2.  I know the game is not optimized and is pushing the load onto the CPU still, but I experience the same issues as in Rift...where a lot of spells and effects, or a lot of people on the screen, my FPS drops dramatically. 

My brother is hooking me up with:

-a Gigabyte motherboard(sorry again, dont know the specs)

-Q6600 Quad core 2.4 ghz

-8gig DDR2 ram

All on Windows 7 64bit.

 

Will I be able to run games such as Rift and GW2 and experience a bit better framerate?  Im not looking to go at 80FPS, but will I get to 30-35 consistantly no matter what is happenning on the screen, on decent graphic settings?

 

Thanks,

Comments

  • KabaalKabaal Member UncommonPosts: 3,042

    Rift - It'll use as many cores as you have, the main thread runs on core 3 or 4 with the rest of the load being spread out on the remaining ones, not as much as the one with the main thread but they will do some of the work. I recall trying Rift during it's beta on my old system with a gtx460 and a core2duo overclocked to 3.8gz and it ran fine back then.

    Guild Wars 2 - There isn't an official stance on this other than it being CPU bound right now that i know of but it looks to be working similar to RIFT at the CPU level. During the last weekend one of my cores would be at at 60-70% ish usage while the other 3 were at around 20%. GW2 is nowhere near optimised yet though, especially for GPU's so it's hard to know whether you'll get much improvement going from dual to quad.

    If you have the cooling i'd overclock the Q6600 to say 3 to 3.2ghz combined with it's extra cores you're likely to see a bigger boost then, Q6600 is a pretty good overclocker and will go higher than that's into more expensive cooling. If left at stock it'll likely perform similar to your Core2Duo as it's OC'd.

    Take all that with a pinch of salt though.

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    Thanks for the reply.

    I have a CPU fan (obviously)  and two case fans.  I normally run the rig, playing Tera and Rift, around 65-70c.  When I was trying out GW2, I was at around 15c to TJMAX.

    GW2 was really pushing the envelop.

    Think Id be safe OC'ing the quadcore to 3.2 or more?

     

  • BlackbrrdBlackbrrd Member Posts: 811
    Originally posted by cesmode8

    Thanks for the reply.

    I have a CPU fan (obviously)  and two case fans.  I normally run the rig, playing Tera and Rift, around 65-70c.  When I was trying out GW2, I was at around 15c to TJMAX.

    GW2 was really pushing the envelop.

    Think Id be safe OC'ing the quadcore to 3.2 or more?

     

    You can try overclocking the CPU, they were known to hit 3-3.6ghz all depending on cooling and luck.

    Performance wise, the quad core is more or less the same speed as your dual core if you don't get to clock it higher or get a game that uses more than two active threads.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    The replacement motherboard is as likely to be worse than the one you have now as better.  Both processors are from the Conroe generation, so the motherboards are contemporaries of each other.  Furthermore, if you replace the motherboard, you'll need a new OS license, and that's $100 by itself.

    The two processors are basically the same thing, except that one has two cores and the other four.  So you can expect the same performance in programs that can't put more than two cores to good use, and up to double the performance in programs that scale flawlessly to four cores.

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    I installed the new hardware last night.

    Actually, I think the "new" mobo has more cache, and is a bit better in those regards.  I'll be playing games like GW2, Rift, Tera, D3 and maybe eventually the next battlefield game.  Im hoping some of those wil utilize more than 2 cores, I am pretty sure D3 does.

    I had a question about overclocking processors.  Is there a limit to overclocking these things?  Or is it that you can OC them as long as you can keep them cool? 

    And if I can keep it cool and OC the hell out of it, will it significantly reduce the lifespan of the processor?  I might have at my disposal some really good cooling options.  Wondering if its worth it t OC a 2.4ghz quadcore to 3.2, maybe even 3.4ghz with good cooling.  I tried OC'ing the Q6600 last night , and it really wouldnt go above 2.67 in my current setup.  I started at 3.0 and it didnt boot.  I dropped to 2.67 and it booted.  I bumped it up to 2.8 and it still read 2.67(not sure why to be honest).

     

    Thoughts on this?

     

     

  • MMOarQQMMOarQQ Member Posts: 636

    Don't fry that old chip just for a few hundred MHZ.  Your motherboard is likely the main culprit of the failing OC.

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    motherboard: GA-Z68-U3D3-B3

    Q6600 quadcore 2.4ghz (oc'd to 2.67)

    Nvidia gtx460, 768 ram

    8gig ddr2 PC2-6400 ram

     

    Trying to squeeze every ounce out of this rig so that I can push off upgrading(dont have the money for it right now), yet I dont want the rig to burn out in two years either in the event that I cannot upgrade for a while.

     

    Any ideas?

     

     

  • DeniZgDeniZg Member UncommonPosts: 697

    I'm in the similar boat as you are, with my Intel Dual Core E5200, 4GB RAM and ATI 4850, while I considered upgrading my CPU to Intel quad core CPU 6600.

    So far, I was able to smoothly run SWTOR and GW2 on max, if shadows were tuned down (completely in SWTOR and to medium in GW2).

    I wouldn't go for the proposed upgrade unless it's for free, because otherwise you're probably better off selling your old rig and getting a new one. Also, I'm not sure that you will get consistent FPS in any MMO, since FPS is greatly dependant on number of particles and people on screen.

    If you do upgrade, please give us your feedback on FPS changes.

  • spadge3k00spadge3k00 Member Posts: 56

    in all fairness mate i had to set the grass density and radius to low whith my old am2 dual core but soon as i upgraded to the i7 no problems there id say the game itsself uses more cpu than gpu, im not too technical minded but id focus more money on ur processor than ur gpu if ur upgrading :)

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Originally posted by cesmode8

    motherboard: GA-Z68-U3D3-B3

    Q6600 quadcore 2.4ghz (oc'd to 2.67)

    Nvidia gtx460, 768 ram

    8gig ddr2 PC2-6400 ram

     

    Trying to squeeze every ounce out of this rig so that I can push off upgrading(dont have the money for it right now), yet I dont want the rig to burn out in two years either in the event that I cannot upgrade for a while.

     

    Any ideas?

     

     

    That motherboard doesn't exist, but even if it did, neither the processor nor the memory would physically fit into it.

    And I have no idea what you mean by one motherboard having more cache than the other.  Motherboards probably have a bit of cache here and there in a variety of chips, but it certainly isn't processor cache.

  • spadge3k00spadge3k00 Member Posts: 56

    ur right dd2 will not fit into a z68 mb

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Do you have any kind of budget for upgrades?

    New mobo and 8gb DDR3 RAM probably cost you 150$

    New mobo, 8gb DDR3 RAM, new vid card prob cost you 300-350$ (something like a nvidia 560)

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=555335&CatId=3669

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=91221&CatId=4534

    x2

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5581942&CatId=5196

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5587167&CatId=5195

    for 200$ more

    I would keep the GPU and get a really cheap I3 or I5 CPU, a cheap MB and some DDR3 instead. The GFX card is the best he have.

    I5 3,3Ghz + cheap MB combo: $292

    8 gig DDR3 Kingston: $50

    340 bucks that would speed you up a lot CPU wise and increase your FSB (the speed between the CPU and ram).

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by Loke666
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Do you have any kind of budget for upgrades?

    New mobo and 8gb DDR3 RAM probably cost you 150$

    New mobo, 8gb DDR3 RAM, new vid card prob cost you 300-350$ (something like a nvidia 560)

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=555335&CatId=3669

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=91221&CatId=4534

    x2

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5581942&CatId=5196

    http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5587167&CatId=5195

    for 200$ more

    I would keep the GPU and get a really cheap I3 or I5 CPU, a cheap MB and some DDR3 instead. The GFX card is the best he have.

    I5 3,3Ghz + cheap MB combo: $292

    8 gig DDR3 Kingston: $50

    340 bucks that would speed you up a lot CPU wise and increase your FSB (the speed between the CPU and ram).

    Very true.

    460 is still pretty good, but being 2 generations old will certainly hinder going forward - buy it all at once and payment plan IMO lol

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    Well I made the switch from:

    MSI motherboard(honestly cant remember what specs)

    Intel Duo core 2 E6600, 2.4 ghz (oc'd it to 2.8).

     

    Switched To:

    GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 motherboard

    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4ghz (OC to 2.67)

     

    I've noticed that I can run rift, in main cities and grab 22-30 FPS in most areas of the citieS(training dummies) and 17-22 near the bankers. 

    I cant remember but I think on low settings with my old setup it was the same fps..but this is roughly on high now.

     

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Very true.

    460 is still pretty good, but being 2 generations old will certainly hinder going forward - buy it all at once and payment plan IMO lol

    660 is not out at least here (bought a computer for a friend this monday) so it is still just 1 gen late.

    The CPU is several gens old and for that matter 10 years compared to a 3-4 years old GFX card so I would upgrade it first. The 560 is really very similar to the 460 anyways.

    Of course a 680 GTX would be another matter but it is too expensive and I am not sure the PSU can run it anyways.

  • KabaalKabaal Member UncommonPosts: 3,042

    @cesmode8 You must be mistaken, a Q6600 doesn't fit in a socket 1155 motherboard.

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    You're right...sorry haha, the box my bro gave me was for his Z68x. 

    My mobo is EP45-UD3P. Socket LGA775

     

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Originally posted by cesmode8

    You're right...sorry haha, the box my bro gave me was for his Z68x. 

    My mobo is EP45-UD3P. Socket LGA775

     

    That's the Gigabyte motherboard.  What was the MSI one?

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    I cant remember, I gave it to him to put together a spare BS box.  It wasnt a bad mobo, the gigabyte one is slightly better. 

     

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Originally posted by cesmode8

    I cant remember, I gave it to him to put together a spare BS box.  It wasnt a bad mobo, the gigabyte one is slightly better. 

     

    How do you know the Gigabyte motherboard is better, if you don't even know what the MSI one was?

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    Im trusting my brother :) Ill try to find what it is

     

  • cesmode8cesmode8 Member UncommonPosts: 431

    It might have been:

    G41m4-L

    G41TM-E43

    G41M4-F

    http://www.msi.com/product/mb/#/?sk=Socket%20775%20(Intel%20Core%202)

    The red boards... 

    Sorry, I only started getting semi technical with this stuff.

    Apologies

     

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