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[LiquidMetal14]

I installed my Sandy Bridge 2500k, no OC yet. ATI Radeon 6950 2GB, and 8GB of ram. I tried the Crysis demo with 8x AA and everything on VERY HIGH. Smooth as hell. I have no words. Welcome high end gaming.

Is it universally recommended to play with a pad on PC? Was thinking about getting a 360 controller.

 

[filipe]

Any else have a folder within their ProgramData folder titled with a slew of random characters?

Something like:

C:\ProgramData\{93E26451-####-####-####-############}

(The pound signs are in place just in case the numbers mean something and shouldn't just be given out to anyone to read.

Within it is a x64 folder. I seriously don't know what this folder is for, and it worries me seeing a folder with a bunch of random characters in place.

A friend of mine says he has it too, but it still worries me.

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

I installed my Sandy Bridge 2500k, no OC yet. ATI Radeon 6950 2GB, and 8GB of ram. I tried the Crysis demo with 8x AA and everything on VERY HIGH. Smooth as hell. I have no words. Welcome high end gaming.

Is it universally recommended to play with a pad on PC? Was thinking about getting a 360 controller.

Eh, PC hard asses will call you a noob/loser/whatever but, I use a Xbox360 controller with the wireless USB receiver and love it. Especially for retro gaming. I have a black one for the PC and a white one for the 360 and I've never seen them interfere with each other.

 

[knitoe]

Any else have a folder within their ProgramData folder titled with a slew of random characters?

Something like:

C:\ProgramData\{93E26451-####-####-####-############}

(The pound signs are in place just in case the numbers mean something and shouldn't just be given out to anyone to read.

Within it is a x64 folder. I seriously don't know what this folder is for, and it worries me seeing a folder with a bunch of random characters in place.

A friend of mine says he has it too, but it still worries me.

ProgramData holds all of the settings and other dynamic information used by the applications. This folder has less security because applications regularly modify these files. This folder was previously named Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data in Windows XP.

 

[Velion]

Without upgrading my 460w PSU, is the 5870 the best thing going in the $200-$250 range? I regularly see it outperforming other more expensive cards.

Could always go for the GTX 560.

 

[filipe]

ProgramData holds all of the settings and other dynamic information used by the applications. This folder has less security because applications regularly modify these files. This folder was previously named Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data in Windows XP.

I know what the directory is for. More so asking about the other directory.

 

[Hawk269]

Well, all this talk of Sandy Bridge has be wondering. Here is my current rig:

AMD Phenom II Black Edition 965 4x@3.4
Evga GTX - 580
Evga Super Clocked 460/dedicated to Physx
8 Gigs of Ram
Windows 7 64Bit
Asus MN475ND Motherboard SLI Ready Motherboard
1TB Seagate HDD
Corsair 850W PSU
Asus 24xDVD Drive

If I upgrade the motherboard and I get the new high end I7 Sandy Bridge, but keep everything else, what kind of in-game performace increase will I get?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Eh, PC hard asses will call you a noob/loser/whatever but, I use a Xbox360 controller with the wireless USB receiver and love it. Especially for retro gaming. I have a black one for the PC and a white one for the 360 and I've never seen them interfere with each other.

So the 50 dollar controller and how much is the receiver?

 

[Hawk269]

So the 50 dollar controller and how much is the receiver?

Just buy the bundle that comes with the wireless controller and the receiver. I think I got mine for $59.99 about a year ago, check best buy online. It does work great and alot of games are programmed with it in mine where the icons are actually the face buttons/triggers of the 360 controller.

 

[knitoe]

Ok PC is up and running, posting from it right now. I ran the BIOSTAR T overclocker app and CPU temps were 27c. How should I go about overclocking this thing? I need some basic advice.

Using the COOLERMASTER fan/heatsink in the OP btw.

27C is more like idle temp. Run Prime95 to fully load the CPU and see your max temp. To overclock, I suggest you first use the overclock app and see what CPU speed(s) / voltage(s) are needed. Then, read up on some overclocking guides and do it manually to get better speeds, less voltage and temps.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Just buy the bundle that comes with the wireless controller and the receiver. I think I got mine for $59.99 about a year ago, check best buy online. It does work great and alot of games are programmed with it in mine where the icons are actually the face buttons/triggers of the 360 controller.

Is that available in store? Can you link me?

 

[Shambles]

Well, all this talk of Sandy Bridge has be wondering. Here is my current rig:

AMD Phenom II Black Edition 965 4x@3.4
Evga GTX - 580
Evga Super Clocked 460/dedicated to Physx
8 Gigs of Ram
Windows 7 64Bit
Asus MN475ND Motherboard SLI Ready Motherboard
1TB Seagate HDD
Corsair 850W PSU
Asus 24xDVD Drive

If I upgrade the motherboard and the high end I7 Sandy Bridge, but keep everything else, what kind of in-game performace increase will I get?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

You wouldn't even notice the difference.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

27C is more like idle temp. Run Prime95 to fully load the CPU and see your max temp. To overclock, I suggest you first use the overclock app and see what CPU speed(s) / voltage(s) are needed. Then, read up on some overclocking guides and do it manually to get better speeds, less voltage and temps.

Ok I started the program and chose the less memory stress test. Temps were at 27 now at 46-48 under 100% cpu load. The program does automatically start the stress test no? Under the task manager, the CPU load is at 100%

 

[Hawk269]

You wouldn't even notice the difference.

Really, I would think going to the I7 Sandy Brige would give me a significant boost in my games..from looking at benches for it, it seems like it would. Again, have not been that in-tune to the new processor, but I would think going from my Phenom 965 4core to the I7 SB would improve..but I may be wrong then.

 

[knitoe]

I know what the directory is for. More so asking about the other directory.

The C:\ProgramData\{93E26451... seems to be drivers from Gear CD / Burning Software that comes installed with Itunes.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Stopped the test after about 10 minutes. Is 49c considered good for 100% CPU usage? As soon as I stopped my temps went down to 27c.

Seems that Cooler Master is working well.

 

[Shambles]

Really, I would think going to the I7 Sandy Brige would give me a significant boost in my games..from looking at benches for it, it seems like it would. Again, have not been that in-tune to the new processor, but I would think going from my Phenom 965 4core to the I7 SB would improve..but I may be wrong then.

I should probably clarify the exceptions. You'll likely see a noticeable increase in CPU centric games like Starcraft II and possibily Civ5 although it would likely manifest it in shorter turn times than better framerates. Under realistic conditions you're either running the visual settings far higher than what reviews do, or your framerate is so far above what your monitor can display anyways all you'll end up seeing is 60fps. The most relevant benchmark I could find a difference on was a GTX 580 on Metro 2033 would move you from around 57 fps to 64 fps with Sandy Bridge. Most other titles were within 3 fps. If you want to upgrade I'd recommend another GTX 580 first and Sandy bridge/ivy bridge down the road after. Going SNB now will end up costing you 400$+ and won't do much for your gaming unless you are hardcore into Starcraft 2.

 

[knitoe]

Stopped the test after about 10 minutes. Is 49c considered good for 100% CPU usage? As soon as I stopped my temps went down to 27c.

Seems that Cooler Master is working well.

Yes. Once you start overclocking, it's going to raise. Try to keep it CPU <1.35V and <75C.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Yes. Once you start overclocking, it's going to raise. Try to keep it CPU <1.35V and <75C.

I am using the T-overclocker windows utility. I raised some 100mhz setting to 107 and it restarted my PC. I hate to be 20 questions but should I disable certain settings and just do it via the bios?

My BIOSTAR P67 MB.

 

[knitoe]

I am using the T-overclocker windows utility. I raised some 100mhz setting to 107 and it restarted my PC. I hate to be 20 questions but should I disable certain settings and just do it via the bios?

My BIOSTAR P67 MB.

For overclocking sand bridge, do not raise the blk. Keep it at 100, at best you are only going to get 105. Instead, mostly deal with cpu multiplier and voltage. There are many other settings to play with, but they should be the same, maybe different names, with every other sandy bridge MB so read up on them.

 

[Hawk269]

I should probably clarify the exceptions. You'll likely see a noticeable increase in CPU centric games like Starcraft II and possibily Civ5 although it would likely manifest it in shorter turn times than better framerates. Under realistic conditions you're either running the visual settings far higher than what reviews do, or your framerate is so far above what your monitor can display anyways all you'll end up seeing is 60fps. The most relevant benchmark I could find a difference on was a GTX 580 on Metro 2033 would move you from around 57 fps to 64 fps with Sandy Bridge. Most other titles were within 3 fps. If you want to upgrade I'd recommend another GTX 580 first and Sandy bridge/ivy bridge down the road after. Going SNB now will end up costing you 400$+ and won't do much for your gaming unless you are hardcore into Starcraft 2.

Thanks, I appreciate your input and explaining it. I am pretty new to PC gaming and I build the rig I posted about 8 months ago, the 580 came from EVGA's step program, the original design was a 460 alone, then to SLI 460, then to a 480 with the 460 for phyx, then with the step up to the 580. I guess for a noob like me, when I get a new game and I want to max it out at 60fps and I don't get it, I look at the processor and think that it is a bottleneck when I dont get 60fps. I game on my SXRD RP TV at 1080p, so my max frame rate would be 60fps anyways, but I think what I need to do is learn more about PC gaming and in particular that new games are not always optimized upon release and at times, they really dont take full advantage of my current specs.

I was under the illusion that ANYTHING I throw at this rig, I should get 8xAA/60FPS at 1080p with out even a hint of slowdown in framerate, btu the reality that I am seeing is that this is not the case for all games...games like metro 2033 in DX11 mode, I think I get around 45 FPS (cant remember)...in DX9 mode, I get close to 60fps.

I also have thought of a second 580, I know not all games benefit from it, but those that dont and/or those that take a hit I can always disable it. But I don't think my 460 would still fit in the case with 2 580's and I would need a new power supply as well. Actually, can you have a physx dedicated card when your SLI?

 

[MidgarBlowedUp]

So the 50 dollar controller and how much is the receiver?

I think it's around $30 as well.

 

[Shambles]

Thanks, I appreciate your input and explaining it. I am pretty new to PC gaming and I build the rig I posted about 8 months ago, the 580 came from EVGA's step program, the original design was a 460 alone, then to SLI 460, then to a 480 with the 460 for phyx, then with the step up to the 580. I guess for a noob like me, when I get a new game and I want to max it out at 60fps and I don't get it, I look at the processor and think that it is a bottleneck when I dont get 60fps. I game on my SXRD RP TV at 1080p, so my max frame rate would be 60fps anyways, but I think what I need to do is learn more about PC gaming and in particular that new games are not always optimized upon release and at times, they really dont take full advantage of my current specs.

I was under the illusion that ANYTHING I throw at this rig, I should get 8xAA/60FPS at 1080p with out even a hint of slowdown in framerate, btu the reality that I am seeing is that this is not the case for all games...games like metro 2033 in DX11 mode, I think I get around 45 FPS (cant remember)...in DX9 mode, I get close to 60fps.

I also have thought of a second 580, I know not all games benefit from it, but those that dont and/or those that take a hit I can always disable it. But I don't think my 460 would still fit in the case with 2 580's and I would need a new power supply as well. Actually, can you have a physx dedicated card when your SLI?

Every game strikes a different balance between CPU and GPU utilization and there is always one component that limits the other. For the vast majority of the games your GPU is your bottle neck. The only way to know for sure though is to read reviews but keep in mind to make sure the reviewer is testing at a decent resolution, with decent detail settings, and decent AA/AF levels. It's possible to run 2 580's and a seperate dedicated physx card if your motherboard can support it but the only google search results for MN475ND are from your posts from here and the EVGA forums . AA tends to be a real killer on framerate even on high end cards. Depending on the pixel density of your display you might prefer turning off AA altogether to be able to run 60 fps with maxxed out everything else. I tend to go that route at times although I usually do find a decent different between 0xAA and 2xAA but very diminishing returns after that point.

If anything you could try to push 200-300 more Mhz out of your CPU. PII should be able to run a little faster on air without too much trouble. I'm also looking for an SSD article about the effect of an SSD on performance and it was actually somewhat noticeable. For less money than a CPU/MB upgrade you would probably get better gaming performance by picking up an SSD instead. I'll post the article if I can find it again.

 

[-viper-]

I installed my Sandy Bridge 2500k, no OC yet. ATI Radeon 6950 2GB, and 8GB of ram. I tried the Crysis demo with 8x AA and everything on VERY HIGH. Smooth as hell. I have no words. Welcome high end gaming.

Is it universally recommended to play with a pad on PC? Was thinking about getting a 360 controller.

You can use a PS3 controller.

Download motioninjoy's drivers.

They emulate a 360 controller so are compatible with any 360 pad supported game.

 

[mrklaw]

What is the smallest form factor case that can house an Intel LGA 1155 H67 MB (or MSI equivalent, if it makes any difference)?

if you can get a m-ATX one, you can use tiny SFF cases. I'll see if I can dig around, but I've seen a sandybridge/5970 in a really small case.

 

[Curufinwe]

So the 50 dollar controller and how much is the receiver?

If you're sitting right next to the PC, a wired 360 pad might be just as good.

 

[ZZMitch]

It is a Gigabyte I will do that ... I just moved my graphics card to the 2nd PCI slot though and don't seem to having issues. Is the 2nd PCI slot slower in anyway in general?

And where did you find that like do you have a site link? I am just wondering.

Anyone able to help me out with this? I have looked around with conflicting results.

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA1156 P55 DDR3 2PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 2PCI CrossFireX USB3.0 SATA 6GB Motherboard

Here is my motherboard if that helps. My GTX 460 is currently connected to the black one.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

If you're sitting right next to the PC, a wired 360 pad might be just as good.

I am but I also am going to route a long HDMI cable to my TV and am looking at a wireless solution as well.

 

[Schmattakopf]

I'm going to get a cooler when I have to replace the motherboard, and overclock then.

I got this case for my friend. It has got to be the loudest case I have ever heard.

Sounds pretty quiet to me, honestly.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

Sounds pretty quiet to me, honestly.

I have the same case and it was reasonably quiet even before undervolting the rear fans.

 

[mclaren777]

You can use a PS3 controller.

Download motioninjoy's drivers.

They emulate a 360 controller so are compatible with any 360 pad supported game.

That sounds perfect. Does it connect via USB or Bluetooth?

 

[n0n44m]

Well, all this talk of Sandy Bridge has be wondering. Here is my current rig:

AMD Phenom II Black Edition 965 4x@3.4
Evga GTX - 580
...

If I upgrade the motherboard and I get the new high end I7 Sandy Bridge, but keep everything else, what kind of in-game performace increase will I get?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I have a GTX480 and went from 3.5 ghz Athlon II X4 to a 4.5 ghz Core i7 2600K

definitely noticeable in certain games with high settings/1080p , especially those who are less CPU optimized; here's a short summary

optimized DX11 titles like Dirt2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 run smoother (less drops) but were already running 60+ fps almost all the time on the old rig. They are however at 100% GPU usage indicating the bottleneck has shifted from the CPU to the GPU (can't wait for the upcoming DX11 titles!)

CPU heavy games like Civilization 5 are much much much faster ofcourse (easily double as fast in late-game turns I guess)

unoptimized games like The Witcher (which uses a single core only) are so much smoother as well, the +1 ghz and much stronger processing power per core/mhz make a world of difference here

I've run the Batman demo and Mafia 2 full game with PhysX on highest (1080p max for the rest) and both never dropped below 60 as far as I could tell, and that is without a dedicated PhysX card... (ok Mafia 2 maybe 50ish when blowing up multiple cars at the same time but still smoooth) , doing the same on the old CPU would mean a constant sub-30 fps

---

keep in mind my Athlon II X4 3.5 is somewhat slower than your Phenom due to missing L3 cache and so on

bottom line: for a top of the line graphics card it certainly is a nice boost coming from an AMD quadcore, just don't expect much improvement for games that aren't CPU limited

but if you only plan on gaming, a cheap Asrock (SLI) board and a 2500K can make a nice upgrade for you =]
going SLI 580 on an AMD cpu really doesn't make sense to me now, games that won't do 1080p 60 fps max with a single GTX580 are simply CPU limited (except for the Metro2033/Crysis madness obviously) ... but hell SLI'd 580s for 1080p seem overkill anyway

so I'd say either grab a Sandy Bridge now if you suspect you are being CPU limited in your favorite games and enjoy; or save money and grab a cheaper 2nd GTX580+SandyBridge or whatever is around by then later

 

[ExMachina]

That sounds perfect. Does it connect via USB or Bluetooth?

It can do both. Keep in mind that if you opt to install the wireless support, the Motioninjoy drivers will override everything so only PS3 controllers will be able to connect to that BT module.

 

[TheExodu5]

Great post n0n44m.

So a buddy of mine with an 8200IGP Athlon Asus board has been having trouble with his new GTX 570. Basically, it won't even post, though his 8800GT works fine, and the GTX 570 works fine in his other Intel rig.

He emailed Asus tech support 4 days ago and has yet to have a response. He called their tech support, and they said they would call him back and never did.

In the meantime, he emailed MSI to see if try had heard of this issue. They responded right away They offered to locate a similar board and do testing of their own. Great support.

In summary, I think I will be going MSI over Asus in the future.

 

[mrklaw]

is there much point in overclocking an i5 2500k for most games? In conjunction with a 6950, if they aren't bottlenecked by the CPU then just leaving it stock would be fine?

I can understand improvements in apps, but I'm not encoding lots of video yet (may attempt to rip my blurays at some point), so mostly just gaming right now.

 

[n0n44m]

It can do both. Keep in mind that if you opt to install the wireless support, the Motioninjoy drivers will override everything so only PS3 controllers will be able to connect to that BT module.

I just managed to get the motioninjoy bluetooth thing going with the built-in BT module on my Asus P8P67 PRO motherboard with Windows 7 X64

for anyone else using this motherboard here's a quick summary

1. First make sure all the normal Motioninjoy USB stuff works and close the app
2. Open notepad in run as Administrator mode, open the .inf file in Motioninjoy/driver directory and add the device ID of the Asus BT module (USB\VID_0B05&PID_179C) four times in the four lists of supported BT modules (copy&paste one of the lines with hardware ID's and change them to match the Asus module)
3. run the Motioninjoy DS3 tool as administrator and go to the driver panel, now select the Asus bluetooth thing and install the driver for it. Windows will give a warning about unsigned drivers, click Yes ;] (If you can't select it to install drivers you did something wrong at step 2!)
4. Go to bluetoothpair menu, select the Asus module (probably the only one you see) and the USB connected PS3 pad and let them pair .. now unplug and it works! =]

I had a problem last night with step 4 and I gave up and used USB, but after rebooting the PC this afternoon I tried again and it suddenly worked ... so I'd advice you to reboot after every step to be sure everything updates

 

[Krauser Kat]

is there much point in overclocking an i5 2500k for most games? In conjunction with a 6950, if they aren't bottlenecked by the CPU then just leaving it stock would be fine?

I can understand improvements in apps, but I'm not encoding lots of video yet (may attempt to rip my blurays at some point), so mostly just gaming right now.

The best point is Why not. The cpu keeps itself throttled to around 1.6ghz unless you doing anything important.

 

[mclaren777]

Micron to reveal tech it says increases chip speed 20-fold

The secret sauce is the memory controller (see graphic) that's been added to the memory. "By putting this logic layer--which is actually a controller chip--we were able to overcome that bottleneck by crafting a higher speed bus that will go from the [controller] chip to the CPU. A very, very high-speed bus," he said.

Source

 

[Dosia]

When are the new nvidia gpus expected to be released? The ones with the smaller process? I have searched google and havny found much aside from later in the year. Has anyone heard of a more precise estimation?

 

[TouchMyBox]

When are the new nvidia gpus expected to be released? The ones with the smaller process? I have searched google and havny found much aside from later in the year. Has anyone heard of a more precise estimation?

It's possible that we won't be getting any new GPU line ups this year. If we do, it will be at the very tail-end of 2011.

 

[The Nature Roy]

I just got my new PC here with a EVGA GTX 460 SC OC I am getting no signal via mini-HDMI to HDMI into either my Samsung LED or my Samsung plasma.

DVI to VGA works just fine on both, however.

Any clue on what the issue might be?

 

[Shambles]

Micron to reveal tech it says increases chip speed 20-fold


Source

http://i.imgur.com/klrWF.jpg

Started to get really interested in the fact that they have working silicon but they also state they don't expect consumer production until 2015/2016 which makes the performance not that impressive as I would assume we'd be at that level of technology in 5 years anyways. Still, good to hear that progress marches on.

 

[bee]

Well, all this talk of Sandy Bridge has be wondering. Here is my current rig:

AMD Phenom II Black Edition 965 4x@3.4
Evga GTX - 580
Evga Super Clocked 460/dedicated to Physx
8 Gigs of Ram
Windows 7 64Bit
Asus MN475ND Motherboard SLI Ready Motherboard
1TB Seagate HDD
Corsair 850W PSU
Asus 24xDVD Drive

If I upgrade the motherboard and I get the new high end I7 Sandy Bridge, but keep everything else, what kind of in-game performace increase will I get?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

went from q9550@3.4 to 2500k@4.4 myself with a gtx 480, don't listen to the benchmark site reading 'experts' that seem to infest this thread, real world experience is a completely different story. your card IS being held back a lot by your cpu. some examples of games that run noticably quicker for me would be

crysis - increased framerate, not massive but certainly noticable and much faster loading for some reason
black ops - ridiculous performance increase, WAY bigger increase than any graphics cards upgrade i've ever done
bad company 2 - i play this in 3d, probably gained about 40% in framerates
starcraft 2 - huge performance increase
arma 2 - huge performance increase
gta 4 - huge performance increase
iracing - big performance increase

i could go on but i'll leave it at that, sure there are games that don't benefit but in my experience those are the minority

 

[razgriz417]

Hey guys, I need some advice. My current rig right now is about 2 years old and I have been making incremental upgrades. I'm thinking about swapping out the cpu for a q9550 to prolong the life system (at least until summer 2012), don't have the funds for a whole new build and was hoping to wait until I'm out of grad school to build a new comp. Do you guys think its worth it? Will I see significant performance gains in games like Fallout: New Vegas, Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 3,The Witcher 2, etc.? What I'm currently running is:

core2duo e8400 3.0ghz
8gb ddr2 800mhz ram
sapphire toxic 5850
evga 750iftw mobo
corsair 650w psu
win 7 x64 enterprise


Any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[Zzoram]

Hey guys, I need some advice. My current rig right now is about 2 years old and I have been making incremental upgrades. I'm thinking about swapping out the cpu for a q9550 to prolong the life system (at least until summer 2012), don't have the funds for a whole new build and was hoping to wait until I'm out of grad school to build a new comp. Do you guys think its worth it? Will I see significant performance gains in games like Fallout: New Vegas, Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 3,The Witcher 2, etc.? What I'm currently running is:

core2duo e8400 3.0ghz
8gb ddr2 800mhz ram
sapphire toxic 5850
evga 750iftw mobo
corsair 650w psu
win 7 x64 enterprise

how is your PC currently handling new games and at what resolution?

 

[The Elite]

NCIX hasn't shipped my order yet. I suspect it could be a few more days.

 

[Snuggles]

NCIX hasn't shipped my order yet. I suspect it could be a few more days.

Waiting sucks, doesn't it?

Today should be the day for me. The dude I commissioned to assemble my rig is supposed to contact me today, but I'm still waiting on him. It's been one hurdle after another and I'm really hoping he comes through with this so I can finally have my PC running tonight. Call me you bastard.

edit - Not today.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I just got my new PC here with a EVGA GTX 460 SC OC I am getting no signal via mini-HDMI to HDMI into either my Samsung LED or my Samsung plasma.

DVI to VGA works just fine on both, however.

Any clue on what the issue might be?

This may sound like a stupid answer, but did you restart your computer after plugging it in? I've noticed on my 460 that if I plug it into a different HDTV, it won't recognize the hardware until after I've rebooted. Then it's fine from that point on.

Hey guys, I need some advice. My current rig right now is about 2 years old and I have been making incremental upgrades. I'm thinking about swapping out the cpu for a q9550 to prolong the life system (at least until summer 2012), don't have the funds for a whole new build and was hoping to wait until I'm out of grad school to build a new comp. Do you guys think its worth it? Will I see significant performance gains in games like Fallout: New Vegas, Starcraft 2, Mass Effect 3,The Witcher 2, etc.? What I'm currently running is:

core2duo e8400 3.0ghz
8gb ddr2 800mhz ram
sapphire toxic 5850
evga 750iftw mobo
corsair 650w psu
win 7 x64 enterprise


Any input would be greatly appreciated

I did a similiar thing this summer (going from overclocked e6750 to a q9400). I'm not going to talk specific titles (because it's going to really only help titles that use quad cores... not sure SC II does. Haven't played in while), but it's a sound theory. Unless something else in your computer acts up. Then you're stuck replacing expensive components that aren't giving you any performance boost. And speaking from personal experience, you'll have regrets if that happens.

 

[razgriz417]

how is your PC currently handling new games and at what resolution?

I'm running 2 monitors, a 1920x1080 and a 1680x1050 right now. Off the top of my head, performance has been alright, running things mid to high on fallout and and BC2 no AA i think with some slowdown here and there.

 

[Shambles]

went from q9550@3.4 to 2500k@4.4 myself with a gtx 480, don't listen to the benchmark site reading 'experts' that seem to infest this thread, real world experience is a completely different story. your card IS being held back a lot by your cpu. some examples of games that run noticably quicker for me would be

crysis - increased framerate, not massive but certainly noticable and much faster loading for some reason
black ops - ridiculous performance increase, WAY bigger increase than any graphics cards upgrade i've ever done
bad company 2 - i play this in 3d, probably gained about 40% in framerates
starcraft 2 - huge performance increase
arma 2 - huge performance increase
gta 4 - huge performance increase
iracing - big performance increase

i could go on but i'll leave it at that, sure there are games that don't benefit but in my experience those are the minority

Since you're obviously such an 'expert' perhaps you could explain how cod blops, and BC2 could have possibly struggled to run maxxed out on a GTX 480? It's easy to cherry pick CPU bound games but most sane people won't want to spend 400-500$ to watch their fraps number go from 120 to 130. Clearly buying another GTX 580 instead would make far more sense than upgrading to Sandy Bridge. I could list all the games that are GPU bound instead but I don't want to force everyone to scroll past a 3 page wall of text.