Would I be crazy to Ivy-E?!

[AvengerUK]

Title about sums this post up.

I'm half considering a six core upgrade, but not for the best of reasons (I've always fancied one...) - so, you can call this post a half attempt at talking myself out of it!

I solely use my PC for gaming, and thus that's all it'd be used for on the whole, which is probably why the sane voice in my ear is telling me it's a bad idea - would it be correct?

It should also be mentioned that I'm half considering (depending on price and reviews) of swapping to the new R9 290x - as Nvidia driver's are doing my head in (worse than any AMD/ATI I've had!) - while I'm sure the answer is "no", x79 does have more PCI-E 3 lanes (I would be crossfired, likely).

Any thoughts?

 

[WillSK]

Yes you would be wasting money for miniscule but more likely no gain in gaming. You already have an i7 and not all games are even using that yet so an ivy-E is just silly.

I wouldn't suggest a 290x either as you already have an almost Titan equivalent and tbh i've never had issues with Nvidia drivers so that's unusual. You're also gaming at 1920x1080 so the 780 is more than powerful enough. If you MUST MUST MUST spend moeny for some unknown reason maybe pick up a faster Ram kit but even that will be unlikely to improve your gaming performance in any way so I would just leeave your system alone

 

[PingPangBV]

I agree with WillSK, for a gaming computer you don't need to go x79 at all, stick with what you've got.

As for the 290x, let's say that they're as powerful as a Titan. If that was the case would you really need that extra power over two GTX 780s for 1080p gaming? The only reason to really switch would be if the 290x was more optimized for the game/games that you play.

If I were you right now I'd just keep that CPU and mobo, wait for the 290x and take things from there.

 

[AvengerUK]

I agree with WillSK, for a gaming computer you don't need to go x79 at all, stick with what you've got.

As for the 290x, let's say that they're as powerful as a Titan. If that was the case would you really need that extra power over two GTX 780s for 1080p gaming? The only reason to really switch would be if the 290x was more optimized for the game/games that you play.

If I were you right now I'd just keep that CPU and mobo, wait for the 290x and take things from there.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Obviously the 290x depends on the price & reviews, but the only reason I'm considering it is because I can safely say the 780 is the worst purchase I've made for a while when it comes to components. The hardware itself is fantastic, but the drivers for some on the 780/titan have been diabolical lately.

From release and now to the latest beta, I've always had issues. (Be this on Win 8 or Win 8.1 preview) - they'll frequently (depending on the game I happen to be playing) lock up and crash.

 

[WillSK]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Obviously the 290x depends on the price & reviews, but the only reason I'm considering it is because I can safely say the 780 is the worst purchase I've made for a while when it comes to components. The hardware itself is fantastic, but the drivers for some on the 780/titan have been diabolical lately.

From release and now to the latest beta, I've always had issues. (Be this on Win 8 or Win 8.1 preview) - they'll frequently (depending on the game I happen to be playing) lock up and crash.

faulty card or too heavy overclock maybe? It shouldn't be doing that. Especially with WHQL drivers if you're using them

 

[AvengerUK]

faulty card or too heavy overclock maybe? It shouldn't be doing that. Especially with WHQL drivers if you're using them

Yeh when I first got them I thought along the faulty route, but at the time I asked a few others with 780's who reported the same or similar problems :/

As for overclocked, they've always been at their factory OC settings (can't recall exactly what that is off hand!), but I've tried every driver released (WHQL's and betas) since getting them, so far while it has got slightly better, I've had the most problems with the WHQL's rather than alot of the betas, oddly.

 

[Vlada011]

I think little different. For gaming or not I would pay rather 300 for board and 500 for CPU with 6core than 300 for board and 300 for CPU and get Haswell.
At least soon 6 core will be visible difference and in games and at least 6core can OC and get similar performance as 1000$/E Processor.

With AMD drivers you will not be happy nothing more.
80% of times I had AMD, special last years NVIDIA give more fluid game play than AMD. But that is on you to decide. I only know primary for gaming I will never buy processor with Internal graphic inside and without 1000MHz OC capability.
Some people can't enter in Windows on 4.3GHz with 4770k and he is 180e cheaper than 4930K, single application is so little difference but multi is huge.
Special in newer test where real power of 6core Processors is visible.
Only one thing is problem, investing in so expensive platform when soon will come DDR4. But for DDR4 I will not even look performance of Processors with Internal Graphic. Because money difference I will stay longer on Extreme platform and that will exactly same than.

 

[barnsley]

Everyone has a preference over 'cards due all of us having bad experiences with the other. Personally I'll never buy anything by evga ever again after having multiple issues with my (now very dead) gts 450. I got it replaced under warranty 3 times. Each time it was for something different (I effectively replaced my entire system incase it was something I was doing to cause it). It has also left a bad taste in my mouth about Nvidia products in general but I still use them in other people's builds and I was going to get a 780 but I've heard alot of bad stuff about drivers. I've never had driver problems with AMD 'cards but you have to be careful with who you buy them from as the coolers can be utter cack (*cough* XFX *cough*) and coil whine seems to be more common in AMD 'cards as well.

I'd RMA the 780, if they find nothing wrong with it get a 290/290x.

 

[B3rni3]

Tbh dude there is absolutely no need to upgrade your cpu or gpus since your only gaming at 1080p. Your system will be more then enough for almost any game for the for seeable future. Even when the the next gen consoles come out and the games start requiring multiple cores your system will be fine for a little bit until the games really start utilizing the cores. By then there will be new hardware out so my advice is try and sort out your driver issues and wait and see what the next gen consoles/games bring and what the next gen of hardware brings and see what happens then.

There isnt much point spending 500 quid on a cpu now like the 3930k or 4930k and not using it to its potential for the next 12 to 24 months. By then the 5930k or whatever will be out and maybe even octo intel cpus might be out and probably be around the 500 quid mark.

Upgrade when you need to it will save you money in the long run.