18 replies to this topic

[JSmith7784]

Hello everyone,
I'm currently running my PC which I got back in 2010.

It's a Digital Storm custom build I got myself for Christmas years ago:
I7-950 OC'd to 3.5Ghz
6GB DDR3-1600
EVGA GTX770SC 4GB
SB X-FI soundcard
Corsair 850TX PSU

I'm using a 27" Samsung LCD @1080P.

The system plays MWO at high to very high settings with almost no issues. I have V-sync on and rarely do I dip below 60fps. I do get occasional drops into the 40's, but usually only during heaving combat with lots of smoke and effects.

I'm planning on adding more ram and going to 12gb since Star Citizen almost maxes out the 6gb I currently have. Will adding more ram help with MWO (I would assume no)?

What can I do with my current set up to help increase performance? I'm not in the market for a new system yet. I know a little about overclocking, but I'm by no means an expert or comfortable with it. My CPU temps are fine at 3.5GHZ, but I would be concerned going close to 4GHZ on air cooling since I've read the I-950 tends to get very warm at those speeds. I'm guessing I would need to upgrade to a CLC cooler if I went that route.

Any advice is appreciated

Thanks.

[Flapdrol]

It might get hot, it might not, kind of depends on the quality of your chip, you'll only know if you try.

In mwo you'll be cpu limited with that gpu, if you can get it a bit higher you'll have a bit better performance.

[Summon3r]

with your system you have only one option, OC your cpu more, that is MWO end of story. though with your performance i dont see any reason to but to each there own.... that chip should hit 4ghz easy tho

[Goose]

To whom does one go to get new, good, tightly timed triple-channel RAM kits?

What is your cooling solution?

What guide(s) to overclocking a Nehalem have you read?

[Goose]

http://www.techpower...l-guide.108526/

[JSmith7784]

First I want to say thanks for all the replies. I figured my only option at this point is to OC the CPU to 4Ghz or higher. My MWO performance is good, but my main concern is to reduce the fps dips and future proof my PC for hopefully another 2-3 years of high end gaming use.

Currently I have an EVGA X58 FTW3 motherboard and a cooler master V6 air cooler running 1 fan pushing air through the cooler towards the read of the case.

As far as my OC research. I have been reading the forums on the EVGA site and a few OC guides from Tom's Hardware and Anand Tech (think I spelled it right). I get the general idea behind the OC process, but am not really comfortable messing with all different BIOS settings. My computer skill I would say is above average. I can build my own system and trouble shoot most issues. Grew up using DOS and started with a 286 12.5Mhz which I still have somewhere in my basement. Just never really got into the OC thing until this PC.

Thanks again for any advice.

[Chrithu]

I do not think Ram will do much for MWO. It does matter a whole lot in Star Citizen though.

I've read in numerous threads now that 3.5 GHz single core power is actually the bare minimum to not have MWO constantly cap out on the CPU. So I think overclocking or upgrading the CPU would be the way get better performance out of your machine for MWO.

But maybe some day MWO will be able to use multicore rendering.

[Summon3r]

JSmith7784, on 16 October 2014 - 06:24 AM, said:

First I want to say thanks for all the replies. I figured my only option at this point is to OC the CPU to 4Ghz or higher. My MWO performance is good, but my main concern is to reduce the fps dips and future proof my PC for hopefully another 2-3 years of high end gaming use.

Currently I have an EVGA X58 FTW3 motherboard and a cooler master V6 air cooler running 1 fan pushing air through the cooler towards the read of the case.

As far as my OC research. I have been reading the forums on the EVGA site and a few OC guides from Tom's Hardware and Anand Tech (think I spelled it right). I get the general idea behind the OC process, but am not really comfortable messing with all different BIOS settings. My computer skill I would say is above average. I can build my own system and trouble shoot most issues. Grew up using DOS and started with a 286 12.5Mhz which I still have somewhere in my basement. Just never really got into the OC thing until this PC.

Thanks again for any advice.

to help ease yourself with all the BIOS stuff cause it does seem intimidating as hell try youtubing OC'ing your cpu on that mobo i bet you find something that shows you step by step and its not as bad as you may think.

[dtgamemaster]

For me, I upgraded to i7-990x and 24GB of G.Skill Ares F3-2133C9D-8GAB ram, on my x58 motherboard Rampage 3 Formula.

You might want to try upgrading to i7-980x? Makes a whole world of difference.

And put 3 sticks of suitable 4GB ram.

OC guide for i7-980x: plenty out there. Just google it.

[Bigbacon]

computer is fine, i doubt you'll get a whole lot more out of it unless you can really bump up the clock...and I'm talking into the 4.5ghz range.

[JSmith7784]

Thanks for the guides and advice.

I have thought about upgrading the processor to the 980X or 990X, but they still seem to be very expensive from what I have found. There are always the used ones but I don't know if I would trust buying one of those because who knows what the previous owner has been doing to it for the last 3-4 years. Plus from what I have been reading, on the forums here, MWO doesn't seem to take advantage of much more then 4 cores already. Would going to 6 cores help?

[Goose]

JSmith7784, on 16 October 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

I have thought about upgrading the processor to the 980X or 990X, but they still seem to be very expensive from what I have found. There are always the used ones but I don't know if I would trust buying one of those because who knows what the previous owner has been doing to it for the last 3-4 years.

You got'a see if the seller is a shop of some kind, or not.

JSmith7784, on 16 October 2014 - 01:06 PM, said:

Plus from what I have been reading, on the forums here, MWO doesn't seem to take advantage of much more then 4 cores already. Would going to 6 cores help?

That's misinformation …

But there's an outside chance Nehalem simply doesn't have the IPC to get the job done when only in the low-4s. Or tightly timed DDR3-1333 has become a mistake.

Spoiler

[dtgamemaster]

Getting a 2nd hand processor is risky no doubt. Try to get an unopened extreme processor at a low price if possible. This would probably be your best upgrade for your x58 MB.

edit: Added tweak screen

Edited by dtgamemaster, 17 October 2014 - 10:03 AM.

[Goose]

Jebus Rice: What voltage are you running though that thing?

[scribes notes furiously]

[Catamount]

Obviously he's running all the voltage, Goose, because why settle for less? 990X don't give a ****. 990X just takes what it wants.

Edited by Catamount, 17 October 2014 - 10:35 AM.

[JSmith7784]

I was thinking about a sealed 990X, but I haven't been able to find anything at a decent price. I figure if it's over $300 I should just save my money, possibly try to OC my 950 closer to 4ghz, spend $100 on a good CLC and eventually get a new system in a few years.

I knew there had to be plenty of X58 and I-920/940/950/960/980/990 users on this forum and any LGA1366 advice is welcome.

On a side note I wanted to upgrade to a SSD, but I've heard the SATA6 ports on my x58 board suck and sometimes perform worse then the SATA3 ports. Plus I remember reading TRIM won't work on it's own with x58/windows 7 so I would have to run it manually or buy a SSD that comes with it's own TRIM software installed.

Thanks for any and all x58 1366 advice.

[Goose]

JSmith7784, on 17 October 2014 - 01:27 PM, said:

I knew there had to be plenty of X58 … users on this forum and any LGA1366 advice is welcome.

Yeeeeeah - no: You're like the fourth …

JSmith7784, on 17 October 2014 - 01:27 PM, said:

On a side note I wanted to upgrade to a SSD, but I've heard the SATA6 ports on my x58 board suck and sometimes perform worse then the SATA3 ports. Plus I remember reading TRIM won't work on it's own with x58/windows 7 so I would have to run it manually or buy a SSD that comes with it's own TRIM software installed.

I've not heard that before, but once I'd read "a saturated SATA2 port is a pretty good problem to have," I'd figured the subject was closed. TRIM required Win7, IIRC …

[Diablobo]

I just drastically improved my performance by turning off hyperthreading with my Core i3 2105 3.1GHz. I'm curious to see if disabling it for an i7 would make any difference.

Someone try it and let me know.

[JSmith7784]

I will try turning off hyper threading this weekend and let you know if it makes any difference. I know I used to do that with my old Pentium 4 and it made a difference in some games. Never thought of trying that.