5 box vid-card-mobo-cpu upgrade help

Hi,

This is a cross-post from Tom's Hardware, but since it's 5 box specific I'd like to hear thoughts/what you're running here:

Looking for options on a new mobo, graphics-card, cpu upgrade that will still use my existing PC3 DDR3 1600mhz memory.

I'd like it to work for the next (approx) 3 expansions and "ultra" settings in each graphic window and at least 1 physical CPU core per instance (6+.)

Current: cpu i7 930 @ 2.8ghz.(not overclocked) Vid-card: Sapphire 2gb HD5970 Asus P6x58D mobo.

Reason for upgrade: WOW settings on low and fps is unplayable since WOD dropped (5 boxing)

Existing:
OS: win 7 pro
PS: 850 watt Antec case, lots o' fans
Current RAM: 18 gb G.Skill PI will increase to 32GB as above.
Monitor: 32" Magnavox TV HD 720P (but would like future option of 1080P in vid-card) running 1360x768 resolution.
cpu cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Mobo past brand preferences: Asus and Gigabyte & intel CPU's and chipsets. Vid-card either GeForce or ATI.
Not overclocking

Budget (moan): I'm guessing close to $1k for video card (the major expense) . . . $2k max total $1500 would be nicer.)

Suggestions, what's working for you, sarcasm appreciated

Zork

[MiRai]

I'd like it to work for the next (approx) 3 expansions and "ultra" settings in each graphic window

Unfortunately, no one can guarantee that any hardware sold today is going to be able to accomplish what you're asking for the next 3-5 years. Seeing as Blizzard has really up'd their game in the realm of graphics fidelity for Warlords of Draenor it's likely that current day hardware is going to struggle at times unless you're willing to drop the framerates or resolution a bit.

However, as it stands, with the current resolution of 1360x768 that you're playing at you should actually be able to achieve what you want, but upgrading to a 1080 setup is going to require your hardware to push about 2x as many pixels which means about 2x as much load on your hardware.

and at least 1 physical CPU core per instance (6+.)

If you want more than six cores this limits you to the only 8-core CPU worth mentioning -- The 5960X.

Looking for options on a new mobo, graphics-card, cpu upgrade that will still use my existing PC3 DDR3 1600mhz memory.

Not going to happen since the new X99 motherboards use DDR4 -- More information below.

Current RAM: 18 gb G.Skill PI will increase to 32GB as above.

You can't move from 18GB to 32GB and re-use your memory. The difference between the two numbers is 14GB which can't be achieved using any real combination of memory modules that have been available for... ever. DIMMs, for consumer-level hardware, currently come in flavors of 2, 4, 8, and soon to be, 16GB -- This pretty much covers from the 1155 generation era up until today, but the older 1366 chipsets (your chipset) had used 6GB memory modules which are no longer used in today's configurations.

Of course you can pick and choose from any of those numbers above to equal fourteen, but I say no real combination of memory modules can achieve an additional 14GB because it'd never fit into a new setup with your existing RAM.

Even if you were to use an older generation X79 motherboard you'd still not be able to do what you want because of the configuration of your older memory. All of the top-end motherboards for the past few years have required quad-channel memory which means you need (or... should at least have) four memory channels populated at any one time. With an 18GB configuration on your current setup and given the fact that your motherboard has six DIMM slots, I'm going to guess you have a 3x2GB and a 3x4GB configuration which total up to 18GB, and utilizing quad-channel would require that you have, at least, four of the same DIMM -- One to populate each channel.

PS: 850 watt Antec case, lots o' fans

Your older PSU looks to have the necessary hook ups for today's hardware, so you should technically be okay. However, I have no idea if an X99 motherboard will fit in your current case since they are considered to be E-ATX.

Budget (moan): I'm guessing close to $1k for video card (the major expense) . . . $2k max total $1500 would be nicer.)

If you want more than six cores then pretty much the only option is the 5960X which is $1,000. If you think you can get by with only six cores then you can go with the next step down which is the 5930K and will run you ~$600. Add a $200-300 motherboard on top of that and another $500-700 for 32GB of RAM. We seem to be nearing the limit of the budget and we haven't even talked about GPUs yet.

Disregard below: GPU advice for 'ultra' ATI, GeForce, other? Looks like it's time to build a Haswell sys. Thanks MiRai.


1. Re: future releases, I thought about that after and how it's unrealistic. I used to get about 4 - 5 years out of a system, but 5 boxing no guessing. Given the prices, I'll follow the IT ethos "build for what you need today." to hell with 1080P for now.

2. 6 cores are fine the '+' was or more.

3. I need to talk GPU too. Does larger screen = more GPU needed to re-draw?

4. My case doesn't 'support' E-ATX. Crap. DDR4, DOH!

5. What I want != what I need: System to run WOD smooth at ultra/good in all areas of the game. I'm assuming GPU is the major bottle-neck once CPU/Ram are updated.

6. Assume my previous budget estimate is blown.

7. Any system suggestions given the helpful slap in the face with reality? I can overclock, but not fond of the tweak/crash/cool time consumption.

Thank you

[MiRai]

Are you still looking for feedback? From your cross-post on the dual-boxing forums it seems that you've got a build figured out.