Guild Wars 2

I’m thinking about upgrading my platform as it’s been quite some time (or at least it feels like it has been) since I’ve done so. Currently, I’m running the following:

• Intel Core i7 2700k (overclocked to 4.8GHz)
• AMD Radeon 6950 (BIOS flashed to a Radeon 6970)
• 16GB Memory

I prefer to run on the highest settings possible when playing (the only exception being render sampling, which is set to Native). I play at 1920 × 1200 resolution. When sitting in LA I get about 40 FPS with this setup and settings, and when in a zerg I drop to 25 FPS and below depending on the size of the zerg. I know GW2 isn’t too optimized, so perfect performance when in a zerg of people isn’t really possible, but I’m wondering how much of a benefit I would get from upgrading at this point. I was thinking of something like the following:

• Intel Core i7 4790K
• Radeon R9 280X (or 290 non-X)

If anyone has either (or even better, both) of these parts and can speak to the performance in GW2 at similar settings, I’d be very appreciative.

Keep the 2700K. You will have a hard time overclocking the 4790K to the same frequency. Grab the R9 card though. Worth it.

Thanks for the suggestion, Avelos. I know GW2 is CPU bound, but from what I’ve been reading, CPU performance hasn’t increased much between Sandy Bridge and Haswell (especially if the Sandy Bridge is overclocked). I wasn’t sure if GW2 might be an exception of sorts though, given it’s reliance on a good CPU…sounds like it’s still not worth it though. I’ll look more into the R9 cards, performance on them seems very much improved compared to what I have in other games, at least. Any idea how much of a boost I might see in GW2?

Avelos.6798:

Keep the 2700K. You will have a hard time overclocking the 4790K to the same frequency. Grab the R9 card though. Worth it.

True but the 4790K does use the new TIM compound between the die and heatspreader and it does start at 4GHz as it’s default frequency. Also two generations of incremental improvement has made the Haswell generation around 15-25% faster at the same clock speed.

Current reviews of the 4790K has shown OCs in the 4.6-4.7GHz range on air and self contained water coolers. Temps are 10-15C lower than the 4770K.

The NGPTIM is comparatively worse to the TIM used on the 4770K as far as I’ve read. You’re only getting better temperatures at out of the box settings. I personally don’t see the worth of spending $350 on the 4790K to potentially get dropped with a poor overclocker. Plus OP would need a new board to use it. Some Z87s support it through BIOS update like with Asus Gold series and Maximus series.

I think it’s better to continue with the 2700K.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/185512-overclocking-intels-core-i7-4970k-can-devils-canyon-fix-haswells-low-clock-speeds/2

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/2

That’s two off hand that disagree. But OC results is so much Voodoo.

as others have said, keep your 2700k. as for gpu the 6950 is a bit old but should handle gw2 ok, if you really want to upgrade r9 270s and 280s are on deep discount atm and are excellent values.

I’ll have to put a price watch on a 280/280X. I’m really tempted to gamble on a 290/290X on eBay that was used for mining…tempting to have a high end card at a bargain. Either way, I’ll hang onto the 2700K and wait until Skylake comes out to see if that’s worth getting. I’ll also keep my eyes out for a good price on an R9 of some sort (likely 280X).

Upgrade CPU if you plan to play GW2 mostly. Don’t expect any FPS changes from GPU upgrade with this game.

Behellagh.1468:

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/185512-overclocking-intels-core-i7-4970k-can-devils-canyon-fix-haswells-low-clock-speeds/2

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8227/devils-canyon-review-intel-core-i7-4790k-and-i5-4690k/2

That’s two off hand that disagree. But OC results is so much Voodoo.

not really, haswell issue stem from the fact that there is a large gap between heat spreader and the cpu.

Remove that gap, the chip will cool better with the same TIM.

Someone did take the time to test it

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=34053183&postcount=570

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=34053183

Get a 4790K and a GOOD Z97 motherboard (with like 12 phase power and such)

I got my 4790K OC’d to 5ghz on air at 1.4v. GW2 loads are 78c-83c, using my Prolimatech GNSS + 140MM Vortex fans. mind you 1.4v is extremely dangerous for Haswell Silicon. So if you plan to push above 1.35v buy that Intel OC warranty for 25 bucks.

If i set it to 4.6ghz at 1.25v I get 52c-58c while playing GW2, 4.8ghz at 1.35v 63C-72C.

Sorry to say, the new caps on the 4790K and the NGTIM really do make a difference over the previous K haswell CPUs.

That being said, teamed with a 280x you can easily double your FPS compared to your current system.

on max settings in LA at 1080p I get 68FPS-88FPS depending on whos around, and what im looking at. Zergs lowest FPS i have seen is at MAW and thats a solid 23FPS until the 60second lag spike then i get 33-38FPS for the rest of the encounter. Everywhere else, 123FPS-179FPS.

Thanks for the numbers, sirsquishy. It’s good to know that if I do go forward with an upgrade of these parts that I will see an appreciable difference. Your setup looks similar to what I was thinking of. Now I just need to decide if it’s worth it. I kind of wish Skylake was closer, it feels like Haswell has been around for a long time.

gamerdude.4289:

Thanks for the numbers, sirsquishy. It’s good to know that if I do go forward with an upgrade of these parts that I will see an appreciable difference. Your setup looks similar to what I was thinking of. Now I just need to decide if it’s worth it. I kind of wish Skylake was closer, it feels like Haswell has been around for a long time.

Haswell is it until Skylake comes out. We are going to see only 2 Broadwell chips for the desktop market, both being K’s (i7 and i5) on that new 14nm process. The rest of the Broadwell chips are planned for BGA (Soldered to the MB). And I do not think we are going to see Chips that exceed what we are getting on the 4790K and 4690K today, unless they solder the lid on the die like they should be doing.

And I do not have high hopes for Skylake from what we are seeing on Haswell. The small frab process from 22 to 14 is just going to make things hotter/tighter and unless they fix the issues around haswell silicon, we are not going to see greater things on Skylake either. Maybe 10-12% above performance of Haswell.

So, feel free to upgrade to haswell. Its worth it if you are 3 or 4 generations behind, or running AMD.

I had a 6950(unlocked to 6970 shaders and core/clock) then moved to 280x on 2500k 4.2ghz, I didn’t notice a huge difference.

There really is no reason to upgrade for GW2 with what you’re running right now except for better power efficiency.

I’d personally wait for Intel Broadwell and AMD Tonga/Nvidia Maxwell to roll out q4 this year/early next year.