CPU or graphics upgrade first?

[MrMartyn1984]

Hi all,

I've currently got an Phenom II x2 550 & an Ati Radeon 4670.

What's the best upgrade or is it game dependent? Was thinking of a Phenom Ii x4 955 and eventually a 6850 graphics card?

I just got Rage and it jumps a little bit too much!

Cheers.

I've got 4gb hyperx ddr2 800mhz if that makes any difference and CPU is overclocked to 3.75. Board is ASus M4A78PRO.

 

[iBSOD]

Have you tried unlocking the 2 extra cores on your CPU?

 

[opethdisciple]

Although ideally you need both a cpu and gpu upgrade, if you had to do one first, upgrade the gpu.

You will be bottleneck by the cpu in same games, but if you upgraded the cpu, you would be bottlenecked by the gpu, which imo limits games more than the cpu.

But be under no illusion that a gpu upgrade is a magic bullet. You still need a cpu upgrade.

What resolution do you game at?

If you do buy an 68xx series card, pick up the 6870 or a GTX 560, rather than the 6850.