GFX upgrade

[Subcat001]

It seems like an age since I played any games on my PC and this week I found myself dusting off a few of my favorites. Problem is I've been bitten by the bug again. While my HD3870 runs my existing collection without a hiccup it seems somewhat archaic when it comes to newer titles.

I don't really want to upgrade all of my system just yet, and was wondering if there was a good budget card that will give my system a boost and be more efficient? Or is it simply not worth it as the rest of my system will act as a bottleneck?

My current system:
E7400 @3.6GHZ
MSI P35 Neo2
4GB PC2-6400(4X1GB)
HD3870 512MB
Dell 2005fpw 1680x1050
Windows 7 x64

 

[arc@css]

I think you'd be best off upgrading your cpu and motherboard first.

 

[harshuk]

I echo that you should upgrade the graphics card Im sure even a 7850 would bottleneck on that system put your pennies away for a new build IMO

 

[ubersonic]

Agree with the others, the CPU isn't *that* bad, clock for clock its faster per core than anything AMD sell, however it only has two cores and will be let down by the chip set/DDR2 if you combine it with a new GPU.

If you wanted to save money, as your obviously OK with overclocking you could try the members market for a first gen i3 bundle or something (the was no overclock locking on first gen i3 CPU's so you can easily tune them up to smoke a brand new one). You should be able to get say an i3 540 with at least 4GB of DDR3 and a decent board for <£100 then clock it to 4-4.2GHz and its ready to drop in a new GPU and rock.

 

[spain]

All depends on the games you will want to play, some games need the CPU grant others don't. I would go for the GPU if it was me and I wanted to limit the expensive of an upgrade to an existing but dated system. The fact that you game at 1680x1050 means you don't have to push-the-boat-out hardware wise to get good results.

If your HD3870 plays all your old games now, then just get a current game you want to play and see what happens, you can use monitoring software to give you all the information you need. That way you will know the best route to take.

 

[Subcat001]

Thanks for the replies.

As I thought my system will probably be a bottleneck. Long term I am looking to build a new gaming rig but for the time being I'll persevere.

 

[ArchAndroid]

All depends on the games you will want to play, some games need the CPU grant others don't. I would go for the GPU if it was me and I wanted to limit the expensive of an upgrade to an existing but dated system. The fact that you game at 1680x1050 means you don't have to push-the-boat-out hardware wise to get good results.

If your HD3870 plays all your old games now, then just get a current game you want to play and see what happens, you can use monitoring software to give you all the information you need. That way you will know the best route to take.

I agree. If you are comfortable with your system in general then there is no need to do an entire overhaul. You would be better served getting a 7770 which would be a doubling of FPS in situations where you are not CPU-limited.

 

[Sasahara]

I'd stick a 2nd hand HD 4870 in it, would give a decent boost and the CPU would be fine with that.

 

[Marine-RX179]

As I thought my system will probably be a bottleneck. Long term I am looking to build a new gaming rig but for the time being I'll persevere.

It will be, but it is more down to a case by case of what games you playing (some will be more CPU intensive thus making the bottleneck bigger, whilst others may be more graphic demanding). However in more recent games, regardless of what graphic card you use, your CPU would be a huge limitation.

My E5200 overclocked to 4.25GHz would bottleneck even a 9800GTX+, but that's because I'm playing Guild Wars 2 on it (which is known for hugely CPU intensive).