Help me upgrade for more FPS

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 14:31

Hello,

I am a "pro" Team Fortress 2 player and whether or not it helps my game-play I am used to it and like to play with a really high FPS.

I play at 640*480 resolution with an FPS Config (i.e. low graphical settings helping to maximise FPS and reduce visual clutter) using a CRT Monitor at 120 Hz. Ideally I would be looking to be able to maintain 120 FPS at all times. Currently I can go as high as 300 in a small room, but it can drop as low as 60(? maybe lower) in large open areas when there are lots of players alive and visible.

My current system is:
Core2 Duo E6300 overclocked to 3010 MHz
EVGA 7950 GT
OCZ 2GB PC2-6400 overclocked at 430 MHz
Gigabyte DS3P Rev 3.3 Motherboard

I was thinking I would be able to upgrade my processor and graphics card to achieve the desired result.

Any help and suggestions to possible upgrades would be really appreciated, if I missed any important information just say.

Many thanks,
nub

PwnDirect · 21 Feb 2009 at 14:37

budget?

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 14:39

around £400

if you guys you think I can gain a really good performance hit spending less that would be better, but that's why I'm here: to ask your advice

Clum · 21 Feb 2009 at 15:23

a new graphics card will see you gain a huge chunk of performance and should only set you back £200 for a gtx 260 or 4870 1gb.

your 6300 @3ghz will be plenty for tf2 but if you wanted you could add an e5300 adn clock that a bit higher. maybe add another 2gb ram.

icey_haj · 21 Feb 2009 at 15:25

Clum said:
a new graphics card will see you gain a huge chunk of performance and should only set you back £200 for a gtx 260 or 4870 1gb.

your 6300 @3ghz will be plenty for tf2. maybe add another 2gb ram.

+1

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 15:30

OK, you reckon the EVGA GTX 260 would be a good buy, I say the EVGA one because I am rather partial to that company as I have personally found their products and service to be great

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-088-EA&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=927

Clum · 21 Feb 2009 at 15:33

Yup, I'd pay the extra tenner over the cheapest one just for the EVGA customer service.

ins0mn1ac · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:30

OC that CPU more, you probably know source games are heavily CPU dependant...

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:37

deleted said:
OC that CPU more, you probably know source games are heavily CPU dependant...

That is what I wondered, whether the graphics upgrade would be enough to gain the FPS I am looking for

I am thinking it would be..?

geowal19 · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:46

Post news when u have finished ur upgrade.

SMB30 · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:51

TF2 is CPU dependant, i'm not really sure what he needs is a new gfx card, although ofc, it won't hurt.

Getting a bit more juice out of the CPU would definately help.

gurusan · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:53

wolfdale will get you high fps

SMB30 · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:55

gurusan said:
wolfdale will get you high fps

If he can get it to ~4Ghz, I agree.

gurusan · 21 Feb 2009 at 16:56

Any E8400 and up is pretty much guaranteed 4ghz, especially an E0 stepping. The 965P chipset is great for wolfies as well.

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 17:47

Well,

I may just go with this:

gurusan said:
Any E8400 and up is pretty much guaranteed 4ghz, especially an E0 stepping. The 965P chipset is great for wolfies as well.

The 965 is good with wolfdales? That is good to know ;D

SMB30 · 21 Feb 2009 at 17:51

Personally, I would go for this:

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 17:56

SMB30 said:
Personally, I would go for this:

But why a new motherboard?

SMB30 · 21 Feb 2009 at 17:57

You'll get more of an overclock out of the p45 chipset.

nubonamission · 21 Feb 2009 at 17:59

SMB30 said:
You'll get more of an overclock out of the p45 chipset.

OK, this is an interesting option, but I ask is a little bit of an extra overclock worth the -£100 on the graphics card and a the 8400 instead of the 500?

gurusan · 21 Feb 2009 at 18:03

This is a good one: