new graphics card or processor?

[Sinat]

hey I'm just wondering what would give me the biggest fps boost in games im going to be playing guild wars 2 and dota 2 my current specs are


Processor (CPU) AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card 1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6850 - 2 DVI,HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable

 

[madtoady]

Tried overclocking your CPU?

 

[straxusii]

Without knowing if those games are purely CPU limited with your CPU always upgrade graphics card first

 

[nocturnal1974]

GPU

 

[slade]

Tried overclocking your CPU?

That 965 should hit 4/4.2 easy!!!

 

[Masterdeadly]

GPU

 

[Blue160]

Definitely graphics. That processor isn't cutting edge, but a 3GHz+ quad isn't going to be a bottleneck in just about any game. The 6850 however is a midrange card and definitely will hold you back. I'm not up to date with graphics cards at the moment, but last time I checked the 2GB 6950 was the card everyone was recommending.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

hey I'm just wondering what would give me the biggest fps boost in games im going to be playing guild wars 2 and dota 2 my current specs are


Processor (CPU) AMD PHENOM II X4 965 (3.40GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard ASUS® M5A99X EVO:USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, Quad CrossFireX™/SLI™
Memory (RAM) 8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 4GB KIT)
Graphics Card 1GB AMD RADEON™ HD6850 - 2 DVI,HDMI, DP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 3 Capable

Try overclocking your graphics card. Most HD6850 1GB cards overclock very well with many hitting 925MHZ to 1GHZ for the core:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4002/amd-radeon-hd-6850-overclocking-roundup-asus-xfx-msi/8

An HD6950 or GTX560TI will not be a massive upgrade especially if you overclock the HD6580. The main advantage of some of the more powerful cards mentioned is the larger amount of VRAM they can have which can be useful for some games.

 

[ashmanuk67]

I would agree that a GPU would be more noticeable, but I have a Xfire set up and was getting very low GPU usage I eventually upgraded my MB, memory and CPU from LGA775 to a 1155 chipset i5 2500k and the difference to my gaming is huge.

When Building a PC You have to think about the primary type of games you play and base your components on that., I play only First person shooters so a GPU would give me the biggest increase in speed/smoothness.
Your games might be more CPU intensive ?

Upgrading my MB CPU and memory made a big difference because Xfire was taxing on the old LGA775 chipset "well that's the only thing I can put it down too"

 

[Blue160]

The main issue with socket 775 and multi card setups is the CPU having to talk to the memory controller and both GPU's over the FSB. The Phenom II has the memory controller on die, so you don't get memory and graphics competing for the same bandwidth.

Also the OP only has one card

 

[Sinat]

i was thinking of buying a 7970 tbh