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Upgrade advice

Associate
Joined
18 Feb 2009
Posts
13
This is my current system, over 2 years old:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.66ghz
M/B: Asus P5Q Pro
RAM: 4gb Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 1066mhz
GPU: EVGA 9800GTX+
PSU: Coolermaster True Power 620w

I was thinking about replacing the 9800GTX+ with a GTX480 or GTX570. Would these cards be overkill for my current system and create a bottleneck with the CPU?

Want to upgrade ahead of games like SW:KOR, Mass Effect 3 and Witcher 2 coming out and also thinking about buying Crysis 2. Might be that I wait 6 months and upgrade all of the above for around £750, if the CPU isn't up to the job.

Thanks in advance
 
if you can overclock your processor you would be fine with either the 480/570 but at 2.66ghz it will bottleneck your card.

As for which card I would say it depends on what you want
the 480 and 570 have equal performance the 480 is nearly £100 cheaper but it uses a lot more power and runs hotter.

the 570 is quieter and uses less power even with a reference cooler.
 
A decent air cooler with a Gigabyte 480 SE would be fine. OC that Quad to 3.6ish and you'll be laughing. Don't bother with the the 570 with the SE so cheap right now, the standard 480 runs much hotter and louder than the 570 but the Gigabyte SE has a great cooler that solves both these problems.
 
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