Upgrade CPU (amd 955) or Graphics C (6950)?

ssmacc

ssmacc

ssmacc

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Hello,

A friend of mine has a PC with a AMD 955 CPU and a 6950 (flashed to a 6970), he's going to upgrade and has about £180, would he be better getting a i5 and new mothboard or a new graphics card?

I guess i'm asking would a £180 graphics card be bottle necked by the CPU?

Any advice appreciated.
 
You may just be able to squeeze a 290 in for £180.

That being said, im pretty sure the 955 would be a heavy bottleneck.

£180 isn't going to get you a 4690k + Z97 motherboard though.
 
For £186 +shipping you could get an AMD FX-6300, the cheapest MSI 970 (AM3+) and 8GB of Ram, either 2400MHz or 1600MHz. The 2400MHz stuff is on offer right now.

Could then upgrade the GPU later.
 
Sorry i realise i should have made a single post but if your friend has the right memory then you could get an Intel i5-4440 and an ASUS H81M-K for just under £180.

Ok it's not a 4690K but it is better than what he already has, if the memory he has is ok :)
 
Little*Freak said:
Sorry i realise i should have made a single post but if your friend has the right memory then you could get an Intel i5-4440 and an ASUS H81M-K for just under £180.

Ok it's not a 4690K but it is better than what he already has, if the memory he has is ok :)
Click to expand...

This was the upgrade I had in mind, and then Graphics Card at a later date... I assume this is the best bet?
 
Thinking a tad different.......could he xfire the 6950? That would punch a bit heavier in some games. Or maybe a new am3+ board capable of xfire, get another 2nd hand 6950 and then an FX chip dropped in a later date?
 
If there's a plan to do one thing then the other then that's different.

290 if gaming the priority, i5 bundle if not.

Then do the upgrade later.

But that's me and my needs favour intel.
 
A 290 would be good, cheapest one here is £227 +shipping.

You might find one on the MM instead.

Might be better to tell him to save some more then go get an i5 bundle and new gpu.
 
Surely there's little point in upgrading either at the moment? If you can only do one, I mean.

A Phenom 955 and a 6950 is pretty well balanced. You can upgrade the GPU, but be generally held back by the CPU, or upgrade the CPU and be generally held back by the GPU.

Just put the money away and upgrade both when you have the funds - the way tech moves, you'll get something better performing on either count.
 
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