Upgrade decision

Secret_Window · 28 Oct 2009 at 19:00

So lately I've been trying out some games using the higher graphical settings at 1680x1050 but my hardware is really showing its age.

I can't decide which would provide the best first upgrade; my cpu or my graphics card? I can only afford to do one at the moment. Then obviously at a later date upgrade the other part.

So far I've been looking at getting:

CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
ntel Core 2 Quad Q8400

I can't decide which cpu will provide the best performance for the money. Maybe I should even consider the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400?

Graphics card:
XFX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5
Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB GDDR5
Gainward GeForce GTX 260 Golden Sample 896MB GDDR3
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5

Graphics card wise I don't know how much difference there is between the 4870 and 260, from what I've seen it seems small. Or even whether the 4890 is worth the extra money. Even more confusing is the new addition to the ATI range with the 5770 and I have no idea if that's worth considering over the others purely for Direct X 11.

I've been reading reviews and benchmarks everyday but there just make me more confused.

Secret_Window · 28 Oct 2009 at 21:53

Any opinions?

Secret_Window · 29 Oct 2009 at 11:47

It's gonna be used for gaming.

I checked out the ATI 5770 and even though it's the latest from ATI it's barely any quicker than a ATI Radeon 4850.

ETNiES, I can't really afford to change my cpu, motherboard, and ram to either an i5 or i7.

I'm confused as to which upgrade will provide me the best performance for gaming with either upgrading my cpu or upgrading my graphics card. I know both will obviously provide the best, but I'm not in the position to upgrade both at the moment.

Secret_Window · 29 Oct 2009 at 13:27

So a GPU would provide the biggest boost than say a quad paired with my 8800 GTS?

This is what I'm thinking of getting:

VTX ATI Radeon HD 4870 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Corsair VX 550W ATX Power Supply

I realised I needed a new PSU to use the GPU as mine doesn't have 2 x 6 pin PCI-E connectors. :/

Secret_Window · 29 Oct 2009 at 18:42

Nevermind guys, I decided to save my CPU and GPU upgrade later in the future for one big upgrade because upgrading to a cheap card now would just be pointless when in a few months the ATI 5850's will come down in price.

I decided to get in the end some more sensible hardware:

Corsair VX 550W ATX Power Supply - for future GPU upgrades.
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB SATA-II 32MB - for more space obviously.
Asus Xonar D1 7.1 PCI Sound Card - because my current one sucks in windows 7.

Funny how upgrade plans change last minute.