Upgrade path confusion. Need advice.

Superjeep4x4 · 31 Jul 2008 at 11:55

As you can see in my sig I'm trying to decide which ones to upgrade. I'm pretty much 100% sure I'm going to snag 4 gigs of ram and resell mine. The problem I am running into is deciding on either the gpu or the cpu. I primarily game and play at my 19" lcd's 1440x900 which I really do not mind and probably wont upgrade for a year at least.

I'm a big MMO player and play games like EVE, Vanguard and AOC. Now where I get lost is at my res from all the other posts I have looked through the 8800GT should be more than enough and I also read my E2180 with its current overclock should fit the bill too but I don't feel I am getting the performance I should or want.

I guess its coming down to which would give me more gain and more solid game play. I'm looking at either a 8400 or a 4850. I was all but ready to pull the trigger on a 4850 but after reading recent posts it seems like for the res I play at it probably isn't worth the cash. I have also looked at the E7200 as its a decent amount cheaper and has more cache than my 2180 and from reports overclocks really well.

I'm just kinda confused at this point. I hate to waste money and really want to pick the upgrade that will give me the best experience and the more I read the more unsure I am. Thanks in advance all.

semi-pro waster · 31 Jul 2008 at 12:00

What sort of cash are you thinking about spending? That will probably determine what your best options are although you've already got a pretty decent overclock on your CPU.

Superjeep4x4 · 31 Jul 2008 at 12:05

no more than $200 us. The 8400 and the 4850 are about the same price here. The ram I am already gonna purchase and I am going to resell my current ram and a few older AMD XP parts. Eventually ill upgrade both but I only have enough for the ram and either the cpu or gpu at this point.

semi-pro waster · 31 Jul 2008 at 12:07

For the money I'd probably just leave it for the moment, the next real step up to my eyes would be the 4870 and that is rather outwith your budget. Although having said that if the E8400 plays nicely with your motherboard you could potentially get a very nice overclock out of it.

Superjeep4x4 · 31 Jul 2008 at 12:18

Ya I already checked that and it does support the 8400. In fact the list shows pretty much everything but the QX9770. Its a pretty good little board really and I got it super cheap. Its pretty much a P35 minus a few frills like raid. Thats one reason I am going with 2x2 gigs of ram as the board doesn't seem to play well with 4 sticks so I have read.

I play FPS games fine but it just seems like some of the MMO's I play have more issues. some or most might be do to crappy coding etc like VG so I'm wondering if at the res I play at if keeping the 8800 and going with a 8400 and cranking it to close to 4.0ghz would be a better choice than a 4850. I'm also still some what confused if the added cache would make a difference which is also why I mentioned the E7200.

Thanks for the imput so far