Worth upgrading GPU here?

[Aono]

I haven't upgraded in a while... this system is getting on for 5 years old now apart from one graphics upgrade 2-3 years ago.
Surprisingly it still plays most new games on high settings, albeit with low/no AA and sometimes some effects turned off.

Gigabyte P35C-DS3R
Intel Core2Duo E6850 3.0Ghz
4GB DDR2
Radeon HD 5770 1GB
Screen 24" 1920*1200

Is it worth upgrading the GPU? Will this old system even appreciate a brand new graphics card?

Can't decide whether to not to keep it going for a few more years or just wait another year and build a new comp altogether. What do you think?

 

[Gregster]

I think even if you do upgrade the GPU you will not see much of an improvement. The duo is your bottleneck along with the DDR2.

If you still game happy, don't worry about it.

 

[wazza300]

5770 is a great little card but at that res on some games it will struggle,a cheap used 5870 would be better for you imo

 

[zx|muppet]

agree with greg here. unless you doing a refresh of mobo/cpu/memory/gfx i myself dont see the point in just upgrading the GPU.

save up some and look at a refresh of your current system is your best bet imho

 

[Aono]

Alright, guess I'll wait a bit longer.

Thanks.

 

[Mal X]

upgrade hell yea'..... just dont get that Chinese monster

 

[DarkHorizon472]

agree with greg here. unless you doing a refresh of mobo/cpu/memory/gfx i myself dont see the point in just upgrading the GPU.

save up some and look at a refresh of your current system is your best bet imho

This is what I did a while back. My 5770 played bf3 at 1080p with the detail turned down well enough after CPU and ram upgrade. Later on I upgraded my gpu to a 6950. Overclocked to 6970 speeds it is a good improvement on my 5770.

The only other thing to keep your eye on is your psu. Cheapo 600w psu's like a used to have don't supply stable power at anything like close to 600w.

 

[greenpanda]

Get a cheap Q6600 on fleabay and OC to 3.6GHz easily.

Difference between DDR2 and DDR3 is not great.

And most games are more demanding on graphics card than CPU anyway.

Upgrade to a HD 6950 or HD 7850 GFX card then your rig will still be acceptable.

 

[Kelt]

Get a cheap Q6600 on fleabay and OC to 3.6GHz easily.

Difference between DDR2 and DDR3 is not great.

And most games are more demanding on graphics card than CPU anyway.

Upgrade to a HD 6950 or HD 7850 GFX card then your rig will still be acceptable.

Good advice. Not so sure about the easy OC to 3.6 though.

 

[greenpanda]

Make sure to get the G0 stepping of the Q6600 and you can definitely oc to 3.6Ghz on air easily.

Depending on your luck, some people have reported getting a stable 4.2Ghz on air with these.