Yup, so as my title states I'm planning to upgrade my rig soon... I think. Either way, I don't have the funds/nor do I really want to do it all at once. So my question is; based on the sig rig, what should I upgrade first? I was thinking of upgrading my video card first. That or cpu, ram, mobo. So I dunno. Hard to decide. Also I think I'm gonna go with a 9600GT, but it depends on pricing I guess. I have a small monitor and no desire to upgrade at the moment. So I would be playing at a max res of 1280x1024. Thanks in advance for the help/suggestions.
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Another what to upgrade to? Thread
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MastaFlyMason
Limp Gawd
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Overclock the processor and get a new video card, what is your budget?
I'm not into OC'ing so that's out. Besides the fact that I think the cpu would still perform fine and wouldn't be a huge bottleneck.
As far as budget I'm not really looking to spend more than $150 on a vid card alone. We'll have to see how the next few weeks go.
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The 9600GT is fine for 1280x1024 gaming. Why do you think you need an upgrade? What is your system incapable of doing such that it requires an upgrade?
You do realize that new games are coming out right? That I'd like to be able to play smoothly and with settings high.
For instance I have Mass Effect and it plays okay. But it's sub 30 frames almost all the time which to me hurts the game play.
I'm sure the 9600GT would last me just as long as the 7900GT did.
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You do realize I can't read your mind, right? and that not all games have the same requirements (some games are more GPU dependent, others are more CPU dependent), right? So you do realize that a good recommendation on what to upgrade first depends on what aspect of your system you'd like to improve, right? And you do realize that you never stated what your goal was in your OP, right?
I guess I could've given a heads up. But 95% of the people on this forum are enthusiasts and like to play the current games at high resolution with high settings. Generally knowing what games are coming out and the current state of our hardware/graphics I thought it was a given.
The problem with that mentality is that while getting the 9600GT may be enough for you to play Mass Effect right now, it's only a short-term solution to your problem. New games come out all the time, and quite a few of them, like Crysis and AoC right now, are designed to run on modern systems. Yours is at least two or three generations behind the curve.
Get the 9600GT now, but you may want to also start saving up money for a new system. Though most games out today are largely GPU-driven, there's no guarantee that your current system would be able to handle the next "latest and greatest" game to arrive.
When the 7900GT came out ( I don't even think I bought it when it was new-new) it handled all the games fine up until now. And even now it still does, though showing it's age. There's only been a few games recently that have been able to do that. I don't know the exact time-frame but it like 2 years I've had this card. If the 9600GT lasted that long it would be fine. And I'm not sure I see a reason why it wouldn't.
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So I guessed you were part of the $95%, which is why I suggested vidcard.
The subsequent question was just to make sure you didn't belong to the other 5%, according to your numbers. Sure, I know the current state of graphics/hardware, but I don't know people want unless they state it. You posted in General Hardware... not General Gaming.Generally speaking, if you provide more specific information when asking a question, you'll get a better response.
Also generally speaking, if your current system does everything you want it to do at a satisfactory level, then wait until whatever game comes out that you want to play, and see how it handles it. Basically, wait until your system can no longer perform the way you want it to.
So I guessed you were part of the $95%, which is why I suggested vidcard.
Generally speaking, if you provide more specific information when asking a question, you'll get a better response.
Also generally speaking, if your current system does everything you want it to do at a satisfactory level, then wait until whatever game comes out that you want to play, and see how it handles it. Basically, wait until your system can no longer perform the way you want it to.
Ah, but it has reached that point sir! lol. I apologize for any dick behavior.
Looking back at your first post, you are correct in wanting to upgrade the video card first. For all we know, it may be the only thing you would have to upgrade. My concern is that, in an attempt to look beyond the horizon, you may have to upgrade the rest of your system sooner rather than later.
But enginurd made a good point: Upgrade the rest of your system only when it can no longer do what you want it to do (well).