Could do with some advice

[Plague_Injected]

So I'm finally looking to ditch my 8600GT and replace it with something that has a bit more grunt. Of course, the main limitation is my CPU, so I probably shouldn't get something too powerful.

I was thinking getting a GTX460 1GB...it goes for AU$175-$200 in Australia online. The other one I'm considering is a Radeon 5850...it goes for around AU$200-$230.

The games I'm most likely to be playing are Bad Company 2, Metro 2033, Street Fighter 4, Starcraft II, Arma II, Dragon Age: Origins, Crysis 2 and a few less-intensive multiplatform games like COD4 and UE3-engine games. I also really want to be able to play Battlefield 3 when I get Windows 7, and other upcoming games like Skyrim.

I want to play at full-settings, preferrably at my monitor's native resolution of 1920x1080. I know I won't get that with Bad Company 2 and Metro 2033 due to my CPU but full-settings at a lower resolution would be pretty good.

The system specs of the PC I'm putting the card into is in my signature.

Price checking website here.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated .

 

[dajet24]

Get a AMD 6950 1GB $232 2Gb for $239 using your search engine.

6950 is a awsome card for the price.

 

[cannondale06]

Get a AMD 6950 1GB $232 2Gb for $239 using your search engine.

6950 is a awsome card for the price.

um he has an E4600 cpu so that would be beyond foolish. he literally would not even get half of the performance a 6950 could deliver.

OP any decent card like a gtx460 will be so massively bottlenecked by your old cpu that it is not funny. not only would your cpu hold back any decent card but it will barely even provide 25-30 fps in some games at settings a decent card could otherwise run.

 

[dajet24]

He was posting cards that cost the same range and are much weaker. Might aswell get the most bang for your buck if the price is the same...

Nothing says he will never upgrade his CPU.

 

[cannondale06]

He was posting cards that cost the same range and are much weaker. Might aswell get the most bang for your buck if the price is the same...

Nothing says he will never upgrade his CPU.

he mentioned no plans of upgrading the cpu anytime soon so buying a card like a 6950 would be absolutely foolish. even a gtx460 would be massively bottlenecked but at least it is much cheaper. really you gave him some bad advice and did not even address just how bad is cpu would hold a card like that back. he does not even understand that lowering the resolution will not help when the cpu is the bottleneck.

 

[dajet24]

Its never bad advice to maximize price for performance even if you cant take full advantage right away. He was considering a 5850 for up to 230 if a 6950 is avail for 2 bucks more then there is no logical reason not to do it.

How about u stop acting out and let the OP decide what he wants to do. You havent even provided him with any card advice just attacking my posts you havent even offered a logical in your opinion alternative since you called his ideas crap also.

 

[Tirilwen]

You could get a 5770 for 119 AUD according to that site. It's a pretty good fit for 1920x1080, and probably the most powerful card I'd get for that CPU.

 

[cannondale06]

Its never bad advice to maximize price for performance even if you cant take full advantage right away. He was considering a 5850 for up to 230 if a 6950 is avail for 2 bucks more then there is no logical reason not to do it.

How about u stop acting out and let the OP decide what he wants to do. You havent even provided him with any card advice just attacking my posts you havent even offered a logical in your opinion alternative since you called his ideas crap also.

thats your logic? he should not even consider a card like the 5850 and that was the point that needed to be made. looking at your post would only encourage him to do something foolish. and my advice, since you could not figure it out, was that he also needs a cpu upgrade to play those games on the settings he is wanting to use.

 

[cannondale06]

You could get a 5770 for 119 AUD according to that site. It's a pretty good fit for 1920x1080, and probably the most powerful card I'd get for that CPU.

yeah thats the very fastest card I would consider. really though he is not going to be playing some of those games smoothly with his cpu even on settings a 5770 could run.

so really not only is that cpu a huge bottleneck for a decent card, it is borderline being too slow in general for some games.

 

[Plague_Injected]

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking about something with power so that if/when I start my new job and get a new rig, I could just transfer the new videocard and put the 8600GT back in this one. If I get something like a 5770 it will be a bit pointless by the time I get around to getting the new PC. Of course, you could argue the same about the GTX460...

I might just start saving for the new PC. Thanks for the replies .

 

[cannondale06]

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking about something with power so that if/when I start my new job and get a new rig, I could just transfer the new videocard and put the 8600GT back in this one. If I get something like a 5770 it will be a bit pointless by the time I get around to getting the new PC. Of course, you could argue the same about the GTX460...

I might just start saving for the new PC. Thanks for the replies .

yeah start saving because card options and prices could be drastically different by the time you save up for the rest of the components. if your cpu was not so slow then I would say grab that gtx460 but its not going to give you what you want in most of those games you listed before you upgrade the cpu so why bother.

 

[EuphoricRage470]

Here's what you should go and get as, essentially, a new system:

- AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX

- CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8

- XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

- ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

- Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

In my Newegg cart, this comes out to $572. This is *definitely* worth it. It's cheap, and I have had tons of experience with these particular parts. They make for one hell of a gaming rig for cheaaaap.

 

[cannondale06]

if building from scratch then going intel make more sense. even now the sandy bridge i5 quad provides better performance with something like a 6950 and will be much better for the next few years as for as gpu upgrades go. spend a bit more and go with the 2400, 2500 or 2500k i5 and have a much better overall system for longer. heck even the sandy bridge i3 provides better gaming performance than any AMD chip. no point in starting out gimped.

 

[EuphoricRage470]

Well, my main goal was to minimize cost. Also, the i3 might provide better gaming performance *today*, but the X6 is certainly capable enough of handling any gaming load today. And it'll handle tomorrow's much better than any i3 (sandy or otherwise).

If cost were less of a factor, I'd swap out the CPU/mobo for, interestingly enough, an x58 mobo and an i7 960. No point in having a dead end upgrade path (I hate myself for going LGA 1156 rather than 1366).

 

[cannondale06]

Well, my main goal was to minimize cost. Also, the i3 might provide better gaming performance *today*, but the X6 is certainly capable enough of handling any gaming load today. And it'll handle tomorrow's much better than any i3 (sandy or otherwise).

If cost were less of a factor, I'd swap out the CPU/mobo for, interestingly enough, an x58 mobo and an i7 960. No point in having a dead end upgrade path (I hate myself for going LGA 1156 rather than 1366).

sorry but the X6 will not handle tomorrows games any better against Intel than it handles todays games. bulldozer and even ivy bridge will be out and make the current AMD cpus look even sillier than sandy bridge already does. sandy bridge wipes the floor with it clock for clock and has way way more overclocking potential. personally I would not go with the i3 but was simply saying that even that was faster at gaming than any AMD cpu.

bottom line is that something like a sandy bridge 2400 i5 will provide better performance now and in the future all while using less power.

 

[Plague_Injected]

Here's what you should go and get as, essentially, a new system:

- AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz Socket AM3 125W Six-Core Desktop Processor HDT55TFBGRBOX

- CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M2A1600C8

- XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity

- ASRock M3A770DE AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

- Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

In my Newegg cart, this comes out to $572. This is *definitely* worth it. It's cheap, and I have had tons of experience with these particular parts. They make for one hell of a gaming rig for cheaaaap.

Comes to about AU$655 in Australia...$694 USD. Still isn't too bad though, and I can swap out my current 650W PSU to save money and put the old crappy Coolermaster 450W back into this one. Thanks for the suggestions mate .

 

[cannondale06]

Comes to about AU$655 in Australia...$694 USD. Still isn't too bad though, and I can swap out my current 650W PSU to save money and put the old crappy Coolermaster 450W back into this one. Thanks for the suggestions mate .

no disrespect to him but please look back over what I said about going Intel if building for scratch. the AMD cpu is already going to limit a 6950 by 15-30% compared to sandy bridge quad so just imagine trying to put in a gpu twice as fast down the road or another one beyond that. not that the AMD cant provide playable framerate but you will not get all the performance of even todays higher end cards can give thus biting you in the butt down the road. and you will be right back in the situation that you are in now much quicker if you go AMD.

 

[Plague_Injected]

no disrespect to him but please look back over what I said about going Intel if building for scratch. the AMD cpu is already going to limit a 6950 by 15-30% compared to sandy bridge quad so just imagine trying to put in a gpu twice as fast down the road or another one beyond that. not that the AMD cant provide playable framerate but you will not get all the performance of even todays higher end cards can give thus biting you in the butt down the road. and you will be right back in the situation that you are in now much quicker if you go AMD.

Fair enough. What Intel CPU and motherboard would you recommend?

 

[dajet24]

...

 

[cannondale06]

Fair enough. What Intel CPU and motherboard would you recommend?

well unless you are ready to buy today then the best option may be different down the road. as for now a 2500k would be the best overall choice for gaming if you want to overclock down the road. if you are not interested in overclocking then a 2500 or 2400 would be a choice. you can still oc those by a couple of bins but they are not fully unlocked like the k cpus.

I am terrible at picking out mobos fro people. for sandy bridge there 3 chipsets to choose from. P67 if you want to oc and use a discrete card. H67 will let you use the on chip gpu if needed but limits nearly all of the overclocking so stay away from that IMO. Z68 is like P67 and H67 combined so it might be appealing.

you can look up reviews on those but P67 would be my choice. once you have narrowed down the chipset you prefer then you can start looking at different mobos. you might want to ask about this in the motherboard sub forum to get the very best advice though.

 

[cannondale06]

My god how much of a Intel junkie can you be the 6950 is not being held back by a X6.

The crap your spouting about a i3 being a better choice then any AMD cpu is just ridiculous.

we get it you have a Intel hard on and thing its the only option for anything.

oh and fyi I find it amusing the OP was indeed considering a system upgrade Like I had suggested in my intital advice.

I'm not gonna argue it further with you, I just felt the OP deserved some rebuke of your less then good advice imo.

I guess you are still all pissy for me having a problem with your earlier advice. he did not mention anything about willing to upgrade in his op so at the time thats what we had to go by. so you suggesting the 6950 with no comment on anything else was still poor or at least incomplete advice at that time.

I dont care if its Intel or AMD as I am simply giving the best overall cpu option if building from scratch right now. a few months from now Bulldozer may be right choice for most.

and yes, overall the i3 2120 is faster than AMD for gaming and you can look at reviews and see that for yourself. you can also look at reviews to see that everything else I said was accurate too.

here you can see the numbers for the 1100T AMD X6. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i5-2500-2400-2300_7.html#sect0

then take those 1100T X6 numbers and compare them to the i3 2120 and see that yes the AMD X6 is slower than it. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i3-2120-2100_5.html#sect0

an AMD X6 even at 4.0 cannot beat the stock 2500K. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-2600k-990x_9.html#sect2

that X6 at 4.0 also uses a whopping 200 watts MORE under load than the stock 2500K that it loses to in gaming. http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core-i7-2600k-990x_12.html#sect0

 

[xDezor]

oh and fyi I find it amusing the OP was indeed considering a system upgrade Like I had suggested in my intital advice.

Why? Because you gave him shit advice and he almost bought it?

For the record, everything Cannondale06 has suggested thus far is correct. It'd be stupid to go with anything other than a cheap sandy bridge at your pricepoint.

 

[cannondale06]

Why? Because you gave him shit advice and he almost bought it?

For the record, everything Cannondale06 has suggested thus far is correct. It'd be stupid to go with anything other than a cheap sandy bridge at your pricepoint.

thank you and I even updated my post with links to show what I was saying.


and dajet24 , I know you are just being defensive now and I am sorry if was a bit too rude to you at first. I just got a little miffed because your advice just did not make any sense based on the OPs exact situation at the time.

 

[dajet24]

...

 

[cannondale06]

This is the statement that is simply untrue.

saying the i3 would be faster then any AMD cpu in gaming is not good or correct advice.

see my edited post with links showing the sandy bridge i3 2120 IS faster than the AMD 1100T X6 in gaming. I dont just make stuff up.

I also apologized for being a little snappy at the beginning of the thread.

 

[dajet24]

Funny I dont recall thinking the i3's were all that interesting when I saw the reviews before. But after checking your link and techreport it seems in most cases the i3 2120 scores higher then any AMD. Seems Metro 2033 is the only exception.

I cant imagine spending $150 on only a dualcore CPU anymore but it apparently holds its own. The lack of more true cores does appear to catch up with the i3 in other tasks encoding etc but for gaming it appears I was wrong it does lead over AMD more times then not.