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Gaming Hardware Upgrade

F

fasteddie_felson

n00b
Joined
Mar 13, 2008
Messages
19
I could use some advice from all you hard core gamers on a budget:
I built a cheap entry level rig, with upgrade in mind (as time goes by and money comes in)

I play or will play Crysis, and all the FPS also big into RTS

Which is the better first upgrade a Intel 8400 Wolfdale or a Nvidia 8800 GT? should I get the CPU and wait for the next gen Nvidia GPU? I know the 8800GT has good bang for buck, what should I buy first? My system now is absolute entry level 8400 GS and single core Conroe.
 
what are you running now?
cpu, mb, ram, video

a lot of older boards won't take an 8400. you might have to get something like a 6600 quad...which is nice and good price by the way.
 
8800GT will be a huge upgrade for games over the 8400GS. Go with that first if you can only pick one. Of course you'll want to get in a fast dual core CPU as soon as you can. If money is tight, you can always go for the lower clocked ones like the 6550 and overclock. Then again, the 8400 isn't much more than that so it's ultimately up to you.
 
what are you running now?
cpu, mb, ram, video
Click to expand...
a New egg cheapie,

1Gig of Kingston ram 533 (this is a automatic upgrade, but I was on a budget. good thing I'm running XP) :)
Gigabyte P35 motherboard
Celeron Conroe Core 1.8 ghz
MSI Nvidia 8400 GS 256 Meg video
Antec power
 
Get a 8400, the new videocard generation is around the corner ... might be worth the wait (for price drops or the new cards)
 
Just choosing one for gaming I would go for the vid card, but to get the full benefits you would have to upgrade both. (another 1GB of mem wouldn't hurt either) :D
 
Tough call if you can only upgrade one. The 8800GT would give you the biggest boost right now, however IMHO there is no reason to upgrade to a GPU thats still insufficient for Crysis if thats the goal. However a e8400 or a Q6600 are both fantastic CPUs that are more than you should need for a while since games are GPU limited. I would buy the CPU now and wait for the next refresh from nVidia and AMD. Hopefully those offerings will be able to max out Crysis.
 
yeah I think I'm going to get the Intel E8400 first, then wait until later to get next gen GPU. Thx for comments.
 
Chombo nailed it, I do eventually want to be able to play Crysis and all next gen game at full settings. As of now with my anemic starter PC it can't play it on low. Does play Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 in lower settings. In fact the Unreal engine seems to scale down to my cheapo computer well.
 
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