• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Summer Upgrade Advice

A

A_belmont

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
65
I'm looking to upgrade 1 component, with a target budget of $200 + whatever I can resell the part being replaced.

The reason for this upgrade? I want a smoother framerate and nicer pixels on Bioshock Infinite and Far Cry 3 (games I just recently acquired!)

Current System:

Case - Xion Xon-560

Ram - 8gb G-skill Sniper Ram

CPU - Sandy Bridge i3-2100 (dual core 3.1ghz, cooled with Corsair Hydro H60)

GPU - Powercolor Radeon 6870 1gb, 256bit

PSU - Antec Neoeco 620 Watt

MB - Biostar H67+ (Note, board doesn't allow for CPU overclocking)

HDD: Seagate Momentus 500gb hybrid drive.

What part would you recommend replacing to get some better graphics and smoother framerates? I'm figuring it'd either be the CPU or the GPU, I just don't know which upgrade would have a greater impact on performance, and I can't afford to do both!

Thanks!
 
1080p (so, 1920 x 1080) connected via HDMI. I'm looking to keep a steady 60fps, as this isn't one of them fancy ultra fantastic displays.

I guess what my question boils down to is - will I get more mileage for my dollar upgrading the CPU first? Or the GPU?
 
usually you get more mileage out of your upgrade with a newer gpu......it seems to be the only option since you can't just upgrade to a 3570k or something and oc the hell out of it as you don't have a z series board

i was thinking ssd upgrade but that just helps with loading times dunno about smoothness
 
So what's the best gpu then in that $200 sweetspot? I'm open to something slightly more expensive, though DEF not above $300. GPUs lose value way to fast to drop that kind of cash on my budget. xD
 
well there is that f/s thread asking 220 for the 3 gig 660ti

lots of stuff loses value i agree...if you need it now you're prolly better off with a card from here instead of buying retail

then again i'm cheap so i tend to wait a good while....could always wait for next gen and see if the current gen drops at all
 
So then, in conclusion, the GPU is the bottleneck here and go look around to upgrade that, not the CPU.

Correct?
 
A_belmont said:
So then, in conclusion, the GPU is the bottleneck here and go look around to upgrade that, not the CPU.

Correct?
Click to expand...

Not exactly. You'll gain the most improvement in performance by upgrading the video card instead of the processor.

If you can pull the following off, however, you should upgrade the video card, then upgrade the processor (ideally, to a used quad-core processor), and finally buy a decent 120GB to 256GB SSD to use as your primary drive. That sequence would eliminate most of your performance bottlenecks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top