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upgrade card or cpu/mobo

B

Broons

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
77
I know this is another should I upgrade thread, but I have been out of the game for awhile. Basically, I am looking to do some upgrading on my aging system and wondering if it would be worthwhile to upgrade my video card first or hold off and upgrade the cpu/mobo first.

Currently running a gtx260 with an E8500 oc'd to 3.8 on an Asus p5q mobo. 4gb of Ram @1600.

Currently I game at 1680x1050 but I will also be upgrading monitor to 1920x1080.
I am still able to play the newest games at fairly high settings with my current resolution so I am thinking it should be even awesomer with the latest and greatest gen of cards on a higher res. I am just unsure how much a bottleneck my cpu is going to be. Would a 660ti or a 7950 be overkill on that cpu?
 
at this point you need to upgrade both. a high end gpu would be a massive waste as you would not get much over half of what it could deliver in some games. not only would a modern quad core cpu be better because of having 4 cores but it would also have much better performance per clock which will help games that really only need dual cores.

btw I had an E8500 oced to 3.8 and a gtx260 for nearly 3 years myself until I built this pc a little over a year and a half ago. I cant even imagine trying to play some of the newer games out there on it.
 
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If you are on a budget save up and get a 2500k cpu/mobo/8gb ram and a gtx 480, gtx 560ti, ati 6950, 6970, etc

Should be able to find them for good prices on the forum or craigslist
 
I wouldn't settle for anything AMD cpu wise. 2500k and you're set for a while.
 
Hey sorry ya, I forgot to mention I am on a bit of a budget and in the immediate future I'm really only able to upgrade one or the other for at least several months. So it is a matter of what would make the most sense right now. I do always stick with Intel cpus and I know a cpu/mobo is going to be more costly. As I said, I still get good performance from my current setup I haven't noticed any choppiness or lag in games (metro 2033, crysis 2, witcher 2) at midrange settings. Its more that I've got the itch, haven't built a new rig or upgraded anything in several years and I am jonesing.
 
then I would just upgrade your cpu/mobo/ram and stick with your gtx260. its still a decent card for 1680x1050. then get you a better card like the 660ti, 6670 or 7950 in few months.

really if money is that tight then this may not be a very sensible hobby though. upgrading just some parts is not the way to do it cause you will be running a very unbalanced system for months at a time and by the time you upgrade the rest, the other parts are cheaper too.

and since somehow you dont notice any lagginess then stick with what you have for now cause you must be happy with pretty sluggish performance in those games. and turning up the settings will require a better cpu not just gpu for the best improvement.
 
I'd sell your current cpu/mobo/ram and get a 2500k, mobo, 8gb ram. Maybe u could even sell the gtx 260 and do a small upgrade like a gtx 285, gtx 280, gtx 275, gtx 460, 6870, etc. used is the way to go on a budget! Heck, i might sell you my 2500k, mobo, and ram if you want. PM an offer if interested.
 
cannondale06 said:
and since somehow you dont notice any lagginess then stick with what you have for now cause you must be happy with pretty sluggish performance in those games. and turning up the settings will require a better cpu not just gpu for the best improvement.
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Depends on what you consider lagginess I guess. As an example I play Skyrim on ultra with several landscape and character texture mods and improved lods along with ENB and lite ssao @1680x1050 and maintain 32-34 fps. I consider that pretty playable I guess. Now when I receive my new monitor at 1080p I'm sure this will not be nearly as doable.

And the budget is more that I am married and to avoid wife rage I need to step up in increments until everything is complete. So to begin its either new monitor/video card or new monitor/cpu/mobo/ram and complete the build this summer.

@Scheibler1: I will look into that thanks
 
That's a nice combo Schiebler's got there. I just sold a machine today with that same exact GA-Z68AP-D3 rev2 motherboard accompanied by a i7 3770K so that's a testament to the board's versatility.
 
I would get a new monitor last as thats only going to reduce your performance. If you play ges like skyrim i'd definitely go 2500k/mobo/ram over video card.
 
Scheibler1 said:
I would get a new monitor last as thats only going to reduce your performance. If you play ges like skyrim i'd definitely go 2500k/mobo/ram over video card.
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I tend to agree with the monitor but my other half wants a bigger monitor now. Seems to be a consensus forming though that I'd be better served starting off my upgrade with a new cpu and all the fixings first.
 
I would definitely recommend upgrading the CPU, MB and RAM first. I noticed a huge difference going to Sandy Bridge from Core 2 in games...it actually allowed me to hang on to my 9800GTX+ for another year or so until I was able to upgrade my vid card.
 
Upgrade your CPU motherboard seem like the best option for you right now. However you could also try to list your current setup on Ebay or Craigslist to see how much you could get out of it and goes from there depend on your budget.
 
phnguyen90 said:
Upgrade your CPU motherboard seem like the best option for you right now. However you could also try to list your current setup on Ebay or Craigslist to see how much you could get out of it and goes from there depend on your budget.
Click to expand...

Indeed, gonna try to get $250-$300 out of it. We will see. Thanks for all the advice everyone.
 
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