What would offer me a bigger performance increase

J

jarlaxlecq

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
77
I have a Q8400 dual core clocked at 3.6GHz, i also have an ATI 4850.

which is more in need of upgrading? At certain points during more intensive games i'm getting slow downs but i'm not sure if its my video card now being able to handle it at 1900*1200 or if its my CPU being bogged down. I know this is kind of vague just looking for some general thoughts
 
Usually the higher the resolution, the less CPU bound a game becomes and usually the GPU is a bit more important in gaming performance and this is typically true of games at 1080P and above.
 
Wouldn't hurt to bump up to a 5770, or 5850. How much RAM do you have?
 
For gaming your best increase would be a faster GPU. A 5830 or 4890 would be the minimum at that resolution.
 
Videocard, at least 5850 if you can afford it. And try to sell the CPU+board+Ram in a few months while you still can get money off of it and upgrade to new tech.
 
I've been meaning to ask the same question.

I try to play at 1920 x 1200 resolution.

My rig is:
Q6600
4gbs DDR2
GTX 260

GPU or proc, mb, ram?

Price ballpark $300
 
I upgraded my Q6600 @ 3.2 with 8GB, 260's in SLI to a single 5870 and have been very happy with the choice. Running everything I have at 1920x1200 easily.
 
It all depends on the game you are playing. Some rely more on the CPU, others, the GPU. It all depends.
 
CPU would be the first thing I'd look at, in your case. That CPU has a good chance of bottlenecking your current GPU and any GPU you plan to upgrade in the future.
 
Q8400 @ 3.6 is a good speed. I'd look to video/ram MAYBE a SSD. Really, there is not much improvement to be gained in upgrading CPU (to what, 4.0 perhaps, 10%). That would only help if your cpu is bottlenecking, which is doubtful @ 1920 resolution.
 
GPU (5870 or 480) would be a huge upgrade from a 4850. Unless you play the benchmarking game from Futuremark, I wouldn't worry about your Q8400 bottlenecking.
 
More games these days are likely to be bottlenecked by the GPU rather than the sort of CPU you have. Get a faster video card if it is an either/or situation, that'll breathe new life into your machine.
 
Wait what... You have a Q8400 dual core? What happened to the other two cores? Or did you mean E8400?

Also, regardless of that, it's a decent overclock. A quad will help in certain games (like BFBC2 for instance) but at that res, you'd probably benefit more from a gpu upgrade.
 
GPU.

New: HD5830(~$200), HD5850(~300)

Used: HD4890(~$150), GTX275($?), GTX280(~$180?), GTX285(~$200?)
 
Last edited:
Bdonedge said:
CPU would be the first thing I'd look at, in your case. That CPU has a good chance of bottlenecking your current GPU and any GPU you plan to upgrade in the future.
Click to expand...
you actually think a Q8400 at 3.6 is bottlenecking even his current 4850? lol
 
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