Cpu or gpu upgrade first

NecroNecro <insert non-birthday-related title here> Join Date: 2002-08-09 Member: 1118Members
in Off-Topic
first a few notes:

by cpu first i mean cpu/ram/mobo as my current computer is a few years old
second, whichever one i end up getting know that the other one i won't be able to get for half a year at the earliest.

my specs:

core 2 duo E6600 (oc'd to 2.7ghz)
nvidia 8800gtx
4gb corsair ram

the upgrades im looking at:

Intel Core i7-860 2.80GHz (LGA1156)
Asus P7P55 LX Intel P55
Corsair 4GB (2X2GB) DDR3 1333MHz

or

Nvidia GTX 470 (or 480?)

what i' wondering what would benefit me more (probably cpu?) gamewise i don't really seem to have game problems even with my specs on most games except for l4d2 which for some really odd reason drops to 15 fps (o.O)
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Comments

  • ZaggyZaggy NullPointerException The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-12-10 Member: 24214Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Onos, Subnautica Playtester
    What about a ATI HD5850 + i5?
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  • pSyk0mAnpSyk0mAn Nerdish by Nature Germany Join Date: 2003-08-07 Member: 19166Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Community Developer
    If you still play ns1, ati is going to be a ###### ( I have a HD5750 + i5 + win7).
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  • spellman23spellman23 NS1 Theorycraft Expert Join Date: 2007-05-17 Member: 60920Members
    From the looks of it, your current build is pretty solid overall and nicely balanced. So, in my opinion, I don't see a huge easy win of maximizing your upgrade on either path.

    Rather, it'd be better to get marginal upgrades on both. However, if you're slowly building into a godly machine, I'm going to guess the CPU path is better. More CPU power and RAM speed is awesome for everything, not just games.
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  • DiscoZombieDiscoZombie Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
    edited May 2010
    Since your current setup is already pretty decent, I might say go with option C: SSD. I don't have one myself, but everyone I talk to says it's the single biggest leap in performance they've ever gotten out of a piece of hardware. Of course then you'd have to reinstall your OS and all your programs, so it's a pain, but...

    that said, I just got a new PC, with an i5 and a gpu I went all out on - the 5870. It is nice being able to play Bad Company 2 at 1900x1000 res with max settings and get 60fps.
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  • spellman23spellman23 NS1 Theorycraft Expert Join Date: 2007-05-17 Member: 60920Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1771235:date=May 14 2010, 03:09 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DiscoZombie @ May 14 2010, 03:09 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1771235"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Since your current setup is already pretty decent, I might say go with option C: SSD. I don't have one myself, but everyone I talk to says it's the single biggest leap in performance they've ever gotten out of a piece of hardware. Of course then you'd have to reinstall your OS and all your programs, so it's a pain, but...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Depends on the SSD. Personally I got a 40GB suckers just to put my OS on, and ZOMG reboot speeds! But really, the rest ain't that grand. And write speeds are comparable to a regular Hard Drive. Still, ZOMG READ SPEEDS.
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  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1771235:date=May 15 2010, 12:09 AM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DiscoZombie @ May 15 2010, 12:09 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1771235"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Of course then you'd have to reinstall your OS and all your programs, so it's a pain, but..<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    If he's swapping out his graphics card he can PROBABLY avoid that, but if he's replacing everything else it'd probably be a good idea to do that anyway. It's not like that SHOULD be a huge hassle anyway.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    Just save your money and upgrade later when it's worth it.
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  • Konohas Perverted HermitKonohas Perverted Hermit Join Date: 2008-09-26 Member: 65075Members
    Your CPU isn't bad. However there are far better Graphics Cards out there now. I'm still using my 8800 Ultra, and have thought about getting a new Graphics Card and maybe a Gigabyte of Ram but that's it.
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  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    I'll side with Tycho here: Save up, upgrade everything at once later on (when you'll either get more for the same or the same for less, to boot). The 8800GTX is still a pretty solid graphics card. No DX11 support, but when are you going to need that? Not for another year I bet.
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  • monopolowamonopolowa Join Date: 2004-05-23 Member: 28839Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1771389:date=May 16 2010, 08:30 AM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (lolfighter @ May 16 2010, 08:30 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1771389"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'll side with Tycho here: Save up, upgrade everything at once later on (when you'll either get more for the same or the same for less, to boot). The 8800GTX is still a pretty solid graphics card. No DX11 support, but when are you going to need that? Not for another year I bet.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    +1
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited May 2010
    Alright... Here goes... Do these problems right at the start of playing Source games or does it happen a few minutes into the game, if it is number two (yeh I said number two...) then check the following...


    Do you have an overheating problem, for example dust problems in your GPU heatsinks or perhaps a bad airflow in your case. With cables all over the place disrupting the ariflow... Or perhaps dust in your air intakes...


    People underestimate the power of dust!
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  • NecroNecro &lt;insert non-birthday-related title here&gt; Join Date: 2002-08-09 Member: 1118Members
    if it was a overheating problem or the the like it'd probably translate over to all games, but this seems to be pretty much only with l4d2, and conviction (which is known for its bad optimization)
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  • Red_SquirrelRed_Squirrel Join Date: 2003-12-15 Member: 24414Members
    I'll add my vote for a SSD. I've got an Intel 160GB one for my OS and my most played games. and it powers along ! It's the single biggest improvement to responsiveness you'll see made to your system, everything is much quicker to load and react.

    In theory you should be able to carry it over to new builds as well, like you probably do with your current HDD's at the moment anyway.

    Also, the "save and buy better later" you could say that ad infinitum. Technology is always moving on, at some point you'll just have to bite the bullet and buy a system.
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  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    But later on he'll get more for less as well as having more. There's no point in doing half-assed computer upgrades. It's not a question of biting the bullet and buying a system now, it's a question of buying half a system now or two halves of a system later.
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  • CrispyCrispy Jaded GD Join Date: 2004-08-22 Member: 30793Members, Constellation
    edited May 2010
    If you have XP or Vista, upgrade to Win7 before you go down the hardware route. ;)
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  • TemphageTemphage Join Date: 2009-10-28 Member: 69158Members
    Keep in mind that you can get away with an old CPU a hell of a lot longer than you can with an old GPU.

    The difference between graphics cards now and when I bought an 8800 GTX is a hell of a lot larger than the difference between CPUs from that same timeframe.
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  • NecroNecro &lt;insert non-birthday-related title here&gt; Join Date: 2002-08-09 Member: 1118Members
    well, i now have the money for the first half, im kind of leaning towards the gpu mainly because i'd have more of an immediate effect as compared to the cpu which i might see an improvement in only a few games that truely support quad core (like bc2).

    the problem with this is i'm 90% certain the cpu i have currently will bottleneck my to-be gpu.
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  • ThaldarinThaldarin Alonzi&#33; Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
    It'll help improve Necro.

    Now we're getting your hardware upgraded, we need to upgrade you to a second class citizen and get you a job too :D
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  • ComproxComprox *chortle* Canada Join Date: 2002-01-23 Member: 7Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer, Subnautica Playtester, Pistachionauts
    Sadly I can't find it anymore, but I read an article today where it compared 1-5 cores on the same nvidia and ATI cards. They found that, past 2 cores, there really was not much difference of note. As others have stated, if you are going to upgrade anything, I would say the GPU.
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  • NecroNecro &lt;insert non-birthday-related title here&gt; Join Date: 2002-08-09 Member: 1118Members
    well, tbh the big difference imho is that aside from the cores the i7 is smaller, more efficient and higher clock (afaik the one i was looking at was around 2.8 or 2.9).

    and from what i've read to fully benefit from the upper class cards you need atleast 3.2ish, which should be possibly with my current c2d. now i just need to get the guts to overclock it so much ;p

    even at 2.7 (base is 2.4) i run idle around 60c idle even with a non-stock cooler :(
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  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    OC with air has it's limitations :P
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  • puzlpuzl The Old Firm Join Date: 2003-02-26 Member: 14029Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    <a href="http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/07/05/how-many-cpu-cores-do-games-need/" target="_blank">http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010...-do-games-need/</a>


    Having said that, my new system will be quad core ( i7 840M ) because I need ( read: want ) to be able to do stuff in the background while playing games.

    Anyway, your E6600 is a pretty decent cpu... but look at the cost of getting a core i5 dual core with a decent graphics card.. you might be able to fit both into your budget easily.
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  • NecroNecro &lt;insert non-birthday-related title here&gt; Join Date: 2002-08-09 Member: 1118Members
    normally i would if i wouldnt have to upgrade everything else

    but the problem is the i7 is new enough and my current stuff old enough, that as part of my cpu upgrade i need new ram, ,mobo and cpu!

    which is all calculated into the same cost at around 500-600e roughly the same price as a 3d card upgrade which is why i can only get one now ;p
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  • TalesinTalesin Our own little well of hate Join Date: 2002-11-08 Member: 7710NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators
    I'd go for the CPU/mobo first, then grab a video card down the road. Video cards tend to price-crater much faster, and have a quicker release cycle... I'm running a core i7 that I purchased at the same time as my GTX260, and I'm already two major releases on the video card behind the curve, while my CPU is still top of the range. Well, mostly... got it before they moved to the new, smaller socket.
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