Looking to do partial upgrade, where to start?

T

TwistedJester

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
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I'm not very happy with my performance in my most played games at the moment (TF2 and the BF2 mod Forgotten Hope 2), and I'd like to beef up my system a bit without going all out and building a completely new one. My current setup is:

E4500 OC'd to 2.8Ghz
4870 512MB
Gigabyte P35 DS3-L rev 2.0
4 x 1 GB sticks of G.Skill DDR2 8000
Windows 7 x64 RC

I run my games at 1680 x 1050 with no AA or V-Sync, and the frame rate still drops now and then. So first of all, what is holding me back the most, my CPU or my GPU? My friend told me he thinks it's my GPU but he's not completely sure. Second, what do I spring for in either upgrade path?
 
I believe its Cpu at that resolution

crank up the overclock to see if that is the cause-
 
I would but unfortunately it's hard to push it much more without some tweaking I'm not terribly comfortable with. When I had 2 x 2 gig sticks I had it running around 3 or 3.2 gigs, but with 4 sticks the most I can do is 2.8.
 
Pull out two sticks of RAM and raise your OC back to 3.2Ghz. If performance levels are satisfactory, sell your RAM and buy some used 2x2GB sticks instead.

Normally, I'd agree with hossdaddy, just upgrade the CPU and RAM (switch from 4x1GB to 2x2GB), then sell your old CPU and RAM to help offset the cost of the new parts. However, 4GB of DDR2-800 2x2GB is a whopping $75. WTF!?! Just last month I bought the same kit for $45!!! a;lksdjf;laksdjf .....

If you can find some 2GB DDR2-800 sticks on the FS/T forum for $20 each, go for them and the Q8400 if you're unhappy with your CPU. OC the chip to 3.2Ghz at least and you should be fine.

Otherwise, the Core i5 g listed would be a good choice.
 
enginurd said:
Pull out two sticks of RAM and raise your OC back to 3.2Ghz. If performance levels are satisfactory, sell your RAM and buy some used 2x2GB sticks instead.

Normally, I'd agree with hossdaddy, just upgrade the CPU and RAM (switch from 4x1GB to 2x2GB), then sell your old CPU and RAM to help offset the cost of the new parts. However, 4GB of DDR2-800 2x2GB is a whopping $75. WTF!?! Just last month I bought the same kit for $45!!! a;lksdjf;laksdjf .....

If you can find some 2GB DDR2-800 sticks on the FS/T forum for $20 each, go for them and the Q8400 if you're unhappy with your CPU. OC the chip to 3.2Ghz at least and you should be fine.

Otherwise, the Core i5 g listed would be a good choice.
Click to expand...

Normally? :p good call on the ram suggestion engi!
 
I was considering just grabbing a new processor, but then I'd have to go through the hassle of unmounting my current CPU and heatsink, cleaning off both with cleaning solution, and buying new RAM anyway as I doubt I'll be able to get much higher with 4 sticks of RAM. And if I'm going to be spending $200+, might as well go the whole way and just use my current mobo/cpu/RAM in a build for a family PC. So I'm pretty much set on just getting a new mobo/cpu/ram.

Considering what gwarren suggested, is the $60 difference between the two really going to show?
 
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