What will be the best upgrade? (Processor vs. GFX)

[Shou Miko]

if i wanna upgrade my computer so it's gets better performance at games, what will be the best then, when i am playing at my 22inch TFT @ 1680x1050?

a Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 overclocked to 4ghz or a Nvidia GeForce 9800GT with 1024mb GDDR3 memory on it?

i got this at my system right now

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 overclocked to 3209mhz at 1.264 V (That's what CPU-Z 1.49 says)
Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4
Mushkin RedLine 2x2gb PC2-8000
Albatron GeForce 8800GT 512mb PCI-E 2.0

(i haved benched my E8200 at 3,9ghz but it's wasn't 24-7 stabil at my Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 motherboard)

 

[ex-dohctor]

I would say go with the G-card.

 

[inf3rno]

Upgrading your processor won't give you a performance boost and neither your next 9800 GT. If you want to make yourself future proof then go for Processor and wait for some new graphics card. Or equipped yourself with some decent Graphics Power.

BTW 9800GT is an overclocked version of 8800GT and won't make much difference you are expecting.

 

[Marineborn]

yeah your cpu is more then effecient i would go with the card...geta something like a 295 if you like nvidia Lol

 

[Jarman]

no performance gain from 8800gt to 9800gt, they are EXACTLY the same card. Need to go to a 4870/gts260 to see a decent difference from an 8800gt.

 

[Jarman]

wow, people reply to threads so fast xD

 

[HolyCow02]

wow, people reply to threads so fast xD

yes we do!

And yes... doing either of those won't get you really anything. If you want to see improvement your going to need a better video card. Your proc can handle just about everything these days as almost no games are 4-threaded

 

[Darren]

Neither!

Either make the jumps in performance big or don't bother at all.

For example going from an E8200 to an E8500 has no merit in terms of performance, it is a waste of money completely. Likewise going from a 8800 GT to an 9800 GT is a small performance increase, very small. Again there is little merit.

The only way to justify an upgrade is if you went from an E8200 to a quad core, perhaps Q9xxx or i7 and even then, the performance gain would be tiny.

The 9800 GT isn't that much powerful than the 8800 GT, a feasible upgrade would be to buy a 4870/GTX260 or better otherwise don't bother.





Edit:


Even going quad might decrease performance as there is currently little software support for those threads. Its not unusually for the E8xxx series Core 2 Duos to defeat a high end Q9xxx. Although you'll get longevity it defeats the purpose when you've got a suitable CPU at the moment.

Your CPU isn't bottlenecking you in any way, neither is your GPU to be frank. But if its an increase of gaming performance your best bet is to just upgrade the GPU, at minimum a 4870/GTX260, but ideally a 4870 X2/GTX 280 to feel a big performance boost (FPS)

 

[Silverel]

Also, with the neither sentiments. You're moving across the same architecture on all accounts, just different clock speeds.

 

[trickson]

if i wanna upgrade my computer so it's gets better performance at games, what will be the best then, when i am playing at my 22inch TFT @ 1680x1050?

a Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 overclocked to 4ghz or a Nvidia GeForce 9800GT with 1024mb GDDR3 memory on it?

i got this at my system right now

Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 overclocked to 3209mhz at 1.264 V (That's what CPU-Z 1.49 says)
Gigabyte GA-EX38-DS4
Mushkin RedLine 2x2gb PC2-8000
Albatron GeForce 8800GT 512mb PCI-E 2.0

(i haved benched my E8200 at 3,9ghz but it's wasn't 24-7 stabil at my Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3 motherboard)

With that 8800GT you have you will not see much increase in performance with the 9800GT
I would go for a quad core if I were you then you will see some increase in performance .

 

[DrPepper]

Go with a new gpu. My new gtx260 216 blew the socks off my old 8800GT 512

wow, people reply to threads so fast xD

might have something to do with the chick avatar

 

[Jarman]

they are the EXACT same card but rebranded, except the 9800 probably supports useless hybrid SLI. 4 cores gives u better performance in what games??? crysis in dx10??? anything else?

 

[trickson]

Even going quad might decrease performance as there is currently little software support for those threads. Its not unusually for the E8xxx series Core 2 Duos to defeat a high end Q9xxxx. Although you'll get logevitiy it defeats the purpose when you've got a suitable CPU at the moment.

Your CPU isn't bottlenecking you in any way, neither is your GPU to be frank. But if its an increase of gaming performance your best bet is to just upgrade the GPU, at minimum a 4870/GTX260, but ideally a 4870 X2/GTX 280 to feel a big performance boost (FPS)

I disagree with you there are many games and many more coming out that will support quad core CPU's I do however agree that the E8XXX are as fast in benchmarks when overclocked to the hilt , I think benchmarks are taking the back seat to quad cores not so much the games .
I would also be looking into the X2 4870 as a viable option you would see much more performance from that than any thing els you do .
To sim up if you want more CPU performance then you need a Quad core if it is games and only games yu want more performance in then go for the 4870 X2 card that will blow you away .

 

[Wingo101]

I'm sure you can push more from your E8200 than 3.2ghz? As for the gpu, go higher & get yourself a GTX 260 or HD4870.

 

[Darren]

I disagree with you there are many games and many more coming out that will support quad core CPU's I do however agree that the E8XXX are as fast in benchmarks when overclocked to the hilt , I think benchmarks are taking the back seat to quad cores not so much the games .
I would also be looking into the X2 4870 as a viable option you would see much more performance from that than any thing els you do .
To sim up if you want more CPU performance then you need a Quad core if it is games and only games yu want more performance in then go for the 4870 X2 card that will blow you away .

Actually you agree with me, because you just reiterated my exact recommendation despite saying that you disagree?

I said there "is currently little software support" which is true.

I didn't comment on whether there was support in the future in detail, so you can't debunk my statement as I never made a statement regarding the future, apart from there being "longevitiy" with quadcore which hence means support from game developers in the future.

As far as the GPU upgrade I do recommend a 4870/GTX260 or better, ideally a 4870 X2/GTX280

So I'm confused what you disagree with exactly?

 

[Jakl]

CPU - No need to upgrade...

GPU - Go for nVIDIA 2xx Series or ATI 48xx , either will have greater performance than your 8800gt

 

[1Kurgan1]

Go with a new gpu. My new gtx260 216 blew the socks off my old 8800GT 512

Problem is, the OP is looking to go from a 8800GT to a 9800GT, technically the same card. A jump from an 8800GT to a gtx260 is big, but it wouldn't apply to this situation.

 

[trickson]

Actually you agree with me, because you just reiterated my exact recommendation despite saying that you disagree?

I said there "is currently little software support" which is true.

I didn't comment on whether there was support in the future, so you can't debunk my statement as I never made a statement regarding the future.

As far as the GPU upgrade I do recommend a 4870/GTX260 or better, ideally a 4870 X2

Well what I am saying is performance is not just limited to ones GPU . and the fact that there are many games that are impacted by a quad core even if that game is not multi threaded .
I have see some really good performance increases in some of my older games like home world and home world cataclysm . Lost planet Quad core support , crysis and war head as well there is fear that gets a big boost and HL2 as well and there is doom 3 and prey that also receive a boost in performance due to the Quad core and many more as well . Of course this is just my opinion and my experience I am not a computer science major or lab tech , I would also like to point out what most people seem to forget about that windows XP and vista also benefit a great deal with a quad core . So to just dismiss a quad core CPU because you say that there is little support is really quite wrong . There are benefits you will see and feel from a quad core .

 

[DrPepper]

Problem is, the OP is looking to go from a 8800GT to a 9800GT, technically the same card. A jump from an 8800GT to a gtx260 is big, but it wouldn't apply to this situation.

Yes but I was assuming the op now knew they were the same card and decided to go with another card and then was saying that a gtx260 from a 8800GT was a good way to go.

 

[Darren]

many games that are impacted by a quad core even if that game is not multi threaded .

What are you talking about.

You do not need a quad core to play today's games. Heck even the thread starters E8200 is overkill for games. My 3800+ X2 @ 2.75 GHz has no issues with today's games.

Lost planet Quad core support , crysis and ware head as well the is fear that gets a big boost and HL2 as well and there is doom 3 and prey that also receive a boost in performance due to the Quad core.

Yeah those are the few games which support quad core out of the hundreds which don't.

Those few games which support quad core play well on a dual core system as well. It makes no sense going from a fantastic E8200 to a quad core for an extra few frames per second on just a few selected titles. Heck "Doom 3", "prey" and "HL2" are old ass games I think it can play on any CPU who is going to buy a quad to go from 100FPS to 120 FPS, for old games too?

I would also like to pont out what most people seem to forget about that windows XP and vista also benefit a great deal with a quad core . So to just dismiss a quad core CPU because you say that there is little support is really quite wrong . There are benefits you will see and feel from a quad core .

I'm not dismissing quad cores completely. I'm just saying in the thread starters situation going from a CPU which is overkill fast (E8200) and most probably defeats most quad cores today is a huge hole in the pocket. A GPU is a better investment.

Perhaps if this was a fresh build I would of advised him to go the quad route, but a E8xxx to an Qxxxx is hardly an upgrade, maybe for encoding, but for gaming :shadedshu

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

As far as the GPU upgrade I do recommend a 4870/GTX260 or better, ideally a 4870 X2/GTX280

+1 These are your only options.

You dont need a new CPU and the 9800GT 1Gb is useless against either of the cards Darren mentioned.

 

[1Kurgan1]

Yes but I was assuming the op now knew they were the same card and decided to go with another card and then was saying that a gtx260 from a 8800GT was a good way to go.

Problem is I think they are looking at those specific upgrades based on price. And a 260 would most likely end up costing more than the new proc and def more than a 9800gt If that isn't the case I do say 260 or 4870 is a great choice. But if that is the case I just say save money and pickup a better upgrade in a bit.

 

[KainXS]

new vid card all the way

 

[Shou Miko]

I'm sure you can push more from your E8200 than 3.2ghz? As for the gpu, go higher & get yourself a GTX 260 or HD4870.

i only have a Scythe Katana 2 and that one ain't the greatest cooler, if i remember correct.

 

[Darren]

i only have a Scythe Katana 2 and that one ain't the greatest cooler, if i remember correct.

No excuse, you should be able to attain around 3.6-3.8 GHz on stock cooling with the E8200.

I'm sure someone here will help you overclock that beast of a CPU if you want


Scythe Katana is plenty of a near 4 GHz OC