GPU upgrade question

[galotsa]

So i have this old rig

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
4gb ddr2 ram
ati 4870hd
Im looking into upgrading to something like a 260x/265 is it worth? should i even bother upgrading?If i upgrade will my system bottlenecked to hell?

 

[Tuna Yücer]

R7 260 (non-X) shouldn't bottelneck much.

 

[claylomax]

That was exactly my first rig back in 2008!
I still have the parts.

 

[Dent1]

So i have this old rig

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
4gb ddr2 ram
ati 4870hd
Im looking into upgrading to something like a 260x/265 is it worth? should i even bother upgrading?If i upgrade will my system bottlenecked to hell?

CPU is too old. Not worth any GPU upgrade IMO

Maybe a CPU upgrade to a Q9xxx and GPU upgrade together, but even then it'll be more cost effective to change platforms entirely.

Edit: You have a RAM deficiency too.

 

[eidairaman1]

A 260 will be fine.

 

[GreiverBlade]

CPU is too old. Not worth any GPU upgrade IMO

Maybe a CPU upgrade to a Q9xxx and GPU upgrade together, but even then it'll be more cost effective to change platforms entirely.

Edit: You have a RAM deficiency too.

and yet a E8400 still run butter smooth (clocked stable till 3.8, 4.0 pass but with a Vendetta 2 as HSF not stable.) ... (i still have mine but with a 8800 ultra 768 and 4gb XMS2 cf: syspecs) i can run nearly all the games i run on my main rig (with details lowering ofc.) and i even ran it with a R7 240 for the joke, ofc for cpu heavy games (STR/MMO) the CPU is the limiting factor.

4gb is still fine (tho 8gb is still better ) it's situation dependent.

i should still have some pics of benchmark i did for the TPU nostalgic hardware club


but indeed a Q9xxx could be a good upgrade if the mobo handle it (and if the seller doesn't go ballistic on the price ... )

 

[eidairaman1]

We are talkin about a R7 260. Not that dinosaur

 

[GhostRyder]

So i have this old rig

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
4gb ddr2 ram
ati 4870hd
Im looking into upgrading to something like a 260x/265 is it worth? should i even bother upgrading?If i upgrade will my system bottlenecked to hell?

I would say do not exceed an R7 265 or a GTX 750ti at most because otherwise it would probably just be held back. However that CPU should work well enough with a card in that range and provide a good gaming experience.

 

[64K]

We are talkin about a R7 260. Not that dinosaur

My bad. I deleted the post when I saw my mistake.

 

[Dent1]

and yet a E8400 still run butter smooth (clocked stable till 3.8, 4.0 pass but with a Vendetta 2 as HSF not stable.) ... (i still have mine but with a 8800 ultra 768 and 4gb XMS2 cf: syspecs) i can run nearly all the games i run on my main rig (with details lowering ofc.) and i even ran it with a R7 240 for the joke, ofc for cpu heavy games (STR/MMO) the CPU is the limiting factor.

4gb is still fine (tho 8gb is still better ) it's situation dependent.

i should still have some pics of benchmark i did for the TPU nostalgic hardware club
View attachment 60880 View attachment 60879 View attachment 60878 View attachment 60881

but indeed a Q9xxx could be a good upgrade if the mobo handle it (and if the seller doesn't go ballistic on the price ... )

Are you going to fly to the OPs house and overclock his system to 3.8 - 4.0? He doesn't sound like the most competent person. It's more pragmatic for him to upgrade his CPU or change sockets completely. Otherwise the next question in a few months will be "I bought 265x but frame rate is still low".

 

[GreiverBlade]

Are you going to fly to the OPs house and overclock his system to 3.8 - 4.0? He doesn't sound like the most competent person. It's more pragmatic for him to upgrade his CPU or change sockets completely. Otherwise the next question in a few months will be "I bought 265x but frame rate is still low".

and you don't sound quite comprehensive, (or polite i even find that sentence above, insulting... for the OP but that's just me)

oh and by the way all the benchs i did where mildly OC'ed and with a R7 240 on pcieX X8 1.1, (not a 265) so even without OC a 8400 could still holds fine, i run it without OC with a 8800 with a R7 265 he will still see framerate improvement... he doesn't sound like a kiddo who is "all about framerate" (more if he has a 2008 machine ... ) also most of the "normal" human don't notice above 30 so as long as it reach 30fps : you're fine (i put " on normal because nobody is normal )

so you evade the question and anticipate a next problem who might not be in the end? then maybe the OP is budget bound and a 260 is the only upgrade possible, also the one who would give him a good boost since, maybe he doesn't play CPU heavy games (and even tho at 3.0 a 8400 still run strong)

btw a Q9XXX where i am cost the price of 1 260 and a half ... (and i am talking about the cheapest) with a bit of luck the lowest quad Q9 will cost a bit less than 150$ where he is, and we still don't know if a Q9 will be compatible if he can only a Q6 then indeed socket change is mandatory buuuttt might also be over budget

so to answer op's question, it's doubtful that a E8400 will bottleneck a 260 on a PCIeX X16 1.1 link (we still don't know what mobo you have so it might also be a 2.0 link)

I would say do not exceed an R7 265 or a GTX 750ti at most because otherwise it would probably just be held back. However that CPU should work well enough with a card in that range and provide a good gaming experience.

and @GhostRyder is right

dah i wish i still had my 270 to run more test ... too bad my 290 is on WC loop atm


oh well in a dual 940 opteron 248 with 4gb DDR ECC 266 (yep ultimate settings shows a bottleneck but it's 2 singlecore 2.2ghz cpu)

 

[lukart]

Usualy the games are not much CPU limited these days, only if you run at 800x600

 

[TRWOV]

If your board supports it I would get an used Core 2 Quad Q9xxx + 6870 or something like that.

If you can wait and save $200 or so you could get a Pentium G3258 + motherboard and memory (your DDR2 RAM won't work on socket 1150 motherboards). You could sell your current parts and offset the cost a little.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117374
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157528
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313342

EDIT: I forgot the new GPU. Disregard.

 

[Dent1]

The OP hasn't replied since his first message a week ago. I don't think he is coming back.

 

[XSI]

@Dent1 I know many of you have or could have best systems, often upgrades etc. not ever1 can do it as often.
just in case OP comes back. I would not mind to put r270 or even gtx760 in my system (e8400+8800GT) and of course it would bottleneck somewhere. But I think @GhostRyder puts 750ti as a limit and I think its about right for that cpu overclocked or not.

don't go for quad core socket 775. not worth it anymore.

Pentium anniversary edition + MB + Ram, one of the cheapest, new and good cost/performance build. gets my vote

 

[GreiverBlade]

@Dent1 I know many of you have or could have best systems, often upgrades etc.

not him surely ... (yet it's still enough for him and on par with a C2D

don't go for quad core socket 775. not worth it anymore

yep ... specially when seller tend to be idiotic and greedy and ask for the price of a i5 4670/4690K, for the lowest Q9XXX/QX6XXX
¨

Pentium anniversary edition + MB + Ram, one of the cheapest, new and good cost/performance build. gets my vote

indeed but i still wouldn't go for a cheap board with a 3258, it's a little OC beast rather a good H/Z97 ... but as the OP seems to be "not the most competent" let say a non OC Pentium + cheap mobo (B85)+ cheap ram would do the trick ...

or i would just do as i did ... wait... wait... wait... wait .... go for a 4690K+Z97 funny the Maximus VII Ranger as gone from 139chf to 179chf ??? what make a board go 40chf higher in price in less than a month? intel is a jerk as usual or is it only from the retailers ??? glad i bought it when it was cheap, normally price go down with time ... not up (unless bitcoin madness but it doesn't concern the mobo afaik )

the bottom line is still : he can keep his 8400, even non Oc, and add up to a 750Ti/265 and still see improvement and no real bottleneck.

but Dent1 is right on one thing at last: the OP will not come back

The OP hasn't replied since his first message a week ago. I don't think he is coming back.

indeed so then ... good bye thread

 

[Dent1]

@Dent1 I know many of you have or could have best systems, often upgrades etc. not ever1 can do it as often.
just in case OP comes back. I would not mind to put r270 or even gtx760 in my system (e8400+8800GT) and of course it would bottleneck somewhere. But I think @GhostRyder puts 750ti as a limit and I think its about right for that cpu overclocked or not.

don't go for quad core socket 775. not worth it anymore.

Pentium anniversary edition + MB + Ram, one of the cheapest, new and good cost/performance build. gets my vote

The message I was trying to hammer home is the 260x might be wasted on an E8400. Getting Pentium G3258 also sends that message too.

 

[GreiverBlade]

The message I was trying to hammer home is the 260x might be wasted on an E8400. Getting Pentium G3258 also sends that message too.

nah since a 260/260X/265 (or a 750Ti) would be fine with a E8400 ... and cost less than a Z97+G3258+RAM+GPU and is recyclable later when OP would be able to upgrade mobo+ram+cpu, logic choice is logic?

plus there is no way a 260X on a PCIeX 1.1 X16 would be bottlenecked by a E8400, for example look at my 290 + 2xOpteron 248 + 4gb DDR ECC: here you have a bottleneck but ... it's a 290 and that server setup is not a E8400 build ... ahah a 270/270X/760 yes ... just as XSI said, but you are right: "might be wasted" (if adding "" it's alright) but no

but as you said also a bit previously : OP is not coming back so it's kinda pointless in the end