how many fps am i looking at?

[newtekie1]

How often do you see someone upgrading their motherboard and not the processor?

Most of the time, the motherboard upgrade is to accomodate a better processor, so the two go together.

Doing a motherboard alone gives no performance increase, so it is rarely done. Most people want to upgrade their processor, and only upgrade their motherboard when needed. Upgrading to an AM2+ or AM3 setup now just so you can get an AM3+ motherboard later doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Upgrading to an AM2+ or AM3 setup so you can get an AM3+ processor later on down the road does make sense, but again I think the better option there would be to go with the cheaper upgrade solution now that would give you the same performance, then when you want an AM3+ processor, get an AM3+ motherboard.

And for the most part, you are going to see your graphics card holding you back long before your processor. Playing at Max settings is more dependent on your video card than your processor/motherboard. So go with the Q9550, and put the $100+ you save into a better graphics card.

 

[1Kurgan1]

How often do you see someone upgrading their motherboard and not the processor?

Most of the time, the motherboard upgrade is to accomodate a better processor, so the two go together.

Doing a motherboard alone gives no performance increase, so it is rarely done. Most people want to upgrade their processor, and only upgrade their motherboard when needed. Upgrading to an AM2+ or AM3 setup now just so you can get an AM3+ motherboard later doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Upgrading to an AM2+ or AM3 setup so you can get an AM3+ processor later on down the road does make sense, but again I think the better option there would be to go with the cheaper upgrade solution now that would give you the same performance, then when you want an AM3+ processor, get an AM3+ motherboard.

And for the most part, you are going to see your graphics card holding you back long before your processor. Playing at Max settings is more dependent on your video card than your processor/motherboard. So go with the Q9550, and put the $100+ you save into a better graphics card.

I'm not saying he has to go with any AMD processor, but I'm just saying that if he wants to upgrade, it's fine. Almost anyone here has done a more trivial upgrade than going from a dual core to a quad core. Theres a ton of people here who have gone from Q9550's to i7 920's or even Q9650's, very trivial. Myself soon will be going to a PII 965 when my PII 720 just mows down everything.

The Q9550 would be a good buy, but sounds like he is budgeting for around $700, and I don't think 5870x2's will be out right away, so that extra $100 won't do too much as a Q9550 + a 5870 are most likely going to run $550ish, leaving him with not enough for another 5870. But $100 is $100 and it's nice to save.

Also not sure who else upgrades 1 peice at a time, but if I can I do. It's hard to look at my bank account drop $200+ from a processor then $170 from a motherboard. Easier to look at that in 2 chunks.