• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Cpu or gpu upgrade

Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
3,628 (0.63/day)
System Name Ultra 64
Processor NEC VR4300 (MIPS R4300i)
Motherboard proprietary design
Cooling Fanless aircooled
Memory 4.5MB 250 MHz RDRAM
Video Card(s) 62.5 MHz Reality Coprocessor
Storage 32 - 512 Mbit ROM Cartridge
Display(s) 720x576
Case Clear Blue Funtastic
Audio Device(s) 16-bit CD quality
Power Supply proprietary design
Mouse N64 mouse for use with N64DD
Keyboard N64 keyboard for use with N64DD
ive just got my self a new job so when a few debts are paid of ill be able to save for new bits n bobs so what would you recomend i upgrade? my cpu or my gpu?. First ill be getting a new psu so dont worry about that. Im think of the 5850 if i do get a new gpu but i dont want to bother if my cpu is gonna hold it back so much that i wont notice any performance increase. Id like to be able to have some form of eyefinity setup but doubt itl ever happen so ill probably be gaming at the same res i am now, any ideas? cheers
stephen
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
With your CPU at 3ghz, get the 5850 for sure.
 
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
9,019 (1.47/day)
System Name Black Panther
Processor i9 9900k
Motherboard Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO Wifi 1.0
Cooling NZXT Kraken X72 360mm
Memory 2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 3600Mhz
Video Card(s) Palit RTX2080 Ti Dual 11GB DDR6
Storage Samsung EVO 970 500GB SSD M.2 & 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm
Display(s) 32'' Gigabyte G32QC 2560x1440 165Hz
Case NZXT H710i Black
Audio Device(s) Razer Electra V2 & Z5500 Speakers
Power Supply Seasonic Focus GX-850 Gold 80+
Mouse Some Corsair lost the box forgot the model
Keyboard Motospeed
Software Windows 10
I agree with erocker. The 5850 would be a good improvement over the 4850 and it won't be bottlenecked by a core 2 processor at 3Ghz.
 
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
3,628 (0.63/day)
System Name Ultra 64
Processor NEC VR4300 (MIPS R4300i)
Motherboard proprietary design
Cooling Fanless aircooled
Memory 4.5MB 250 MHz RDRAM
Video Card(s) 62.5 MHz Reality Coprocessor
Storage 32 - 512 Mbit ROM Cartridge
Display(s) 720x576
Case Clear Blue Funtastic
Audio Device(s) 16-bit CD quality
Power Supply proprietary design
Mouse N64 mouse for use with N64DD
Keyboard N64 keyboard for use with N64DD
With your CPU at 3ghz, get the 5850 for sure.

ok thanks im on average getting 30 fps in metro 2033 maxed out, no aa on dx10 settings. I didnt no if it was my cpu or gpu hindering me. cheers. One question tho i get a hd5x card and run in dx11 mode maxed would i have similar fps then? would the extra load then be too much for my cpu?

edit: i have two other quick questions, dont want to start a new thread and take up space, what size psu would you recomend for my rig with a 5850?
and the other question wat would be a decent but still resonable price i could get for my 4850, never oc still with full packaging
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
ok thanks im on average getting 30 fps in metro 2033 maxed out, no aa on dx10 settings. I didnt no if it was my cpu or gpu hindering me. cheers. One question tho i get a hd5x card and run in dx11 mode maxed would i have similar fps then? would the extra load then be too much for my cpu?

edit: i have two other quick questions, dont want to start a new thread and take up space, what size psu would you recomend for my rig with a 5850?
and the other question wat would be a decent but still resonable price i could get for my 4850, never oc still with full packaging

Metro 2033 hinders everything. If this is just to play Metro 2033, stick with what you have.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2007
Messages
10,209 (1.71/day)
Location
Austin Texas
Processor 13700KF Undervolted @ 5.6/ 5.5, 4.8Ghz Ring 200W PL1
Motherboard MSI 690-I PRO
Cooling Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 w/ Arctic P12 Fans
Memory 48 GB DDR5 7600 MHZ CL36
Video Card(s) RTX 4090 FE
Storage 2x 2TB WDC SN850, 1TB Samsung 960 prr
Display(s) Alienware 32" 4k 240hz OLED
Case SLIGER S620
Audio Device(s) Yes
Power Supply Corsair SF750
Mouse Xlite V2
Keyboard RoyalAxe
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores They're pretty good, nothing crazy.
Gpu Gpu Gpu
 
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
3,628 (0.63/day)
System Name Ultra 64
Processor NEC VR4300 (MIPS R4300i)
Motherboard proprietary design
Cooling Fanless aircooled
Memory 4.5MB 250 MHz RDRAM
Video Card(s) 62.5 MHz Reality Coprocessor
Storage 32 - 512 Mbit ROM Cartridge
Display(s) 720x576
Case Clear Blue Funtastic
Audio Device(s) 16-bit CD quality
Power Supply proprietary design
Mouse N64 mouse for use with N64DD
Keyboard N64 keyboard for use with N64DD
Metro 2033 hinders everything. If this is just to play Metro 2033, stick with what you have.

nooo its not, its just that metro is the most recent game i have on my rig so i thought it would be a good base to set my performance on to help you work out which upgrade would be best :)
 
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
9,231 (1.66/day)
Location
Montreal, Canada
System Name Homelabs
Processor Ryzen 5900x | Ryzen 1920X
Motherboard Asus ProArt x570 Creator | AsRock X399 fatal1ty gaming
Cooling Silent Loop 2 280mm | Dark Rock Pro TR4
Memory 128GB (4x32gb) DDR4 3600Mhz | 128GB (8x16GB) DDR4 2933Mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA RTX 3080 | ASUS Strix GTX 970
Storage Optane 900p + NVMe | Optane 900p + 8TB SATA SSDs + 48TB HDDs
Display(s) Alienware AW3423dw QD-OLED | HP Omen 32 1440p
Case be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 rev 2 | be quiet! Silent Base 800
Power Supply Corsair RM750x + sleeved cables| EVGA P2 750W
Mouse Razer Viper Ultimate (still has buttons on the right side, crucial as I'm a southpaw)
Keyboard Razer Huntsman Elite, Pro Type | Logitech G915 TKL
If you are happy with your performance atm, I would save up if I were you
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
nooo its not, its just that metro is the most recent game i have on my rig so i thought it would be a good base to set my performance on to help you work out which upgrade would be best :)

5850 would be best and you'll definitely get better FPS at your current settings with the game. If you want to use the DX11 features of tesselation and DOF you will need two 5850's at a minimum! It's sad, but it's the way it's meant to be played. :ohwell:

Metro 2033 aside, no better upgrade than the 5850. :toast:
 
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
3,628 (0.63/day)
System Name Ultra 64
Processor NEC VR4300 (MIPS R4300i)
Motherboard proprietary design
Cooling Fanless aircooled
Memory 4.5MB 250 MHz RDRAM
Video Card(s) 62.5 MHz Reality Coprocessor
Storage 32 - 512 Mbit ROM Cartridge
Display(s) 720x576
Case Clear Blue Funtastic
Audio Device(s) 16-bit CD quality
Power Supply proprietary design
Mouse N64 mouse for use with N64DD
Keyboard N64 keyboard for use with N64DD
If you are happy with your performance atm, I would save up if I were you

i was happy untill i played more recent game, metro, bad company2, bioshock 2 and whilst it is good and didnt run bad it still get rather noticable lag in some parts.

5850 would be best and you'll definitely get better FPS at your current settings with the game. If you want to use the DX11 features of tesselation and DOF you will need two 5850's at a minimum! It's sad, but it's the way it's meant to be played. :ohwell:

Metro 2033 aside, no better upgrade than the 5850. :toast:

so if i want the full extra benifits of dx11 i would need a more powerful gpu? is that just for metro or any dx11 title in general? if so thats put me right off
 

imperialreign

New Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
Messages
7,043 (1.15/day)
Location
Sector ZZ₉ Plural Z Alpha
System Name УльтраФиолет
Processor Intel Kentsfield Q9650 @ 3.8GHz (4.2GHz highest achieved)
Motherboard ASUS P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi; X38 NSB, ICH9R SSB
Cooling Delta V3 block, XPSC res, 120x3 rad, ST 1/2" pump - 10 fans, SYSTRIN HDD cooler, Antec HDD cooler
Memory Dual channel 8GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 @ 1800MHz @ 7-7-7-20 1T
Video Card(s) Quadfire: (2) Sapphire HD5970
Storage (2) WD VelociRaptor 300GB SATA-300; WD 320GB SATA-300; WD 200GB UATA + WD 160GB UATA
Display(s) Samsung Syncmaster T240 24" (16:10)
Case Cooler Master Stacker 830
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCI-E x1
Power Supply Kingwin Mach1 1200W modular
Software Windows XP Home SP3; Vista Ultimate x64 SP2
Benchmark Scores 3m06: 20270 here: http://hwbot.org/user.do?userId=12313
so if i want the full extra benifits of dx11 i would need a more powerful gpu? is that just for metro or any dx11 title in general? if so thats put me right off

Not for every DX11 title - supposedly, CoP runs fairly on-par with DX10(.1).

Haven't tried any myself, though, and am not aware of how well other DX11 titles perform.

Metro is pretty rough on the hardware, though.
 
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.74/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
i was happy untill i played more recent game, metro, bad company2, bioshock 2 and whilst it is good and didnt run bad it still get rather noticable lag in some parts.



so if i want the full extra benifits of dx11 i would need a more powerful gpu? is that just for metro or any dx11 title in general? if so thats put me right off

Just Metro. The game was (kinda) made by Nvidia. There is nothing to be put off by upgrading from a 4850 to a 5850, you won't be disappointed.
 
D

Deleted member 67555

Guest
I dunno
My CPU is pretty much on par with yours and it is The bottleneck in my system with a 5750..
I'll do some benchies and post what I mean

EDIT:
NEVER MIND during my Benchies I determined I was hitting the Limit of the 5750 and NOT the cpu
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top