CPU or GPU upgrade?

[rno]

I was wondering which upgrade one will give me better results, mostly in gaming.


CURRENT SPECIFICATIONS:

ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 R2.0 mobo
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 CPU @ 2,4
2 x 2 GB DDR2 Kingston @ 667
ATI Radeon HD 3850 AGP

My current motherboard allows both AGP and PCI-E (however, capped with x4 mode) cards, but it should still be slightly better than AGP.
I was aiming for Q6600 CPU upgrade vs nVidia 8800GTS GPU upgrade. Motherboard upgrade is currently NOT an option so I have to choose between those two.

So I'm looking for your opinions and recommendations

thanks,

rno

 

[OCGuy]

Do a free overclock of your CPU and dump the $$$ into the GPU.

 

[mancunian]

GPU is almost always the best upgrade for a gamer, but I'd get a new board too as soon as you can afford it.

4x PCI-E is a limiting factor.

But if you could overclock that CPU to about 3Ghz, that would also help.


If it ws me, I'd be getting a cheap P35 board first and overclocking that CPU. But that's me.

 

[happy medium]

The 4x pci-e slot will start to bottleneck at 6800ultra (5%), 7900gt/1950pro speeds ( 15%). I would not try anything faster then a 3850 agp with your pci-e x4 slot. It will be slower. I think I read this at Tomshardware.com a while back.

Your 3850 is now your bottleneck with your current cpu.
In my opinion you system is maxed out.

 

[rno]

Thanks for all your replies so far.
So Q6600 would be better option? I thought myself that I won't benefit so much from GPU upgrade.
I guess going to quad will be more "future proof" because for example there's lot of UE3 games out there today that can utilize four cores.

 

[mancunian]

No, GPU upgrade would appear to be the better option. Bottom line (and I say this yet again), is that gamers *almost always* benefit most from upgrading GPU.

Googling around the net, it seems PCI-E x4 suffers an average performance loss of 15% compared to PCI-E 16x, which isnt as bad as I thought.

But even still, I myself would not be overly happy about sticking a 16x card into a 4x slot, unless I knew I was getting another board soon.


Do you not have a friend who has a modern card that you could borrow? At least then you'd have an idea about whether it's worth chucking a new card in there.

 

[mancunian]

This might help you decide.

 

[Machine350]

Your cpu is perfectly fine for now, especially if you overclock it a little. For gaming purposes, it would cheaper and more effective for you to change your motherboard to one that supports pci-e x16 and upgrade your video card.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
Do a free overclock of your CPU and dump the $$$ into the GPU.

Do what OC guys says, and buy my 8800 gtx for $125.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: mancunian
This might help you decide.

Thats testing pci-e 2.0 x4 not pci-e 1.0 x4 like his motherboard has.
pci-e 2.0 has twice the bandwidth. He has pci-e 1.0
x4.

I found the article with pci-e 1.0 x4 on Toms site.

They test Call of duty 2 and Quake 4 with a 8800gts (g80) and a 1900xtx.

Call of duty 2 loses about 40% with a 8800gts 640mb.
Imagine the loss you would get with a 4850 and Call of Duty 4!!!!!
I'd say at least 50/60%.

Like I said DO NOT put a card faster then a 3850 in a pci-e 1.0 x4 slot.
It's a waste of money.


http://www.tomshardware.com/re...g-analysis,1572-8.html

 

[Tempered81]

you need a 16xPci-e or your new gfx card is a waste

 

[happy medium]

I know you said it's NOT an option but ,you really should sell your motherboard and 3850 agp (about 120.00$) and buy a pci-e x16 board. Then go and get yourself a 8800gts and you'll see a 30% increase easy.
Keep the same cpu and overclock it for even more fps.

 

[mancunian]

Originally posted by: happy medium
I know you said it's NOT an option but ,you really should sell your motherboard and 3850 agp (about 120.00$) and buy a pci-e x16 board. Then go and get yourself a 8800gts and you'll see a 30% increase easy.
Keep the same cpu and overclock it for even more fps.

Your opinion was my first one:

Originally posted by: mancunian
If it ws me, I'd be getting a cheap P35 board first and overclocking that CPU. But that's me.

And I still think it was the best.

 

[SolMiester]

What does a cheap P35 mobo cost? That and a 88GT FTW

 

[Denithor]

Asus P5Q Pro for $100AR + coupon code
Asus 4850 for $150AR

...and you're good for most games to 1920x1200 with mild AA.