I'm gonna apologize in advance for the novel-length post.
I'm playing a lot of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 these days, and according to FRAPS, my framerate gets down to about 12 FPS at times when there's a lot of action on the screen - that's at 1920 x 1080, but with all graphics options set to minimum. I plan on playing a lot of Battlefield 3 when it comes out in a few months, and I figure it'll be much worse. I know someone with the same video card, but a AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz CPU and DDR3 memory, and he's getting about 35 FPS at worst. I'd like to upgrade my CPU now, and a few months down the line, upgrade the video card. I figure video cards are more likely to drop faster, so that's why I'm doing it in this order.
CURRENT SYSTEM:
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Low points - DDR2 memory, PCIE 1.0 slots.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-084-_-Product
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115031
KINGWIN ABT-450MM 450W ATX 12V Ver.2.2 SLI Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121024
nVidia Geforce GST 250 - XFX nVidia GeForce GTS 250 512 MB DDR3 Standard 2DVI PCI-Express
(this is not my exact card, but close enough)
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-GeForce-St.../dp/B001UHA0Y8
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134488
And two 2-gig sticks that were given to me, I don't know much about them except what's written on them (Hynix 2GB 2Rx8 PC2-6400u-666i2), and that they seem to work.
INTEL UPGRADE:
The Intel quad-core chip I was thinking of upgrading to, with no further changes for now:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz 1333 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...r-Q8400-2-66GHz-1333MHz-4MB-LGA775-CPU-Retail
My current system is old, and this is probably the last CPU upgrade I can do. It's kind of a pricy upgrade when for maybe $100 more, I could get this:
AMD UPGRADE:
ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo
Not too much room for expansion, but I have no cards but a graphics card currently. Over the years I've found that I just don't use too many slots. Has 4 RAM slots, and will handle my two old PATA drives as well as my SATA drive.
AMD CPU HDZ955FBGMBOX Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz AM3 125W
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-HDZ955FBGM.../dp/B002TQYUAE
RAM: I'm nut sure what I should get, gonna need some suggestions. I know I want two 2-gig DDR3 sticks - enough for now, and it leaves two slots for future expansion. Here's what I was thinking about, but again, I'm open to suggestions here, particularly if they're not expensive suggestions:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo
My questions:
Which do you think I should get, and why? The INTEL upgrade is cheaper now, but obviously it's nearing the limit of what I can do with this motherboard, and for only about $100 more, I can get the AMD system. I part with the extra money now, and there's room to upgrade in the future.
My current power supply is on the weak side. Someone I know is trying to get me to buy the power supply below, and he says I NEED IT. I'm thinking he's going overboard for a single video card system. I'm also thinking he doesn't know the meaning of a BUDGET GAMING SYSTEM.
CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010
Finally, the same guy tells me that motherboards with on-board graphics drain system resources even when they are disabled, and you use a video card. Admittedly, I've never used a motherboard with on-board graphics before, so he could be right. My Google-fu has failed me, and I need to check with you guys on this. Does on-board graphics drain system resources when they are disabled? If so, is it a trifling amount, or a lot? If they drain a lot, I'll entertain suggestions for other motherboards for my AMD upgrade, but please bear in mind the word BUDGET.
I'm unable to bounce ideas off my usual tech-heads, so I'm hoping you guys can help. I really appreciate it.
I'm playing a lot of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 these days, and according to FRAPS, my framerate gets down to about 12 FPS at times when there's a lot of action on the screen - that's at 1920 x 1080, but with all graphics options set to minimum. I plan on playing a lot of Battlefield 3 when it comes out in a few months, and I figure it'll be much worse. I know someone with the same video card, but a AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz CPU and DDR3 memory, and he's getting about 35 FPS at worst. I'd like to upgrade my CPU now, and a few months down the line, upgrade the video card. I figure video cards are more likely to drop faster, so that's why I'm doing it in this order.
CURRENT SYSTEM:
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
GIGABYTE GA-P35-S3G LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Low points - DDR2 memory, PCIE 1.0 slots.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-084-_-Product
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz 2M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115031
KINGWIN ABT-450MM 450W ATX 12V Ver.2.2 SLI Ready Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817121024
nVidia Geforce GST 250 - XFX nVidia GeForce GTS 250 512 MB DDR3 Standard 2DVI PCI-Express
(this is not my exact card, but close enough)
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-GeForce-St.../dp/B001UHA0Y8
Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820134488
And two 2-gig sticks that were given to me, I don't know much about them except what's written on them (Hynix 2GB 2Rx8 PC2-6400u-666i2), and that they seem to work.
INTEL UPGRADE:
The Intel quad-core chip I was thinking of upgrading to, with no further changes for now:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 2.66GHz 1333 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W
http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...r-Q8400-2-66GHz-1333MHz-4MB-LGA775-CPU-Retail
My current system is old, and this is probably the last CPU upgrade I can do. It's kind of a pricy upgrade when for maybe $100 more, I could get this:
AMD UPGRADE:
ASUS M4A78LT-M AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo
Not too much room for expansion, but I have no cards but a graphics card currently. Over the years I've found that I just don't use too many slots. Has 4 RAM slots, and will handle my two old PATA drives as well as my SATA drive.
AMD CPU HDZ955FBGMBOX Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2GHz AM3 125W
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-HDZ955FBGM.../dp/B002TQYUAE
RAM: I'm nut sure what I should get, gonna need some suggestions. I know I want two 2-gig DDR3 sticks - enough for now, and it leaves two slots for future expansion. Here's what I was thinking about, but again, I'm open to suggestions here, particularly if they're not expensive suggestions:
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...scrollFullInfo
My questions:
Which do you think I should get, and why? The INTEL upgrade is cheaper now, but obviously it's nearing the limit of what I can do with this motherboard, and for only about $100 more, I can get the AMD system. I part with the extra money now, and there's room to upgrade in the future.
My current power supply is on the weak side. Someone I know is trying to get me to buy the power supply below, and he says I NEED IT. I'm thinking he's going overboard for a single video card system. I'm also thinking he doesn't know the meaning of a BUDGET GAMING SYSTEM.
CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139010
Finally, the same guy tells me that motherboards with on-board graphics drain system resources even when they are disabled, and you use a video card. Admittedly, I've never used a motherboard with on-board graphics before, so he could be right. My Google-fu has failed me, and I need to check with you guys on this. Does on-board graphics drain system resources when they are disabled? If so, is it a trifling amount, or a lot? If they drain a lot, I'll entertain suggestions for other motherboards for my AMD upgrade, but please bear in mind the word BUDGET.
I'm unable to bounce ideas off my usual tech-heads, so I'm hoping you guys can help. I really appreciate it.