For gaming, upgrade GPU or CPU?

[GakAttack]

Hey guys, just wanted to hear your opinions...

So i just graduated from uni, and got a full time job, and wanted to celebrate by treating myself to a decent computer upgrade with my first paycheck. (spoken like a true nerd!)

My sig has my current PC specs, i was wondering if I should either upgrade my CPU or GPU?

So for CPU, i was thinking of upgrading from e2160 @ 3.2 to an e8400/8600 and clocking the sh*t out of that....

or just upgrade gpu from 4850 to 4890....

I know cpu's don't make THAT much of a difference in gaming... but to me it seems the GPU upgrade doesn't seem as big as the cpu upgrade since the 4850 is still pretty close to the 4890 in performance whereas the e2160 gets blown out of the water by the e8600/8400...
Don't ask me to convert to a Quad user!!! I have no use for it since i only use my PC for gaming, and i rarely run multiple apps.

Games i will be playing are:
- Aion
- Champions Online
- and whatever new games are coming out cause i am an avid gamer i think... (don't play often but i like to play!)

 

[PieIsAwesome]

CPU, get a new videocard later if you want. 4850 is fine if you play at 1680x1050 though.

 

[Arglebargle]

If you are heavilly playing MMOs, you might be the exception that could use a CPU upgrade first. Despite your denials, moving up to a nice quadcore might actually help if those are real multi-threaded games. And MMOs tend to be the more cpu intensive types. I'd check the specs on Aion and Champions to see if they'll use the cores. Going to be trying on Campions Online myself. I noticed a real boost on City of Heroes, after upgrading from a e2160 to a Q6600 on that exact board. And CoH really only uses two cores efficiently. Perhaps it was the cache...

Lots of folks are advising to not upgrade video til the new generation of cards come out, Real Soon Now....

My vote would go with the CPU upgrade to celebrate that paycheck!

 

[Udgnim]

CPU is a much bigger upgrade for you and buy a quad core

 

[GakAttack]

thanks for the quick replies guys!!
I guess i'll get the e8400 since it's on sale for $190 canadian.... whereas the 8600 is still $350 lol... plus i can just clock the 8400 anyway....

I played CoH a lot too... Argle, just curious.. with the change from dual to quad, the FPS increase wasn't all that big i imagine.... BUT, did the model/texture loading times become much faster? I also think that the FPS would bemore stable as well with a quad, esp in crowded zones?

Cuz earlier i was contemplating of getting a Q8400... which I can get for $220....

*EDIT: poo just checked, and neither games are multi-threaded since they both run on old engines =(...

i might just get Q9550... it's only $260 right now... and much better than q8400... plus 12 mb L2 cache oO

 

[lxskllr]

I wouldn't upgrade anything tbh. Your system looks pretty good as is. I'd put the money aside for a complete rebuild, or perhaps a nice mouse/keyboard if you really want to spend some money.

 

[Red Irish]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I wouldn't upgrade anything tbh. Your system looks pretty good as is. I'd put the money aside for a complete rebuild, or perhaps a nice mouse/keyboard if you really want to spend some money.

:thumbsup:

 

[exar333]

If you have a moderate or better CPU, the GPU will generally help you the most. Your e2160 is a little weak in the cache department (I know, I had one before) and going to 8xxx dualie or 8/9xxx quad will be a huge improvement.

That said, your GPU is still pretty good, I would spend ~$100 on a new CPU, sell your old one, and enjoy the speed bump.

 

[Arglebargle]

Gak, that's about right for the response on CoH. Both CPUs were clocked about the same speed (3.2). I am generally first through the door now. I did upgrade to a 4870 with weeks of the CPU upgrade, so window of time to test was short there. My present combo puts me at 60fps real steady, with most of the eye candy turned on (excepting the stuff that won't work with ATI cards)

Those games being non-multi-threaded gives you more leeway on dual or quad core choices. I like the guad cores, but I have a good use for them when my main rig moves into the secondary slot. Should be big fun whichever way you go.

 

[BFG10K]

Providing you have a half-decent CPU, a GPU upgrade will by far give you the biggest performance gain. I?m on a stock E6850 and I got a 30% performance gain by going from a GTX260+ to a GTX285, while the GTX285 was twice as fast as my 4850 in many situations.

 

[spittledip]

Get the q9550. It will make your platform last much longer and you will get significant performance increase in certain games.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Providing you have a half-decent CPU, a GPU upgrade will by far give you the biggest performance gain. I?m on a stock E6850 and I got a 30% performance gain by going from a GTX260+ to a GTX285, while the GTX285 was twice as fast as my 4850 in many situations.

totally agreed - depending on what resolution you play at - upgrading your videocard will give the biggest performance gain

i'd upgrade both
- to e8600 or q9550 and 4890

 

[narreth]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I wouldn't upgrade anything tbh. Your system looks pretty good as is. I'd put the money aside for a complete rebuild, or perhaps a nice mouse/keyboard if you really want to spend some money.

or a console...

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i would upgrade to the least expensive 4-core chip and 4 GB of RAM. i think the video card still has some life left in it.

 

[tigersty1e]

Your board won't be able to get a quad high enough. 3.3 maybe...

But a nice E8400 would get to 4.0 or above depending on the chip.

I would just sit tight though. If you can't play a game at manageable frame rates, an E8400 at 4.0 won't be much help...

 

[Cheesetogo]

If you're going to upgrade the CPU, get a quad core. I doubt you'll notice much of a real difference if you get an E8400.

 

[BFG10K]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

If you're going to upgrade the CPU, get a quad core. I doubt you'll notice much of a real difference if you get an E8400.

In general he?s not going to notice a difference with quad-core either, unless maybe he games at low resolutions like 1680x1050 without AA. The amount of games that actually benefit from four cores is positively tiny, and even then it?s at reduced detail levels.

I ran some more tests at 2560x1600 on my ?slow? E6850 and again I saw around a 30% performance gain from my GTX285 over my GTX260+, even when just using 2xAA.

So with the same CPU I?ve now gone from a 8800 GTS (640 MB) to a 8800 Ultra to a GTX260+, and now to a GTX285, and each time I?ve seen massive performance gains from the upgrade.

CPU requirements are vastly overblown in forum discussions.

 

[BenSkywalker]

CPU requirements are vastly overblown in forum discussions.

In the general sense I agree with this, for the OP however his top listed game is a MMO which may change the importance scale quite a bit. I haven't checked out Aion myself yet but I think a couple of my friends are in on the beta so maybe I can try and get some feedback from them.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

CPU requirements are vastly overblown in forum discussions.

In the general sense I agree with this, for the OP however his top listed game is a MMO which may change the importance scale quite a bit. I haven't checked out Aion myself yet but I think a couple of my friends are in on the beta so maybe I can try and get some feedback from them.

Speaking from experience you can never have enough CPU for WoW - and WoW is perhaps the least system-intensive MMORPG out there. I would dip to 12-15 fps in raids (20 average) a year ago with an overclocked x2 4800+ and a 4850. Dropping in an x2 6000+ was a bigger upgrade for me.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo

If you're going to upgrade the CPU, get a quad core. I doubt you'll notice much of a real difference if you get an E8400.

In general he?s not going to notice a difference with quad-core either, unless maybe he games at low resolutions like 1680x1050 without AA. The amount of games that actually benefit from four cores is positively tiny, and even then it?s at reduced detail levels.

I ran some more tests at 2560x1600 on my ?slow? E6850 and again I saw around a 30% performance gain from my GTX285 over my GTX260+, even when just using 2xAA.

So with the same CPU I?ve now gone from a 8800 GTS (640 MB) to a 8800 Ultra to a GTX260+, and now to a GTX285, and each time I?ve seen massive performance gains from the upgrade.

CPU requirements are vastly overblown in forum discussions.

What? 1680x1050 is now considered a low resolution? Guess I'm behind the times.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: CKent

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

CPU requirements are vastly overblown in forum discussions.

In the general sense I agree with this, for the OP however his top listed game is a MMO which may change the importance scale quite a bit. I haven't checked out Aion myself yet but I think a couple of my friends are in on the beta so maybe I can try and get some feedback from them.

Speaking from experience you can never have enough CPU for WoW - and WoW is perhaps the least system-intensive MMORPG out there. I would dip to 12-15 fps in raids (20 average) a year ago with an overclocked x2 4800+ and a 4850. Dropping in an x2 6000+ was a bigger upgrade for me.

WoW is played *online* and there are a LOT of other factors besides CPU/GPU
- also it has been BUGGY as hell for ATi owners and CrossFire was a disaster with it for months
- don;t use it as any example

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Red Irish

Originally posted by: lxskllr
I wouldn't upgrade anything tbh. Your system looks pretty good as is. I'd put the money aside for a complete rebuild, or perhaps a nice mouse/keyboard if you really want to spend some money.

:thumbsup:

Same from me. Any of those upgrades seem to be hundreds of dollars for a ~20% increase in performance. At the very least stick some money aside until early next year and drop $300 in one of the new video cards that come out. That's what I'm doing (trying to save about $200).

 

[mwmorph]

Your system looks fine, I would personally if anything, wait for the next gen video cards or go quad core. Really, dual core at 3.2ghz is fine for now, even if you upgrade, you'd hit what? 3.75 air cooled stable for a permanant oc? What's the point?

 

[TridenT]

I would not upgrade the CPU unless you are going Core i7.

Upgrade GPU only if you are going 4870x2 or GTX 285/295.

Not worth the money otherwise.

 

[flexy]

>>
Don't ask me to convert to a Quad user!!! I have no use for it since i only use my PC for gaming, and i rarely run multiple apps
>>

People complain how shitty GTA4 is supposed to run on PCs...but i can tell you it runs beautifully on my Q6600@3.6Ghz and GTX275
This is one of the games which needs a Quad, for sure.

As for WoW...there is way too much lag and latency issues to use WoW as a benchmark....with my sys it still CAN get down to <50 FPS occasionally....but then the 275 enabled me to activate supersampling transparency aliasing...making all that foliage etc. look WAY better. Eg. in places where there are a lot of trees.

As a rule....for upgrading i always feel that "single" upgrades *usually* dont make a lot of sense...there is actually something like "the right" card for every CPU/system..and the system as a whole should be in a good balance. It doesn't make sense to put a GTX275 in a single-core AMD system from 5 years ago...and it doesnt make sense to get the latest i7 with an old Radeon 850XT.

That being said, in most cases GPU upgrades make most sense..but i have problems believing a 30% (!) performance increase from a 260 to 285