"world travelling budget gamer returns to the cyberworld to catch up on lost games"

[sunchas3r]

Hi fellow gamers,

After travelling around the world for 2 years, i´m nearing my return date and am anxious to make up for lost time by upgrading my pc when i get home and play all the games i´ve missed while on the road..

My current specs are :

Nvidia Geforce GTX-260 768 Mb
AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition (2,7 oc´ed to 3,0 Ghz)
4 GB DDR2-800 (will be upgraded to 8 GB DDR2-800)
Asus M2A-VM HDMI Mainboard
Antec 500 Watt PSU
Samsung Syncmaster T-220 22" 60Hz LCD (max rez 1680x1050)
Windows XP x86 (will be upgraded to Windows Vista Ultimate x64)

The max cpu´s that will fit in this mainboard are :

Athlon II X3 445 (3x3.1 GHZ)
Athlon II X4 640 (4x3.0 GHz)
Phenom II X3 740 Black Edition (3x3.0 GHz)
Phenom II X4 945 (4x3.0 GHz).

Righty, so my questions are :

(A) What is the fastest graphics card / cpu upgrade combo i can make, keeping in mind i don´t want a GFX-card that my CPU can´t power? (budget is no question)

(B) Is >60 FPS noticeable in current FPS games on a 60 Hz monitor like mine?

I´m basing this question on Tom´s article :
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,2619-2.html
I realize it´s an old article but is this information still accurate?
I will mostly play FPS games in 1680x1050.

Thanks a million, any info/recomendations welcome..

Greetings from Colombia,
Joseph

 

[T_Yamamoto]

start off fresh, sell your build and make a new comp

the current trend is
i5 2500K
Z68 Mobo
1 TB HDD
GTX 560 TI or 6950 1GB or 2GB
500~600 watt psu
case

 

[we1shcake]

^^^^^^^^^^^^ agreed this is much better than shoehorning parts into a old computer, if budget is no object this is a much better choice

 

[smakme7757]

Yes build new and don't get Windows Vista. Windows 7 is much cleaner and more refined than Vista is.

 

[bryanW1995]

+1 for new build. Vista is fine with enough memory, though if you have to upgrade it's not that expensive. Heck, I just saw a newegg special for win 7 PRO for $125.

 

[jacktesterson]

That x4 965 plus a 6950 will give jus as good of a gaming experience.

Save your money. Ddr2 to ddr3 is not a big performance boost.

We dont always need to say build new.

 

[MangoX]

Since you are from Colombia the prices will surely be different and a new build may cost more than necessary. If I were you I would just do the following:

- Upgrade to the Phenom II X4 945 (should be very cheap)
- Leave memory as is
- Upgrade to Win7
- Upgrade to a GTX460 / HD6850 / HD6870

 

[Lasthitlarry]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2200363

My opinion is pretty much the same from above thread in Video Cards, X4/X6 and possibly a 6750/6850/6950

 

[bononos]

I second the recommendation to upgrade to win7 instead of Vista if you feel the need to upgrade your OS.

 

[TheAdvocate]

I'll echo:

Phenom II X4 945 (should be very cheap, quad core will help you in games like BF3)
Radeon 6870 or GTX 560Ti
Win7 x64

Done. Wont be screaming fast, but will perform solidly @ 1680x1050.

(Dont even think about Vista - it's crap. Win7 is what Vista should have been)

 

[T_Yamamoto]

IF you had the money, i would might as well get a new build

but thats just me

 

[Arkadrel]

The max cpu´s that will fit in this mainboard are :

Athlon II X3 445 (3x3.1 GHZ)
Athlon II X4 640 (4x3.0 GHz)
Phenom II X3 740 Black Edition (3x3.0 GHz)
Phenom II X4 945 (4x3.0 GHz).

Get the Phenom II x4 945, ~100-110$.
Get a Amd 6850 card ~135$.

IF you had the money, i would might as well get a new build
but thats just me

thing is though:

new ram, new motherboard, new (more expensive cpu), and then higher end gpu to fit.
220$ for i5-2500k, ~80$ new motherboard, ~60$ (8gb DDR3 1866), AMD 6970 ~300$.




If he can get ~70% of that performance, for 240$ vs spending ~660$ or so, that might not be so bad for a guy asking about budget setups.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Input devices compliment expensive hardware in FPS games.

120Hz PC monitor
Mechanical Keyboard (Black Cherry MX switches)
1000Hz polling rated mouse

a few examples of these are in rig2 spec in sig

 

[T_Yamamoto]

He hasnt told us his budget.

IF he can do a new build, he should
IF he can do an upgrade, he should

 

[aigomorla]

if his budget is large he should do a complete rebuild.

if his budget is limited, he would see the most benifit from upgrading.


That being said.. unless u want to spend 5x the upgrade price for almost no noticeable speed difference in gaming... the AMD upgrade is solid.

 

[alyarb]

Yes, as far as high-res games go a $900 rebuild will be less than 10% faster than a $500 upgrade.

Get an unlocked Phenom II X4, take it to 4 GHz and get yourself a 6950.

 

[Davegod]

(Dont even think about Vista - it's crap. Win7 is what Vista should have been)

Vista 64 running fine here. Installed shortly after SP1 was released. No problems at all, completely unrecognisable compared to what everyone was saying pre-SP1/drivers which has turned into a meme. I've even had W7 sitting on the shelf since that pre-order discount programme, waiting for the first sign of an excuse to reformat.

And yeah, I had the pre-release W7 on the second PC here and also at work so I know what I'm missing. Which isn't a lot.

OK so I'll be installing that W7 on my new build, why not, but OP evidently already has Vista and doesn't already have W7. I wouldn't categorically state he should take some money out of his hardware budget for W7. Especially when he hasn't stated a budget but instead asks about an upgrade which to me suggests only has budget for an upgrade.

(B) Is >60 FPS noticeable in current FPS games on a 60 Hz monitor like mine?

First thing is FPS scores on benchmarks are benchmark scores, it doesn't necessarily mean that's what you get in game.

Secondly the scores are usually averages, because they're for the purpose of benchmarking i.e. comparing the cards. What's going to bother you in games is the minimum FPS hit. The point of getting the fastest card your money can buy is to either raise that minimum FPS or have better quality graphics for a minimum FPS you are willing to accept.

Thirdly, more FPS than you need in current games usually means more FPS that you probably do need in future games. So always go for the fastest card you can.

Fourth, yes. I always find games have a much better feel, more responsive and more accurate, the higher the FPS is. Best analogy I can think of is 40 fps and below is like swimming against the current, about 60 in still water and 90+ is with a little current behind you (but difference between 40-60 is much more than 70-90). Worst of all though is when it's erratic, because even a constant 40 you can adapt to - again the faster the card, the higher the minimum FPS and the smoother it feels.

 

[TheAdvocate]

My wife runs Vista on her laptop. I despise it. It's buggy, bloated... Cant stand it.