UPGRADE: CPU first? Or Graphics Card?

C

creepindeth04

Moderator
I think I'm going to treat myself for Christmas this year with some more PC components. This Steam sale has really gotten me more excited to play.

My processor is currently an AMD 6000+ dual core that is clocked at 3.1 GHz.

My GPU is an nVidia Quadro FX 580. This graphic card has held up pretty well and is no slouch. I can run L4D 1&2 at 1920x1080. The only thing I don't with this card is set any Anti-Aliasing.

I recently bought RE5 and although it runs, I'm only getting about 15 FPS. So my question is, do I upgrade my CPU first? Or grab a new card? I'm leaning towards the nVidia TX 460 but I wouldn't mind a new mobo and CPU.
 
Yea I'd go GPU first, but you should upgrade that CPU soon after...I'm also looking at some new parts. I'm really eying this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103846&cm_re=callisto-_-19-103-846-_-Product Good luck with the card and get some pic's of that sucker before you throw it in :D
 
sk3tch said:
I've read that the 6850 is a pretty bad butt card. A Good choice. I'd have gone the GPU route as well.
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That's good to know! I feel more secure with my purchase now. I just picked it up and should be installing it tonight. :woot
 
agpickle said:
Where did you hear the 460's had power problems? I never had a issue with mine.
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Mostly from customer reviews on Newegg and such. There's a bit that have their card crash their systems. They will work for either a week or a month and eventually it will die. Good to hear you aren't having problems though.
 
Check systemrequirements lab to see how short each component falls from recommended specs.

However, as a first response, I say the graphics card will make a bigger impact on games. As long as your processor is in the mid range of what is minimum to recommended for the game, the graphics card will make a bigger difference in graphic and framerate performance.
 
So after3 days of having this card installed most of my games have no problem running. RE5 and Red Faction Guerrilla still don't run at that silky smooth 60FPS but they do hover above 45. Which makes them completely playable.

Ran Batman Arkham Asylum at full settings with 2xMSAA and it runs beautifully. So glad I upgraded because now I can take advantage of these Steam deals. :)

@X2: Sorry I didn't catch your post last time so no pics. But it was a pain to put in because my SATA ports are directly under it. Such a big card. I had to flip my SATA cables so that they laid down flat in order to install this beast. Easily half the length of my Antec 900 case.
 
That's good news about the card. The 6850 should do you well for some time yet.

The PC version of Arkham Asylum, when maxed out, really does look pretty compared to its console iterations, doesn't it? It's rare to see such attention to detail in a PC versions these days :-)

Red Faction Guerilla is terribly optimized for the PC. I ended up up buying it on the PS3 it was so bad on mine. I'd put that down to lazy programming more than anything, because its not the most visually striknig game out there.
 
You're right about Batman. I seriously wish more developers took that much care into the PC games. I might become a full PC gamer if it wasn't for some of the horrible ports and/or DRM.

I think you're right about RF:G. I might have to bump up my CPU for that game as I believe there's just so much going on under the game. Since everything is destructible, I'm sure my CPU is being taxed with all those calculations. Probably around summer I'll upgrade.
 
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