Optimum CPU - Graphics card?

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F1demon

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Hi, I have a pentium core 2 duo, e7400 2.8Ghz, 4 GB DDR2 RAM and a 500GB HDD on a Gigabyte G31 motherboard. I also have a GEForce 8400GS 1GB graphics card. Which graphics card can I upgrade to in order to improve my experience without over clocking my CPU?

I'm thinking of going in for an i5 3230(?) chipset with 8 GB DDR3 RAM. Which graphics engine would suit this CPU best?
 
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Nvidia works best with Intel(in my experience). How high-end do you need your graphics card to be? Definitely make sure your motherboard will be compatible with whichever one you choose.
 
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ikaz

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Well you should first tell us whats your price range or/and what resolution you want to play in with what setings (meduim/high/ etc).

Off the top of my head for your current system if you want a cheap card start with a AMD 7770 they run about $100 us (you could get 7750 but they only like $10 cheaper for the GDDR5 ) That card will blow the doors off your current card.

While that card is a good card I would personally recommend going with either a AMD 7850 or nvidia 650 ti boost making sure both come with 2 gigs of ram. That paired with i5 will probably get you 1080p with high setting on most game currently out and cost around $150ish us.
 
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F1demon

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Hi there! Sorry, excuse my ignorance but I'm not sure of the exact specs though.... I'm looking for approx 30-60fps (is that too wide a range?) and playing at High or Extreme/ultra settings. I'm looking for games like Total War Rome 2, CoH2...etc.
 
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Oh then definitely something like an Nvidia GTX 550 or an AMD 7750. It would be $100+ for sure. I'm still going with Nvidia if you're getting an Intel i5. Just make sure that your motherboard has a PCI-e x16 port.
 
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F1demon

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Not really. Some games are configured so that they run way better if you have a large amount of VRAM but 1Gb is definitely good enough for most games including Rome, COD, and a few others. The only game I know that really wants more RAM(and isn't just saying that for promotional purposes) is BF3.
 
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jakerocksit

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I just upgraded From Intel Celeron to Intel Core i5-3570K. Def the best. Strong, fast, I can't throw a game at it and make it stutter. Comes out of the box at 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo), by the movement of a slider it went up to 4.7GHz (I paid $20 for a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, fantastic. Look it up).

As for GPU's, I daintily stepped into the GPU realm with a HD Radeon 7770 Vapor-X OC. Cheap and strong as hell. Ignore all this "you need a HD 78xx/79xx to game" hype. I see my card running FC3 ultra. Crysis 3 Very-high. FC3 puts out 97FPS, Crysis 3 68FPS. Guildwars 2 at (get this) high settings 120FPS, 65FPS in world events (over 200 characters rendered at high including effects).

Now. The main reason to get higher than 77xx series AMD cards. The amount of bandwidth increase is INSANE. Including the texel/pixel rate, it might be worth the investment. Increased VRAM (the 1/2/3GB in the name of the card) will be needed in the near future.

I see you're a nvidia guy, but AMD is still viable. I hate to ruin your stability of choice, but take the extra hour to see AMD advantages.
 
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F1demon

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:) lol, tks guys for the info but I've been told to stick with Nvidia if it's an intel processor. I've almost certainly decided on the i5 3470 with a gigabyte B75 mobo. However, a retailer recently told me the i5 4430 is a better choice than the 3470.... Does it really make a diff? With every series being incremental, the damn budget just keeps creeping up!

I intend to pick a GTX 660 with 1 Gb DDR3 vs a GTX650 with 2Gb DDR3 RAM...will this mean better performance?
 
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The retailer recommended CPU IS slightly better and since its price is about $10 more it's worth it. The GTX 660 with 1Gb will perform a teensy-bit more quickly but the 2Gb GTX 650 will handle some games better and will be able to handle a load more effectively. If the price between the two is less than $30 I would probably bump up to the 2Gb GTX 650.
 
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F1demon

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Hi there, I finally went with an i5 4430 3.0 Ghz, B85 Gigabyte mono, 4 Gb DDR 3 Corsair Vengeance and replaced my ageing 450W SMPS with a brand new 500W one. On pay day next month I intend to get an 120Gb SSD and the month after a new GPU.

Only problem is when I got home tried to start the system Windows refused to load. I'm not sure if it's bec my BIOS (Award 4) is old or if there's something else the matter?? The retailer I got it from said the Windows XP 7 Premium on my existing SATA HDD will automatically pick up the new processor and once done, I should install all the drivers from the Gigabyte installation CD! Clearly, he was wrong!

Any suggestions would be welcome!!?
 
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