- Apr 5, 2014
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- 4,510
I'm thinking about upgrading my GPU and CPU and would like some opinions...
Currently, I'm running a PC I built back in 2007 that has a 1.8Ghz Core2Duo E4300 running at 3.0Ghz on an EVGA nForce 650i Ultra board, 3GB of DDR2-667 memory, and a Nvidia 8800GTX graphics card... This system has lasted me a long time and has served me very well up until the last year or two.
I'm working on a VERY tight budget of about $250 to $300 here. SO my options are pretty limited.
For the CPU, I'm gonna go with a Q6600 G0 stepping and overclock it as high as possible while stable (probably around 3.2 to 3.5Ghz). The reason for this CPU choice is because its about the highest I can go on an nForce 650i Ultra board since this board doesn't support 45nm chips, and because I can get this CPU for around $45 on Ebay.
For the GPU, I'm PROBABLY going to go with a GTX 760... Now, one problem with this is that my board only supports PCIE x16 1.0, so I already know I will not be able to fully utilize the 760 due to bandwidth limitations of the PCIE 1.0... After doing a ton of research, it would appear that the highest GPU I could fully utilize (in terms of PCIE bandwidth) would be in the GTX 650Ti Boost or GTX 660 range. However, those two cards run about the same price or higher than a GTX 760. So my theory is to just go ahead and get the 760 so that when I can afford to upgrade my CPU/Mobo/Ram in the future I'll also get a slight GPU boost at that time as well.
So my real question here is, will I see some noticeable gaming improvements with this $250 - $300 upgrade over what I'm using now? And even thought I won't be able to fully utilize the GTX 760, is it the right choice for me, or should I just get a 650Ti Boost or 660 even though they cost the same?
Currently, I'm running a PC I built back in 2007 that has a 1.8Ghz Core2Duo E4300 running at 3.0Ghz on an EVGA nForce 650i Ultra board, 3GB of DDR2-667 memory, and a Nvidia 8800GTX graphics card... This system has lasted me a long time and has served me very well up until the last year or two.
I'm working on a VERY tight budget of about $250 to $300 here. SO my options are pretty limited.
For the CPU, I'm gonna go with a Q6600 G0 stepping and overclock it as high as possible while stable (probably around 3.2 to 3.5Ghz). The reason for this CPU choice is because its about the highest I can go on an nForce 650i Ultra board since this board doesn't support 45nm chips, and because I can get this CPU for around $45 on Ebay.
For the GPU, I'm PROBABLY going to go with a GTX 760... Now, one problem with this is that my board only supports PCIE x16 1.0, so I already know I will not be able to fully utilize the 760 due to bandwidth limitations of the PCIE 1.0... After doing a ton of research, it would appear that the highest GPU I could fully utilize (in terms of PCIE bandwidth) would be in the GTX 650Ti Boost or GTX 660 range. However, those two cards run about the same price or higher than a GTX 760. So my theory is to just go ahead and get the 760 so that when I can afford to upgrade my CPU/Mobo/Ram in the future I'll also get a slight GPU boost at that time as well.
So my real question here is, will I see some noticeable gaming improvements with this $250 - $300 upgrade over what I'm using now? And even thought I won't be able to fully utilize the GTX 760, is it the right choice for me, or should I just get a 650Ti Boost or 660 even though they cost the same?
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