Upgrade path?

[tbosscher]

Hello, I am debating an upgrade path for my current setup which is as follows:

Asus M2Ne
AMD 5200X2
2 1GB Sticks of GSkill ddr2 800
500watt PS
Sapphire X1950XT
Lots of HDD's

My question is as follows: If I upgrade to a Radeon 4850 will my Cpu become a bottleneck? I would like to add that I mostly game, some video encoding, but mostly music and gaming. My current Video Card handles my game (COD4) pretty well at 1650X1080 with max settings but I am starting to get some artifacts after playing for a while, the card runs fairly hot (80-90C at load). Soooo, should I splurge on a Quad core 6600/ E8400 and a whole new motherboard (and OC), or just start out with a radeon 4850 and see where I stand. Thanks for any replies-

 

[B-Unit]

Short answer: Kinda

Long answer: If your willing to OC your AMD chip, and can get up into the 2.9-3.2 Ghz range, you will be fine with what you have. At stock speeds you will probably have a small bottleneck but I would think not enough to justify a full upgrade.

 

[aeiouandxyz]

Short answer: Kinda

Long answer: If your willing to OC your AMD chip, and can get up into the 2.9-3.2 Ghz range, you will be fine with what you have. At stock speeds you will probably have a small bottleneck but I would think not enough to justify a full upgrade.

B-Unit has a good point. At 3.0 ghz and beyond, your current CPU shouldn't be bottlenecking the video card. If you have the cash and want some newer tech, go for the upgrade. A Q6600 and Asus P5Q Pro will only set you back around $350 and the Q6600 overclocks like a beast.

 

[Just_An_Engineer]

I wouldn't go out and buy a new motherboard just yet. If you were going to buy a 4870X2 then it might be warranted, but shouldn't be necessary with a single 4850 or even a single 4870. I'd either overclock your current processor and overclock it like B-Unit suggested or buy one of the 65nm 6000X2's for $80 which wouldn't need to be overclocked at all.