HD4850 Question

[theraptor13]

Hey guys,

I'm wondering what I should upgrade on my system. I would really like to get higher fps in some games and be able to play COD4 with 4xAA, but cannot at the moment. I built this computer with help from my cousin early this year, but dont have that much money for a major upgrade. Here is what I am running at the moment.

Case - Cooler Master Centurion 5
PSU - Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus 460W -http://www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?act=detail&id=3724
GPU - Ati 2600xt 256mb DDR3 (Powered by Sapphire)
CPU - Intel E2160 1.8ghz 1MB Cache - http://processorfinder.intel.com/detail ... spec=sla3h
RAM - Kingston 2GB DDR800 Kit
Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-P31-S3L

I'm thinking I need to upgrade my GPU at this point. If I upgrade to say a 4850, I'm not sure if it will be bottlenecked by the CPU or if the PSU will even have enough power for it. I dont even know if my motherboard supports it. If I upgrade the CPU, I'm not sure if I'll see a noticeable performance difference.

If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Raptor.

 

[br3nd064]

Your power supply is enough, but you'd need to overclock the cpu pretty good to get the most performance.

 

[theraptor13]

Your power supply is enough, but you'd need to overclock the cpu pretty good to get the most performance.

So no point in upgrading the graphics card without a new cpu first?

 

[macer1]

yes and no, your motherboard and CPU are nice overclockers.

you should be fine with a 4850, just get that CPU up to 2.4 ghz.

 

[accu]

i think he meant your psu can handles hd4850. but your cpu @stock will bottleneck the hd4850. in other word, upgrade to 4850 and overclock your current cpu to get the most out of 4850.

 

[SpinachEater]

You can run a 4850. 450W is the min requirement for that card. You don't have PCIe 2.0 slots but again, it will work in your system since it works just like USB 2.0 in a sense of backwards compatibility.

You would see some gains with the 4850. It is a beast in comparison to the 2600XT so no doubt you would see a difference. Your CPU as is though would hold back your performance.

Not sure if you are $$ limited but for a cheap way out, you could easily swap that CPU out for something like a E7200 (~$120) and then OC it to 3.0GHz. You can go much better than that too if you have the money. You can pop in any 775 socket CPU...which includes some good dual and quad core CPUs.

If you wanted to jump into a quad core, the Q6600 @ $180 is a great deal. A lot of people around here are rocking them out still.

Just some ideas for ya if you were planning on doing some upgrades.

 

[ahslan]

You definitely need to OC that processor before you get that 4850...the 4850 will definitely improve ur gaming experience, but the card will truly shine when you OC ur processor...

 

[theraptor13]

You definitely need to OC that processor before you get that 4850...the 4850 will definitely improve ur gaming experience, but the card will truly shine when you OC ur processor...

I've got it running fine at 2.4ghz at the moment, how will that do?

 

[spathotan]

2.4ghz is a helluva lot better than 1.8ghz. That alone will net you a good chunk of performance.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

At 2.4, the 4850 will smoke any game but Crysis

 

[cjl]

You'll get a huge boost in games with the 4850 - it might not always hit its full potential with that CPU, but it will ALWAYS outperform the 2600xt, whether or not it is CPU limited. I'd go for it.

 

[theraptor13]

You'll get a huge boost in games with the 4850 - it might not always hit its full potential with that CPU, but it will ALWAYS outperform the 2600xt, whether or not it is CPU limited. I'd go for it.

Ok then

Now just gotta make sure my PSU and motherboard are compatible.

My motherboard doesnt have pci-e 2.0, is that a problem?

Also, the 4850 is gona be better then 9800gtx and uses less power, right?

 

[accu]

i m using pci-e1.0 mb w/4850 and everything is fine. you'll want the 4850 over 9800gtx, they're both about the same in terms of watts usage.

 

[br3nd064]

No, not having pci-e 2.0 isn't a problem. The 4850 and 9800gtx use about the same amount of power.