Do I need a CPU upgrade for a while

[salty85]

Hello, I am looking to upgrade my Video Card and Monitor for gaming at some point, and am wondering if I should care about my CPU. It has been running great everything I have thrown at it, I just can't do pixel shader 3 games yet. Any upgrade opinions would be great, but I want to save money for a huge overhaul in the future.

Self Built:
AMD 4400+ X2 Athlon
2 GB Ram
Windows XP
1.75 TB HD Space
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 Motherboard
X800 AIW XT:::: Looking to upgrade to ATI Radeon 4850 (my motherboard has PCI express and AGP)

Just for comparison to my laptop:
Dell freebie laptop
M1530
2.1 Ghz T8100
8600M GT
3GB Ram
Windows XP
120GB 7200RPM

 

[o1die]

I wouldn't upgrade a 939 cpu. The cost is too high for the fastest 939's, and if your board fails, then good luck finding a replacement.

 

[salty85]

Well, I was looking to see if it is worth it to upgrade the motherboard and everything there too, but I want to see how the latest games do performance wise with that CPU. I will most likely move to an i7 in at least a year or so, but if I am going to need to pull out all the stops now I would rather get it over with that not be able to run anything.

 

[salty85]

Maybe I was being roundabout, but is the 4400+ X2 Athlon able to play the latest games for a while without the computer needing a new CPU like a i7? And yes, I know that it requires a new motherboard and ram to go to a different chip type.

 

[sabot00]

The 4400+ is well pretty suckish if you want to play the latest games. It can do older games (ie. 3-5 years old) for newer games like Crysis, Bioshock, modern warfare, etc. you would probably want a E8300 (OCing would help) or a Q9300/Q6600. Don't upgrade if this PC isn't doing it for you I would recommend a new PC, as that would probably cost less & perform better. UPGRADE TO 4850?? The 4850 would REALLY be bottlenecked by your 4400+.

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Yes, most games, but itll definately be limited fps. Just depends on game, gpu etc

 

[loneninja]

Your Athlon X2 will struggle with some newer games, it's basically become bottom line for running most new games. Depending on the game, you'll see your fps limited by your cpu rather than gpu on cards as weak as a 4670.

 

[jimishtar]

what size is your monitor, salty? you should probably get at least a 3 core cpu.

 

[salty85]

I have an old CRT at the moment, max resoultion of 1280x1024, and honestly I don't care about the highest res on my CRT, I am happy with 1024x768 (why CRTs rock honestly). I also have my laptop as a backup (the CPU is better) if I have issues. But as long as I can use the desktop for the moment for recent games I don't care about all the bells and whistles. I am going to be putting a 4850 in the computer.

The point of a 4850 is that I can put it into a new computer when I make it and go back to an AGP board when I make a new computer in the future. I am transforming this computer to a file server when all is said and done. I am also making another old computer to a tri-boot 98/xp/Ubuntu Retro gaming box. I can't wait to play the wing commander series and Tie Fighter again.

I am not one for the latest of everything, I still play PS2 and gamecube games.