PLS HELP : upgrade to q9550 or 4890?

[skate9345]

hi, im gonna upgrade my pc which is :

=========================================
Intel Pentium dual core e5200 2.5ghz @ 3.25ghz
2gb ram
HD4850 512mb
22 inch screen (1680x1050)
500w Xion/APX psu, dual 12v rails, 17amp and 18 amp
=========================================

im on a budget and im thinking of to either upgrade to a 4890 or a q9550, the reason why the choise is so hard is because i multitask, extract heavy files, render videos and play a lot heavy games like crysis, far cry 2, gta iv, and i can't turn on the "eye candy's" on any of these games so i need to upgrade my graphics card, and i hate waiting for the video to reder or the extract of the file to finish because my dual core is to slow to handle more stuff, with a quad core i know that i can atleast do other stuff in the same time.

PLEASE HELP!


//thanks in advance

Edit : in either upgrade i will be adding 1GB more ram

 

[skate9345]

hi, im gonna upgrade my pc which is :

=========================================
Intel Pentium dual core e5200 2.5ghz @ 3.25ghz
2gb ram
HD4850 512mb
22 inch screen (1680x1050)
500w Xion/APX psu, dual 12v rails, 17amp and 18 amp
=========================================

im on a budget and im thinking of to either upgrade to a 4890 or a q9550, the reason why the choise is so hard is because i multitask, extract heavy files, render videos and play a lot heavy games like crysis, far cry 2, gta iv, and i can't turn on the "eye candy's" on any of these games so i need to upgrade my graphics card, and i hate waiting for the video to reder or the extract of the file to finish because my dual core is to slow to handle more stuff, with a quad core i know that i can atleast do other stuff in the same time.

PLEASE HELP!


//thanks in advance

Edit : in either upgrade i will be adding 1GB more ram

 

[Mousemonkey]

Popping a Q9550 in will reap more benefit than a 4890.

 

[rand_79]

sell old computer and build a new one

um if i had to choose I'd go for an ati 5850 video card
much less power and better performance than 4890

quad core might help in some games but probably only minimally in most games.

you choices for a ram upgrade are 2x 1gb chips for 4gb
or 2x2gb for 4gb..
i wouldnt have an odd number of chips you will lose dual-channel that way.

 

[San Pedro]

If gaming is your number one concern, then get the 4890. Or wait till nvidia releases their new cards and you might be able to get a 5850 at a discounted price.

If other things are your top priority get the Q9550. I've been thinking about getting one for a while. The problem is convincing my wife that I need one, but I might be able to do it now since it seems like a lot of PC stores in my area (Japan) are running out of them and/or jacking up the price.

BTW, my 4870 coupled with an e6750 at 2.83ghz (mild overclock) is maxing out just about every game I have at 1680 sans Crysis and GTA IV, but I'm still pleased with performance in both games.

 

[ryohei]

i would get the new 5770, which is a great gpu at 160

 

[demonnn]

go for the quad

 

[edeawillrule]

I agree with them go with the Q9550.
And my other recommendation is add 2 gb of ram instead of just 1.

 

[bornking]

I also agree with the q9550 advice, I have one and it is great!

 

[dmcfc]

As you already have a 4000 series, i think you should get a q9550. From this video card I would upgrade just going for a 5850 or 5870, besides that I think it would be a waste of money.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section Graphic & Displays to section CPU & Components by Mousemonkey

 

[Mousemonkey]

This next topics has been merged by Mousemonkey
■ PLS HELP : upgrade to q9550 or 4890?

 

[englandr753]

Personally I would get the Q9550. It would provide you capability to squeeze more out of the video card you have than what you are getting now. It may not be enough to make you fully happy but if you have to do one or the other and multitasking is as or more important than gaming then no doubt get the Q9550 and you might be able to OC to around 3.4 ~ 3.6 to get even more boost.

Later I would consider the video card the next upgrade but later down the road when the funds allow it.

Upgrading from a 4850 to a 4890 will be a marginal upgrade and not the best option IMO. You will definitely have a bottleneck on the card you have an the new one with your current cpu.

Putting racing slicks on your corolla won't get you there any faster...