Upgrade or not??

[Township]

Okay, here's my current setup:

*twin 8800 GTS 320 cards, SLI
*3 Gb system RAM
*nforce 680i LT motherboard
*and a q6600 intel cpu

Basically, I just need to know if it would be worth my time to purchase a new graphics card. For a long time I was looking at the GTX 280, but I read somewhere that they are getting harder to find, and I would agree with that. I have since started looking at the GTX 275 since it's just about the only thing in my price range I think. I've been playing a lot of GTA IV, and I know that game relies a lot on a good cpu, but for the future, is a GPU upgrade going to help me out the most? Or should I look for something else to upgrade first? I enjoy currently using SLI, but it makes a lot of heat, and I'd like to return to a single card. Will the GTX 275 give me the same or better performance results that I presently have? Holy crap thanks for any help, really!

 

[vjcsmoke]

If you want to play GTA4 smooth, get a 5850. It blows the 285 out of the water and it retails for only $259.

 

[Township]

Okay, I've been reading a lot of comparisons between cards, and this one seems awesome. Do you think I'll get a cpu bottleneck or anything if I upgrade to the 5850? Thanks!

 

[marney_5]

Okay, I've been reading a lot of comparisons between cards, and this one seems awesome. Do you think I'll get a cpu bottleneck or anything if I upgrade to the 5850? Thanks!

Yeah I would think you would need a CPU upgrade If you want games to run more smoothly. The CPU would bottleneck and it would be the only thing slowing you down.

Thats if you can afford it though because my i7 setup cost me about £480 and the only thing slowing me down is my 260! but theres plenty of cheaper cpus for you to get!

 

[Township]

Yeah except, if I want a cpu upgrade, I'll have to get a new motherboard as well, cause my current one only supports up to core 2 quad. All that aint happenin' for a while.

 

[OvrClkr]

Your motherboard can get you at least 500/600Mhz more just by overclocking it. I don't see why someone would suggest a CPU knowing that he is stuck with an LGA 775 platform, meaning he would be wasting his money on a new CPU regardless.

My suggestion would be to wait until Nvidia releases their line and then you choose whats best for your needs at better prices.

By the way, you are better off with a 5850 compared to anything that nvidia has to offer at this moment. The GTX 275/280/285 are a waste of money since AMD released their 58XX series.

 

[Township]

I don't know how to do any kind of overclocking, and I've tried researching it, but to no avail. I'm also afraid I'm gonna fry something.

 

[OvrClkr]

I don't know how to do any kind of overclocking, and I've tried researching it, but to no avail. I'm also afraid I'm gonna fry something.

Here is a thread that should help you out :

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/240001-29-howto-overclock-quads-duals-guide