CPU and GPU upgrade

http://asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=NFlvt10av3F7ayQ9

look at cpu support list , to me , the best u can purchase is amd 7750 . maybe it can be phenom x3 or x4 . ( f u dea with , adobe vs . , those are better ) . i couldnt see any tdp limited . how about ur budget ? look at ati gpu's if u have enough psu or think to change ur psu , for performance look at 4870 and above . but ur psu is lower , the best is 4670 etc. explain ur state broadenly , then we can diagnose the choices better .

thank you for your answer.

Well, even without TDP limitations (but I read about it somewhere, in italian forums.. can be wrong of course, but I remember it) I'd like to keep the TDP low (it's not the priority but I can cansoder for example the top I can get with 89W and the top I can get with 125W and choose considering the difference in performance).

As for budget I can't say any price for 2 reasons: first, italian prices and your prices might vary. I actually don't have a proper limitation.. I'm just trying to keep low.

I had to google about PSU (sorry, i'm not expert.. I just get information when I need) and I guess it's Power Supply Unit.. well.. I actually don't know exactly what my situation is: I've got a 570W PSU, but I don't know what my current system needs are in terms of watt. You already know the main elements.. as for the rest I've got 2 PCI (going to be 3), 4 Sata HD, 1 dvd-player and 1 burner.. that's all if I'm not mistaken.. so i guess my PSU is by far enough for the current system, but I don't have any precise idea.
Anyway I'm just a light gamer so I'm just considering a small upgrade, but it's not even mandatory or pressing... my priority is to get rid of frequent 100% CPU  

Hope you got all the needed information.

thank you!

Get at least a quadcore for your 3d render and photoshop apps.

Thank HundredIslandsBoy but I don't do 3d render, just 2d  
And well.. a quadcore seems a major update to me.. I'm just trying to figur out wether with a minor (cheap) update I can get some real benefit.

Thaknyou for your time

I don't know your motherboard so not sure what a faster compatible CPU would be. Can you start off your upgrade by overclocking your current CPU and getting a 9600 GT or 4850 if your PSU will support it?

well, I checked something on the web and I almost decided for a HD4770.

As for the CPU it's a mess.. mostly because I'm not expert and I don't have any idea about performances.

My Motherboard support these CPUS:
http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASUS/M2N-E.html

I'm considering to try a bigger upgrade... my priority are performances but I don't know how to make a "chart" betweene different architectures.. a Phenom with less ghz than the athlon X2 is anyway better? Howcan i compare them? If I had a kind of chart I would check prices and choose the best I can afford...

Hope you can help me.

thank you again

PS: as for my budget at the beginning (with very minimal upgrade) I was planning to spend roughly 150€ (sorry about using euros.. but at least you can have a rough idea), I can spend more if there's a real advantage.

I found athlon 5600+ (2.9Ghz, 65W) for less than 60 euros.. i can afford more if needed, but the problem is always I don't know how to compare this x2 2.9Ghz to phenom to understand if the difference of price is worth or not in terms of performance.

well, at the end I found all the information I needed and I select 5 options




I can find (sometimes not easily, like buying on US ebay) 7850 6000+ 5600+ (same versions as in the picture) more or less at the same pric (around 70 euros), and X4 9950 around 140 euros (the double then!)

so now my (last!) questions are:

1) which can be considered the best among 7850 6000+ 5600+ considering 90% performances and 10% watt?

2) is it worth to spend the double (and having a bigger TDP) for the x4 9550 (also considering is the last cpu supported by my mainboard and I don't know if it works as good as on a newer board) ?

Thank you

From what I'm gathering from these posts, and what you've said, the x4 9550 is going to do you the best. Too bad you don't have AM2+, but, it is what it is. If you do a good bit of rendering, thats where the quad will do you well, and might be worth double the money. I wouldn't dink with that AM2 board anymore though, as you can get a Phenom II x4 and a new AM2+/AM3 board for 230 US Dollars. Not sure about newegg and international, but for reference, that's 152 euros. Just a thought.