Current System:
Athlon x2 64 5000 BB edition OC'd to 3.2 GHZ
4 Gigs DDR2 Ram @ 800mhz
BIOSTAR TA770 A2+ mobo
Visiontek Radeon HD 5850 at stock speeds
(Using latest ATI drivers from website )
2x 500gb 7200rpm hard drives
The only new addition to my system is the hd5850. The rest of the stuff was bought in Jan of 08.
I installed the 5850 on Monday and have been reasonably happy with the results but I think my CPU is now holding me back (although I am not sure to what extent). I have been considering one of the two options:
1. Upgrade my CPU to a Phenom Quad Core 9850 (cost about $120) (Fastest my mobo supports)
or
2. More intensive upgrade to:
I7-920 $279.00
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $188.99
OC2Gold 6GB DDR3/600 $149.99
Total cost $618.97
OR
3. Don't upgrade CPU and stick with my current setup. cost $0
I am really having a hard time justifying spending an extra $500 to go up to a I7-920. My primary use of this machine will be for gaming. Spending $120 on a new proc (the fastest my mobo supports) would definitely be doable but I don't want to spend the mony and then find out that my 5000+BB edition wasn't really holding me back that much and gain a paltry 5-10 extra fps in games. Another downside in buying the Phenom is that I hate to buy a new cpu for a board that is somewhat out of date...
Questions:
1. Is the 5000 x2 @ 3.2 ghz really holding me back that much? Am I getting 90% of the framerate that the card can possibly push? 80%? 20%? (I know that you can't really know.... a guess here would be fine)
2. Can the Phenom 9850 push the card to its max (or close to it) making it not that necesary to drop an extra $500 for the i7?
Thanks for the help,
Brian
Athlon x2 64 5000 BB edition OC'd to 3.2 GHZ
4 Gigs DDR2 Ram @ 800mhz
BIOSTAR TA770 A2+ mobo
Visiontek Radeon HD 5850 at stock speeds
(Using latest ATI drivers from website )
2x 500gb 7200rpm hard drives
The only new addition to my system is the hd5850. The rest of the stuff was bought in Jan of 08.
I installed the 5850 on Monday and have been reasonably happy with the results but I think my CPU is now holding me back (although I am not sure to what extent). I have been considering one of the two options:
1. Upgrade my CPU to a Phenom Quad Core 9850 (cost about $120) (Fastest my mobo supports)
or
2. More intensive upgrade to:
I7-920 $279.00
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R $188.99
OC2Gold 6GB DDR3/600 $149.99
Total cost $618.97
OR
3. Don't upgrade CPU and stick with my current setup. cost $0
I am really having a hard time justifying spending an extra $500 to go up to a I7-920. My primary use of this machine will be for gaming. Spending $120 on a new proc (the fastest my mobo supports) would definitely be doable but I don't want to spend the mony and then find out that my 5000+BB edition wasn't really holding me back that much and gain a paltry 5-10 extra fps in games. Another downside in buying the Phenom is that I hate to buy a new cpu for a board that is somewhat out of date...
Questions:
1. Is the 5000 x2 @ 3.2 ghz really holding me back that much? Am I getting 90% of the framerate that the card can possibly push? 80%? 20%? (I know that you can't really know.... a guess here would be fine)
2. Can the Phenom 9850 push the card to its max (or close to it) making it not that necesary to drop an extra $500 for the i7?
Thanks for the help,
Brian