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Time for an upgrade?

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Hey guys, I'm looking to upgrade my system soon. Right now i'm running the following

CPU: Core 2 Duo E7400
Mobo: Asus P5GC-MX/1333
RAM: 4GB DDR2 PC6400
GPU: XFX Nvidia GTS 250
PSU: Rosewill Xtreme Series 750W


First off, the main reason i want to upgrade is because i am getting a BFG Nvidia GTX 285 and a 32" HDTV (1080P) for my Birthday in about a week, but i feel my CPU might bottleneck the GPU at those resolutions. I was thinking of upgrading to a Core i5 setup, but wasn't sure if the performance gain was worth it? Right now i'm able to run Bad Company 2 at 1280x1024 with the highest settings at around 40-45 FPS on average, 30 being the minimum.

Here's what i was looking at, since i would like to keep my budget at $500

CPU: Core i5-750
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

RAM: 4GB DDR3 PC12800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

MOBO: ASUS P7H55D-M
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Would this be suitable for the resolutions i'm looking to play at? and do you think this would be a decent future proofing? (not my main concern, just curious)

Also, if there is anything i could improve and still stay within my budget, PLEASE let me know, i want the best bang for my buck.

Thanks for your time! :) 

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obsidian86 said:
if you were to go the i5 path i would rather say hold out till 26 march when nvidia release their new series but if you want bang for buck right now get a p55 board instead of the h55 and just get another gts 250 and sli


I don't want to SLI because then i would have to buy a new PSU because i would rather do that than use adapters to power the second GTS250, plus i only have the 512mb version, I'd prefer to have one card that's more powerful AND has more memory.

As for the OC'ing, i'll try it out on my CPU, but my GPU has been running pretty hot lately, in BF: BC2 at medium detail 4x AA and 8X AF with HBAO off it tops out around 90* C usually its around 85-88 until i get into the action....I'm afraid OC'ing that would be pushing too far...OH, and this is with the fan at 100% with rivatuner and the 196.21 drivers from Nvidia's site.

jack_attack said:
Wow, at stock clocks? How's your case airflow? Cleaned dust lately? My 8800GTX @ 650/2000 doesn't seem to break 80C.

OC'ing your Q6600 will help, it's a beast. My Q runs just behind the i7 most of the time.


Yea, the case is fine, i have an Antec 900 that's only 2 months old, with all the fans on high, and an Enermax 120mm in the side window and i just cleaned the dust last week (i usually do it about twice a month). And i don't know if it matters, but only the rear and top fans are blowing out, everything (even the side fan) are blowing in.

And i have the E7400, not the Q lol


And is there any definitive way to see if it would be able to hang at 1080P resolutions, when i can only max out at 1280x1024? i would like to get the TV and GTX in one go to save on shipping instead of trying out my GTS on the TV and then having to wait for the GTX to arrive if it can't hang. I also have a feeling the lower memory (512MB) might inhibit it as well, am i right in that assumption?

And thanks again for your guys' help :D 
Homebuilt system Authority

Hah, I've seen so many "Can I overclock my G0" lately, my bad. But, that 7400 should be able to hit a solid 3.4 or so with that 945 chipset.

You're right with your memory assumption. Higher resolutions require more memory and more memory bandwidth. If it was my birthday, I'd skip the GTX and get into a DX11 card. :)  For the same price, a 5850 will give you noticeably better performance than a GTX 285, all while sipping juice at idle! Win Win!

jack_attack said:
Hah, I've seen so many "Can I overclock my G0" lately, my bad. But, that 7400 should be able to hit a solid 3.4 or so with that 945 chipset.

You're right with your memory assumption. Higher resolutions require more memory and more memory bandwidth. If it was my birthday, I'd skip the GTX and get into a DX11 card. :)  For the same price, a 5850 will give you noticeably better performance than a GTX 285, all while sipping juice at idle! Win Win!


I've always been wary of ATI because of rumors of driver problems and compatibility issues. But after looking at the benchmarks on here, then the price of a 5870, and reading the reviews on newegg, i think i have to give them shot.

Jesus. Nowadays as an adult I just get a card and a dinner for my birthday. When I was younger, at most id maybe get a video game or some gift cards.

I would have shat my pants if my parents spent a grand or more on me for my birthday (which is around what a 32" hdtv (if its decent) and a 285 will run you).

I don't care what kinda money I make, my kids are getting stiffed on principle alone. You want an hdtv for your room? get a job. For the time being they can have the 13 inch tube tv /vcr combo I bought for my room when I was 16.



On a related note, be careful with that BFG 285. I got an awesome deal on one a few months ago, only to find out BFG boinked the bios on a large chunk of them and they are factory overclocked to an unstable level(which is why it was so damn cheap most likely), it kept freezing/crashing my system, i returned it to the retailer, of course I called bfg first and they were blaming my set up, yet this issue was all over the internet. I waited till the 5850's came out, bought one of those since it was the same price /performance as the 285 I returned.

tsd16 said:
Jesus. Nowadays as an adult I just get a card and a dinner for my birthday. When I was younger, at most id maybe get a video game or some gift cards.

I would have shat my pants if my parents spent a grand or more on me for my birthday (which is around what a 32" hdtv (if its decent) and a 285 will run you).

I don't care what kinda money I make, my kids are getting stiffed on principle alone. You want an hdtv for your room? get a job. For the time being they can have the 13 inch tube tv /vcr combo I bought for my room when I was 16.



On a related note, be careful with that BFG 285. I got an awesome deal on one a few months ago, only to find out BFG boinked the bios on a large chunk of them and they are factory overclocked to an unstable level(which is why it was so damn cheap most likely), it kept freezing/crashing my system, i returned it to the retailer, of course I called bfg first and they were blaming my set up, yet this issue was all over the internet. I waited till the 5850's came out, bought one of those since it was the same price /performance as the 285 I returned.


I just get the dinner from my parents, the card/tv are being payed for mostly by me, with some help from my girlfriend....So dont make assumptions and think that i'm some spoiled brat who doesn't earn their own....

Plus, if I'm making money like i am I'm gonna spoil my kids for their b day, it's the best reason (next to Xmas) to splurge on something IMHO


And thanks for the heads up on the BFG GTX 285, I'll keep that in mind if i stick with Nvidia.


Also, does anyone know of some good Hardware info recording programs? to record CPU usage, GPU usage, temps and framerates? Preferably using as little resources as possible?

Right now i have Fraps, but that only does FPS, times, and min/max/avg
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