Hey all. Long time reader of tom's but first ever post. I was wonder if you could help me decide on an upgrade path for the future. I've a limited budget so any upgrades will happen over time but i'm still aiming for the same thing. First of all my current build is
CPU: Athlon x2 6000
Mobo: ASUS M3A78 Pro
GPU: HD4870 512mb
RAM: 4gb (2x2gb) [only DDR2-667 unfortunately]
Monitor: Dell 2209WA and LG Flatron L203WT (both 1680 x 1050)
My primary use is gaming and ultimately i'm looking to go with a tri-monitor setup and while I could slap in and HD5870 I wonder if the rest of my system is up to scratch. My plan was to drop in a phenom II x4 955 when it dropped clost to £100 then upgrade to the HD5870/5850 depending on price at the end of its life (HD6xxx cards are announced). If I went this path I might then pick up an AM3 board and memory and look to crossfire. The recent article however about is the i3-530 good enough got me wondering if I needed to upgrade my processor at all. My questions are
1) Is the athlon x2 6000 enough for a HD5870 running 3 x 1680 x 1050?
If so then when coming to crossfire (need a new mobo anyway) I could jump to an intel i5-750 otherwise I will be going the AM3 route
If I go the AM3 route:-
2) Is the Phenom II good enough for crossfire setups?
The performance of the Phenom II isn't much higher than LGA775 processors.I remember reading that i5 gave a good boost in sli/crossfire setups tho.
3) Is this the best upgrade path or do you advise some other way?
Ultimately this will cost a lot of money in the long run but I want to keep my expenditure to a minimum. What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks in advance and Im sorry if this seems blatantly obvious but I thought I should get advice before parting with my hard earned cash.
CPU: Athlon x2 6000
Mobo: ASUS M3A78 Pro
GPU: HD4870 512mb
RAM: 4gb (2x2gb) [only DDR2-667 unfortunately]
Monitor: Dell 2209WA and LG Flatron L203WT (both 1680 x 1050)
My primary use is gaming and ultimately i'm looking to go with a tri-monitor setup and while I could slap in and HD5870 I wonder if the rest of my system is up to scratch. My plan was to drop in a phenom II x4 955 when it dropped clost to £100 then upgrade to the HD5870/5850 depending on price at the end of its life (HD6xxx cards are announced). If I went this path I might then pick up an AM3 board and memory and look to crossfire. The recent article however about is the i3-530 good enough got me wondering if I needed to upgrade my processor at all. My questions are
1) Is the athlon x2 6000 enough for a HD5870 running 3 x 1680 x 1050?
If so then when coming to crossfire (need a new mobo anyway) I could jump to an intel i5-750 otherwise I will be going the AM3 route
If I go the AM3 route:-
2) Is the Phenom II good enough for crossfire setups?
The performance of the Phenom II isn't much higher than LGA775 processors.I remember reading that i5 gave a good boost in sli/crossfire setups tho.
3) Is this the best upgrade path or do you advise some other way?
Ultimately this will cost a lot of money in the long run but I want to keep my expenditure to a minimum. What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks in advance and Im sorry if this seems blatantly obvious but I thought I should get advice before parting with my hard earned cash.