Should I upgrade?

srynznfyra

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Right now I have a system running off a Phenom II X4 940 quad core (stock clocks but maybe soon to change due to new cooler next month), with a 9800GT 512MB, 4GB DDR2. I play games like GRID, Need for Speed Shift, Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Call of Duty 4 + 6, Battlefield bad company 2 (rarely), GTA IV. I think I should also note that my motherboard is fairly rubbish, only supporting PCIe v1, nforce 520LE, slow HT link, etc etc.

Do you think when I get the money that I should upgrade to a GTX 260 core 216? I looked at the charts on toms hardware and it seems that it's about twice as good as my 9800GT (also the extra VRAM would benefit GTA IV and crysis alot). I play at 1920x1200 but if I could make my graphics card display at a quarter of that then I could still have a good picture (ie. 960x600). If I do upgrade, what performance increase do you think I would get given my current system components? I'm not sure whether it's more worthwhile upgrading that than keeping my current system and upgrading everything in a couple of years or so.

cheers
 
Upgrading to a GTX 260 would give you a huge boost in performance especially on that resolution,just make sure your PSU supports it.
And your CPU and RAM are fine for gaming,just upgrade the VGA and it will be fine
 

srynznfyra

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Cool, I have a Corsair VX 450W unit manufactured by seasonic (I think) - apparently it can deliver well in excess of 500 watts though, I checked on the PSU calculator and it recommends 460W with a GTX 260 (given my components), but I'm sure my corsair PSU would be able to deliver that continuously (well given the review at hardwaresecrets.com anyway :D).

thanks
 

srynznfyra

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Update: just saw that apparently the ATI HD 5770 is about equal performance to the GTX 260. Should I think of getting that instead (remember this is far in the future, don't have enough money at the moment). It's alot cheaper anyway.

cheers
 

jcpwn3r

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what motherboard is it? If it's good enough I'd just get a 5850

if your mobo is ancient i'd hold off a while and buy a whole new system.
 
Then definitely go for the 5770.
Because although GTX 260 is faster,5770 packs newer techs,runs cooler,quieter and has less power consumption; furthermore,it can handle games very well on 1440x900,and there is no need to get a 5850 for that res.
And it will work fine with your Corsair 450 :)
 

srynznfyra

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I think you all misunderstood me. I said that I used to run on 1440x900 but now I'm using a bigger screen with 1920x1200. So that's why a new graphics card would be nice.

But yeah I'm thinking 5770 too. Cheaper, less power consumption, directx 11, openGL 3 (I think), GDDR5 + more VRAM....etc. Or would you say that the 512MB one is enough? Remember this is 1920x1200 that we're talking about here :ouch:

EDIT: how much do you think I could sell my 9800GT for? I still have the original box.

CHEERS