Upgrade CPU or GPU?

[NotWorthy]

Long time reader, first time poster here: I have an E6300 Conroe on a GA-965P-S3 rev. 1.0 mobo and would like to get better fps in my games (HL2 - All variations & Dragon Age). My current GPU is a PNY 9800GT (1Gb). Should I expect performance gains from an HD 5770 or is my CPU going to bottleneck it?

 

[Tamz_msc]

You should overclock that CPU.The e6300 is known to go to 3 GHz. If you do that there will be no bottleneck.

 

[NotWorthy]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have a stock cooler so am a little concerned about overclocking. Started last night and got to x7 and 310 FSB - CPU temp reached 65C, but didn't really play with voltages. Could you give me any suggestions to go from here? Will I need to get better cooling?

 

[Tamz_msc]

You can get a new aftermarket cpu cooler like the coolermaster hyper 212+.It will not cost you much.If your case can support a side fan, get one to blow air directly on to the CPU heatsink.That should further aid in cooling.Upgrading to a 5770 will give you a good boost, though you could wait for the new ATi cards which are coming out in November.

 

[NotWorthy]

Thanks again. I'll give it a try. If anything fails, I'll just be forced to upgrade (no arm twisting required.)

 

[wa1]

See my rig below, i have E6300 and GA 965P-DS3 (rev 1.0) too...
I want to get hyper 212+ but it's so hard to find here in my country, so i choose Zigmatek, it drop the temps more than 10'C (depend on room temps).
You can OC it to 2.3GHz (1.8GHz stock) without raising the VCore.

 

[dalta centauri]

Possibly try and overclock your cpu to at least 2.3-2.5GHz
You do not need to buy a new gpu yet, but when you do; wait for what the Radeon 6 series brings us before deciding right now.

 

[NotWorthy]

Best answer selected by NotWorthy.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey