Best upgrade path?

[Caeth]

Hi everyone,
I am experiencing some "chunky" behavior when I'm playing BF:BC2 and Dragon Age 2, and it is having an impact on the games (especially BC2 where system lag is effecting my play).

I'm not sure the best way to determine where the bottle neck may be, or where the best place to start upgrading would be and any advice would be greatly appreciated

Current system:
E8400 Core2 Duo 3.0Ghz
Asus 9800GTX+
8Gb memory

My budget is around the $200 mark with a little wiggle room if need be, but I would hate to upgrade my CPU if I'm just asking too much of the video card, or vice versa.

Thank you!

 

[nforce4max]

Overclock the cpu, 3.6ghz isn't to much to expect of one of the best dual cores around. A gtx 460 if you can keep it alive offeres a lot of performance for the cost. On the red side a 6870 if you can get one are great cards. On the cheap a 5850/6850 or a 768mb gtx 460. Second hand market for that budget can get you a cheap gtx 280/285.

 

[jjb8675309]

BFBC2 likes a healthy quad a gpu upgrade will provide you a decent performance boost but in my experiences I was not happy with the performance without a decent quadcore so a cpu upgrade may be in order if you really want good BFBC2 performance

 

[nforce4max]

BFBC2 likes a healthy quad a gpu upgrade will provide you a decent performance boost but in my experiences I was not happy with the performance without a decent quadcore so a cpu upgrade may be in order if you really want good BFBC2 performance

That is a 775 build and most core 2 quads are low clocked or cost a fortune.

 

[Caeth]

Would it be worthwhile to just OC now and save up for a new chipset then?

From the responses it sounds like my CPU is dragging things down the most?

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

It would definitely probably be worth it. Remember you've got AMD's Bulldozer which is supposed to come out next month, so you might pick up one of those, or it may drive other prices down to where you can grab something else.

 

[jaguarskx]

Overclock the cpu, 3.6ghz isn't to much to expect of one of the best dual cores around.

I would suggest an after market heatsink if you are gonna OC the CPU. They can generally range between $25 - $90, but you must also choose one that can fit inside your case. You should get one that is compatible with sockets 775 and 1155 in case you decide to upgrade to Intel's current "Sandy Bridge" CPUs in the future. Of course that would mean buying a new motherboard when the time comes.

The XIGMATEK LOKI SD963 is an example of an inexpensive heatsink, but it is somewhat tall and cannot it in all cases.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233081

A little more expensive, but the Scythe SCSK-1100 100mm Shuriken is short enough to fit most cases.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185097

 

[jjb8675309]

That is a 775 build and most core 2 quads are low clocked or cost a fortune.

yeah well obviously those are not worth investing in now and i wasnt implying that the OP should buy a C2Q but rather a new cpu in genera... but I hear what you are saying there