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Replace 9800gx2 ???

Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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ok ive been asking some opinions lately and been getting good feed back so far. I just wanna say thanks in advance.
Now to the point my son has a 9800gx2 and i planning on upgrading his cpu, mobo and mem.My question is should i replace the 9800gx2 for say a 6850 or 6870 or just leave it alone?
Im upgrading on a budget and hes 8 years old but he plays all the current games
my plans are to get an asrock mobo (H61M-VS LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX )
with a i3 2120 cpu and 8gb ram

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Graphics card Authority

Those cards are not much faster than the 9800GX2. For a good upgrade on that, I'd say more like a gtx 295. But if you don't want that much overkill, then a 6870/ 6950/ gtx 560ti will do. What is your budget? There may be better options for you.

i really dont have a set budget but im trying to go low as possible for what will do him for now.I notice when he plays certain games its not so smooth like it use to be thats why I thought maybe just the cpu upgrade might help.Once again hes only 8 but i want him to enjoy the games properly,honestly he doesnt even care as long as he can play the game but I dont like the way its playing latley
Graphics card Authority

I see. Then 6870 will do. But, if you don't have a certain budget and are willing to go a bit more expensive, then a 6950 would be great. It will give a performance boost and stay at about the same power consumption. You can also check what the nvidia camp has to offer, but that comes down to personal preference.

So yeah, 6870 for ~$200 and same performance as 9800gx2
or
6950 for ~$260 and about 20% better performance.

Personally, I'd go with 6950, just for a bit of future-proof.
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What resolution will your son be playing?
The 9800GX2 is about the performance of a 6850.If you want to really upgrade your card for a more powerfull one you better go with gtx560ti for nvidia or 7850 for AMD or better. If you go with a 6850 you'll want to upgrade again soon because you'll get about the same performance.
Why not upgrade the PC now and wait for kepler, this way the price of current cards might drop a little and you might get a better deal.

he plays at a 1680 x 1050 res, Do u think that just with cpu upgrade he will get smoother game play,hes got a amd 64 x 2 5200@2.7 now and im thinking the upgrade to the i3 2120 might help. I dont wanna spend it if I dont have to and if the 9800gx2 is same as a 6850 which alot of people are using in budget builds Im thinking he will be fine.And I like the Idea about waiting for the kepler cause prices probably will drop some
Thanks for the help

Best solution

You might see a little improvement with the new CPU, not that much but maybe enough to justify the wait for kepler and some price drop.

At 1680 x 1050 the 9800gx2 should be able to handle most games.

Change the CPU first to see if it'll help.
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