What's a nice processor at a decent price?

[chatcher1993]

I've been looking for a new processor and graphics card and basically wondering if anyone has any in mind that would be good for gaming? Right now I have a quad core that puts out a saddening 1.8ghz. I don't know a lot about this stuff so any kind of advice is greatly appreciated.

-Thanks

 

[phil_livesey]

i'd say a dualcore intel processor would be good, something like an i3, they clock at around 3.3 GHz. if you want a quad core then i'd go for an i5. it doesn't really matter which one you pick if you're not overclocking.

grraphics card wise, any 5 or 6 series from nvidia will probably be good enough, ati i'd go for one of the 7000s

 

[masterman467]

i3-3000 series, locked multiplier, but if your not going to OC then that will be fine. i3 is a very capable gaming CPU, will NOT bottleneck even a gtx 680. if you want to go with a i5 2500k or 3570k for OC, do it. the extra cores will help in CPU hungry games like ARMA II, GTA 4, and BF3, although i3 will not slow you down much, 5-10 FPS at most. the GPU is the most important.

 

[unoriginal1]

The GPU can be the most important. But not always. It depends entirely upon which games you plan on playing. If you only play WoW for instance then a high end GPU is not necessary. If you want to play the latest titles and aren't stuck to one game it becomes more important.

Keep in mind that the new processors are also going to require a new Motherboard, New Ram, New PSU for the graphics card etc. So your basically looking at making a entire build.

Tell us specifically what games do you plan to play?
How much is your max budget?
Would you like to OC? (it is easy these days)
Then we can make better suggestions instead of just guessing

On a side note. Intels new chip "haswell" is expected to be released around march 2013 and the 8000's series graphic cards will be released fairly soon as well.

 

[chatcher1993]

I mostly just play Guild Wars 2 at the moment.

 

[unoriginal1]

I mostly just play Guild Wars 2 at the moment.

K. So a 550 or 560 will get you more then playable frame-rates at good quality. But if you want absolutely every thing on you can turn on, on the highest settings you'll need a bit better card.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/guild-wars-2-performance-benchmark,3268-6.html

Some fps benchmarks to look at.

Depending on the budget your looking to spend now. The fine people here at toms can build u a nice balanced system to get you going.

 

[chatcher1993]

So say for instance I decided to invest in the Radeon hd 7970 which I found for about $350 is that a pretty high end card then and be able to fix some problems for me?

 

[unoriginal1]

So say for instance I decided to invest in the Radeon hd 7970 which I found for about $350 is that a pretty high end card then and be able to fix some problems for me?

It's a start. (but prolly wont get the performance increase your looking for, your cpu will be the bottleneck at that point)
But take a look at the link I posted. There's a "test system" section that explains the system they are using.
They use a Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E), 3.3 GHz @ 4.25 GHz.
Considerably more powerful then your current Chip, not just in ghz but in efficiency as well.
Figure out the max you want to spend towards a gaming system. Even if it's $500, $1000, $1500 etc.

Before you go and buy a new graphics card you need to make sure your PSU (power supply) can handle the new card. Give us full specs of your current system too. IE Mobo, Proc, PSU, Ram, Etc. (make model on all) Then we have a better idea of if you can upgrade... Or if we can use parts from your old system to make a better new system.

 

[chatcher1993]

Processor AMD Phenom(tm) 9100e Quad-Core Processor

Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6570

Gaming graphics 4863 MB Total available graphics memory

Primary hard disk 502GB Free (596GB Total)

 

[unoriginal1]

Processor AMD Phenom(tm) 9100e Quad-Core Processor

Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB

Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6570

Gaming graphics 4863 MB Total available graphics memory

Primary hard disk 502GB Free (596GB Total)

assuming this is a prebuilt dell, hp or something?
You should be able to get playable settings on low with that. Getting a better gpu won't really help here. Your limited by the cpu. You can try your luck at OC'ng the cpu if you want
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=609062
But i'd look into getting yourself a new system.
You can reuse your HDD, You can reuse your current GPU, Will most likely have to get new RAM, new PSU (power supply), New Mobo, New proc, New case etc.

How much can you spend.. Is the most important question here. I know your willing to do at least $300 since you linked the graphics card earlier. But what is your total budget.

Are you interested in building your own machine?

 

[chatcher1993]

I actually had this built not long ago at a little computer store I found out about on Craigslist. Was kind of a sudden buy I didn't think too hard about unfortuanetly enough and I guess I'm paying for that now. But It would have to be somewhere around $700 if I wanted it immediately but if I waited which is more likely it could be about $1000-$1500

 

[unoriginal1]

I actually had this built not long ago at a little computer store I found out about on Craigslist. Was kind of a sudden buy I didn't think too hard about unfortuanetly enough and I guess I'm paying for that now. But It would have to be somewhere around $700 if I wanted it immediately but if I waited which is more likely it could be about $1000-$1500

Personally. I'd google/read up on OC'ng your proc. Ive seen some threads of people getting 2.2 out of it. That should improve your play a little bit. Keep saving up, with $1000 to $1500 you'll be able to build yourself a machine (with the new Intel chip and 8000 series graphic card) That will max out any game current. Especially guild wars 2. When you got the cash saved up just make another post on here a week or two before your ready to order. People will give suggestions / builds.

*edit* Myself... I'm waiting for haswell. Even thou i want an ivy bridge build . Haswells the beginning of a new socket and will provide updatability to Broadwell.

 

[chatcher1993]

Yeah I'll have to look into OC'ing and just wait and save up a little more money so I can build something that'll last me. Thanks though I appreciate all the help and advice.

 

[unoriginal1]

Yeah I'll have to look into OC'ing and just wait and save up a little more money so I can build something that'll last me. Thanks though I appreciate all the help and advice.

No problem good luck!