What would be a more effective upgrade for gaming?

[otsoloffufgus]

Hey,

I was wondering if it would be more effective for gaming performance to upgrade to an Intel core i5 2500 ***not the "k" version, or upgrade to a Radeon HD 6950?
Here are my current Specs :

Intel core i3 2100 @ 3.10 ghz
Radeon HD 6850
Antec VP 450w PSU
1tb storage

I will be getting them both eventually but i wanted to know what would make a bigger difference?
Or if you have any other suggestions that wouldn't be any more expensive then feel free to let me know.
Thanks in advance for the help

 

[rolli59]

The HD6950.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

And how much difference would it make? approximately?

 

[Rammy]

I'm not sure why you would buy a HD6950 today unless it's been heavily discounted. They are reasonably hard to come by as they are older tech.
If we knew your budget people could make suggestions, but it's likely you can get a better graphics card for the price.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

I'm not sure why you would buy a HD6950 today unless it's been heavily discounted. They are reasonably hard to come by as they are older tech.
If we knew your budget people could make suggestions, but it's likely you can get a better graphics card for the price.

The one i found is going for 190$
is that a good price?

 

[otsoloffufgus]

I'm not sure why you would buy a HD6950 today unless it's been heavily discounted. They are reasonably hard to come by as they are older tech.
If we knew your budget people could make suggestions, but it's likely you can get a better graphics card for the price.

And what would be a better card for the price??? I couldnt find anything better for that price (i cant go more than 200$)

 

[Rammy]

Your PSU only has one PCIe connector, so I'll try and stick to that.

HD7850 (2gb) and GTX660 both start at around $175, and only use 1 PCIe connector.

Few samples-
7850-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103211&Tpk=N82E16814103211

660-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500270&Tpk=N82E16814500270

If you want to go a bit higher, theres currently a 7870 on Newegg for $195 (with rebates), but it has 2 PCIe connectors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202010&Tpk=N82E16814202010

All of these are better than a 6950, to varying degrees and depending on what you are using them for.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

Your PSU only has one PCIe connector, so I'll try and stick to that.

HD7850 (2gb) and GTX660 both start at around $175, and only use 1 PCIe connector.

Few samples-
7850-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103211&Tpk=N82E16814103211

660-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500270&Tpk=N82E16814500270

If you want to go a bit higher, theres currently a 7870 on Newegg for $195 (with rebates), but it has 2 PCIe connectors.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202010&Tpk=N82E16814202010

All of these are better than a 6950, to varying degrees and depending on what you are using them for.

Thanks for all the help
also i found this,
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127615
Would this be better?

 

[Rammy]

Thanks for all the help
also i found this,
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127615
Would this be better?

Nope, it's older tech and it needs more power (2 cables). It's not a bad card at all, but it's kinda been superseded.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

Nope, it's older tech and it needs more power (2 cables). It's not a bad card at all, but it's kinda been superseded.

Sorry i forgot to mention that I am going to be using it mostly for gaming games such as : BF3, GTAV, far cry 3.....

 

[Rammy]

If it were me, I'd probably go for a GTX660. It's a better card than a 560ti, HD7850 and HD6950, and comes surprisingly close to both to the HD7870 and not a million miles behind the GTX660ti, which are generally more expensive and both need two power cables.
The Zotac card I linked earlier is probably the best value right now, $170 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500270&Tpk=N82E16814500270

This Asus card also seems like a pretty good deal right now - $195 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121660&Tpk=N82E16814121660

There's a few other options, but those two stand out for me.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

http://www.hwcompare.com/12077/radeon-hd-6950-vs-radeon-hd-7850/
this sais that the 6950 is better than the 7850 though.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

If it were me, I'd probably go for a GTX660. It's a better card than a 560ti, HD7850 and HD6950, and comes surprisingly close to both to the HD7870 and not a million miles behind the GTX660ti, which are generally more expensive and both need two power cables.
The Zotac card I linked earlier is probably the best value right now, $170 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500270&Tpk=N82E16814500270

This Asus card also seems like a pretty good deal right now - $195 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121660&Tpk=N82E16814121660

There's a few other options, but those two stand out for me.

Ok, awesome! but now the last question is, would it reeaaally be worth it? i mean how much improvement would i see? because i already have a 6850...
and i like the look of the 660!!!!

 

[Rammy]

http://www.hwcompare.com/12077/radeon-hd-6950-vs-radeon-hd-7850/
this sais that the 6950 is better than the 7850 though.

It's not, and it doesn't really say that.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=510 (Not the most helpful link, but you can see there's not much between the two)
It's older tech vs newer tech, but the 7850 is better

All benchmarks are a bit subjective as they all sue different base hardware, and it depends hugely on your resolution, but thats a couple of games you mentioned at 1080P with the cards mentioned above.

As for performance, it's kinda impossible to say. If you are playing BF3 at 1080P on the 6850, you'll probably be stuck on medium/low detail. GTX660 should enable you to put that up to max (with a few things tweaked to get you good fps).

According to a random benchmark, a 6850 will run BF3 at 1080P at around 38fps with details on High (doesn't specify other settings). A GTX660 will run the same settings at 81fps.

It's not exactly a perfect answer, but it's a substantial performance boost, though again, depends a lot on resolution.

 

[otsoloffufgus]

It's not, and it doesn't really say that.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/549?vs=510 (Not the most helpful link, but you can see there's not much between the two)
It's older tech vs newer tech, but the 7850 is better

http://media.bestofmicro.com/U/4/352300/original/BF3 HIGH.png
http://media.bestofmicro.com/Z/L/364161/original/Med-1920.png
All benchmarks are a bit subjective as they all sue different base hardware, and it depends hugely on your resolution, but thats a couple of games you mentioned at 1080P with the cards mentioned above.

As for performance, it's kinda impossible to say. If you are playing BF3 at 1080P on the 6850, you'll probably be stuck on medium/low detail. GTX660 should enable you to put that up to max (with a few things tweaked to get you good fps).

According to a random benchmark, a 6850 will run BF3 at 1080P at around 38fps with details on High (doesn't specify other settings). A GTX660 will run the same settings at 81fps.

It's not exactly a perfect answer, but it's a substantial performance boost, though again, depends a lot on resolution.

THANK YOU so much for the help i was kinda lost haha and im going with the 660

 

[otsoloffufgus]

Best answer selected by otsoloffufgus.