Can I upgrade just GPU?

[clewish09]

Hello,

Below are my specs. I’m currently socket AM2 and DDR2, but decent components. I’ve been debating upgrading just the GPU for now and a full upgrade in 6 months or so. I’ve been researching for a while and I’m looking at the 650ti up to the 660 – or the 7850 or 7870; just not sure if with the older components upgrading just the GPU is worth it.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Tomorrow  - not looking to spend more than $225-250 or so (USD)
USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming mostly, most recently Planetside 2
SYSTEM SPECS:
AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0
ASUS M4A77D
GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (4 x 2GB)
XFX Core Edition GS250XZSL4 GeForce GTS 250
Corsair 650W PS
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Not important, I have a microcenter local and their prices aren’t bad so maybe there
OVERCLOCKING: No OC, no SLI/Crossfire
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I have pretty good cooling, CPU gets around 50c under load, but my GPU is hitting almost 80c (current card runs hot!) so I can’t OC the card at all

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[clewish09]

sorry for the double post, got a site down error but looks like they both went up...

 

[Sunius]

Something like GTX 660 would be a perfect upgrade to you .

 

[sam_p_lay]

Yeah +1 to that! Even if there was a bottlenecking issue (which I don't think there will be), that just means that when CPU upgrade time comes, you unlock the rest of the performance! 660 is a strong choice though.

 

[ilumunus]

nah not on an amd processor. when you go with an amd mobo and processor, it is better to go conservative than risk bottlenecking. unless you plan on changing to intel cpu in the near future, get a radeon 7850

 

[sam_p_lay]

nah not on an amd processor. when you go with an amd mobo and processor, it is better to go conservative than risk bottlenecking. unless you plan on changing to intel cpu in the near future, get a radeon 7850

Do you have benchmarks showing a 660 bottlenecking but not a 7850? They're pretty close performance-wise so if one bottlenecks, I'm pretty sure they both will. To be honest though, I think that processor should be ample for these cards.

 

[Sunius]

nah not on an amd processor. when you go with an amd mobo and processor, it is better to go conservative than risk bottlenecking. unless you plan on changing to intel cpu in the near future, get a radeon 7850

Stop spreading misinformation. Just stop.

 

[coolermaster_72]

GTX 660 is far more better than a 7850! 7850 is like a GTX 560 performance.

 

[coolermaster_72]

Stop spreading misinformation. Just stop.

^ +1