2013-03-22, 09:41 | Link #1 |
cat boy?
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Hardware upgrade question
These are my current specs for my PC
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3.00GHz 8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 332MHz ASRock G31M-S. (CPUSocket) 767MB GeForce GTX 460 (EVGA) My question is if upgrading the GPU would improve overall performance to warrant doing or would I be better off saving money to upgrade everything else (CPU/RAM). Due to the limitations of my motherboard I cannot install any of the i3/i5/i7 processors or DDR3 RAM sticks, so I am wondering whether those limitations make upgrading the GPU rather pointless. To be clear I am looking for overall performance improvement on most regular PC task, such as internet browsing in video watching. I also play PC games and emulate old console games. The console games (specifically PS2) do not run smoothly so I am wondering if upgrading would improve those game running more smoothly
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2013-03-22, 18:08 | Link #4 | |
Love Yourself
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Northeast USA
Age: 38
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To determine what would result in the biggest performance boost you need to look at what's currently holding you back. Is your CPU usage frequently going up to 100%? If so then you've found your bottleneck and a newer CPU will improve your performance. Is your RAM usage frequently maxing out such that you have a large page file? If so then you've found your bottleneck and upgrading your RAM to a higher capacity will improve your performance. Are things just seemingly taking a long time to load even though CPU usage is fairly low and RAM usage is minimal to moderate? If so then the bottleneck may be your hard drive, and upgrading to a SSD will result in a more responsive system.
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2013-03-22, 18:50 | Link #5 |
Senior Member
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Philippines
Age: 47
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Last year, I was considering about buying someone's gaming PC that was good to begin with, and then realized that because DDR3 was cheaper and more spacious than DDR2, I decided to buy and build from scratch.
Given the recent system requirements for today's games, and then compared against Neko's existing system, those games are very resource-hungry that it warrants the need need to buy a completely new gaming PC for optimal performance, although personally I hate the idea of going through upgrade hell, preferring to use any way I can to play a game below spec. To ensure little or no bottleneck, the processor must be matched with the video card and memory.
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2013-03-22, 20:17 | Link #6 |
cat boy?
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I guess my real main question is whether there is a big performance difference between the iCore CPU vs Intel Core 2 and DDR2 vs. DDR3. And if there is a big difference, is there some way of making my current motherboard compatible with the newer technology?
Also, how do I make PSCX emulation not run like anus? Some games have audio slowdown that make it really unpleasant to play (Gitaroo Man for example)
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2013-03-23, 02:28 | Link #8 | |
Banned
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Visual Dream Panire
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Getting an either i5 or i7 Quad Core processor would be a good choice at any time. |
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2013-03-23, 04:20 | Link #9 |
The Interstellar Medium
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 34
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I heavily recommend the i5 (or i7 if you got the budget).
I recently upgraded from a similar CPU like you have now, the Q6600 2.4ghz to an i5 3.2ghz. My GFX is an ATI 5770 and, let me tell you, the FPS gain in game such as Tribes, EVE and PSCX emulators is insane. Not to mention the rendering times in Vegas and the like. I did have to switch out my mobo, but it was totally worth it.
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2013-03-23, 18:27 | Link #10 |
( ゚∀゚)アハハ八八ノヽノヽノヽノ \ / \/
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: (◣_◢)
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i7 is the equivalent of a i5 on steroids. And people still overclock it.... If you decide to get either its recommended to buy a heatsink and ditch the stock fan. But you probably should mention what games you'd like to play. Just PC in general is pretty vague.
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2013-03-24, 01:04 | Link #11 | |
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2006
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With your system specs, the GTX 460 isn't your biggest bottleneck (even though it is an aging card, it's still very strong), it's your board, processor, and ram. An i series GPU (i5 or i7 preferably) and DDR3 will offer a nice boost. I went with an i5 due to price versus performance, but the i7 is better in terms of multitasking and brute speed. The price will be much higher than an i5 however. Simply upgrading the board to newer components will give you a noticeable speed increase. Once you've done that, wait for the higher end cards to drop a bit and pick one up when it becomes mid-range, and you'll be set in terms of PC gaming for quite a while.
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2013-03-24, 06:05 | Link #12 |
(。☉౪ ⊙。)
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes
Age: 36
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Picking an i5 or i7 all depends on what OP does on his computer, what games he plays, does he use it for anything else?
It would be a waste of cash to buy something that is top range but you never even use the full capacity, even still if your max capacity fits a lower range cpu. Also depends on budget, I bought an AMD cpu cause it was a lot cheaper and it functions just fine for what I use my pc for. |
2013-03-25, 22:25 | Link #13 | |
lost in wonder forever...
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: edge of my dream in the land of twilight...ZzzZzZ
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2013-03-31, 10:47 | Link #14 | |
User Title eaten by ravenous bunnies
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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Age: 33
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