Hi should i get a new GPU or a new CPU

[Guest]

Here is my system
4830 MSI
8650 x3 toliman oc to 2.8
4gb of Ram
500w of Antec PS
1TB maxtor drive
Asus M3A78-T
9700NT Zalman
Antec 900 Case

I was thinking of getting a 4850 for crossfire x or replace my cpu to a phenom II x2 550(i heard that you can unlock the other cores) So which one would benefit me more. a new cpu or a crossfire gpu?

 

[Bluescreendeath]

You can't rely on getting a PII x2 to unlock extra cores. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't, sometimes it will work but the cores are defective and unstable.

Is your CPU a phenom 1? Anyways, you can probably OC it more, and a triple core will do fine, even if it is phenom 1.

Also, are you trying to Xfire a 4830 and a 4850? If so, you'll get the performance of a single 4830. You can get another 4830 for about $70 on ebay and Xfire it.

Two 4830s perform equal to a GTX285, which is pretty respectable. Anyways, your PSU can handle two 4830s...it probably can't handle two 4850s since 4850s are less power efficient.

So, get another 4830 on ebay for Xfire.

 

[ainarssems]

Depends on the resolution and games You are playing. Core unlock is nopt guaranteed.

Best would probably be to sell Your 4830 and get a single 5850

 

[megamanx00]

Only certain boards can unlock cores and it's really a hit or miss. After all, those cores are usually disabled for a reason. If you can unlock them and get it stable, great, but don't look at it as a sure thing. Anyway, I say upgrade your CPU as that's holding even your old 4830 back. For some games, you may benefit more from upgrading your GPU, so I suppose it just depends what you play, but I say upgrade the CPU.