Its time to upgrade again! What to choose....

[Chissler]

Well, its that time again. I have just bought Empire Total War, and I am not satisfied with how my rig is handling the game at all.
This time I am considering just going for a graphics upgrade though, and wait a while before I do something else to the rig.

My current rig is as follows:

Asus GeForce 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 600 MHZ
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Asus P5N-E SLI, nForce-650i SLI, ATX
Corsair TWIN2X 6400 DDR2, 4096MB CL5
Thermaltake Toughpower 850W

I used to have two of the mentioned GPU's, but I had so many issues with the sli system, that I just tossed one out.

Now what I want to ask you guys that are much more savy then me in these issues is if this rig can last a bit longer with a new gpu, or should I just start saving up now for a whole new rig ?

I am considering buying http://hothardware.com/Articles/XFX-GeForce-GTX-260-Black-Edition/?page=1, or a saphire 4870.

What do you guys think ?

Thank you in advance

 

[foolycooly]

that system doesn't need to be scrapped IMO. What you should consider however is overclocking your cpu. Consider buying a good CPU cooler and attempting a light overclock (not difficult with some research). This is a cheaper alternative to try before purchasing a new GPU. However, you GPU will probably start to struggle with today's games. What resolution are you running at?

 

[Chissler]

I usually run them at 1920 * 1200. I dont care that much about jaggies when I play, but I like having everything else maxed out when ever I can.
I have considered overclocking the cpu, but Its been very long since I did that last, but it could be worth a try. As far as I know the q6600 is a rather easy cpu to overclock.

I also agree that the primary bottleneck seems to be my GPU.

 

[WR2]

You're right about the Q6600 being easy to OC. And your Asus P5N-E motherboard should handle that well.
With even a modest aftermarket CPU cooler you should be able to reach 3.2~3.4Ghz without too much trouble.

The good news for you is that either a HD 4870 1GB or GTX 216/260 896MB video cards are a very nice upgrade and should handle that 1920x1200 resolution very well.

 

[MykC]

I can't really think of a game that will really benefit from a faster CPU than you'll have after you OC it.

If you like the high resolutions you should consider the 4850x2 2GB it $299, I don't think its much more expensive than the GTX 260 but it is about $100 more expensive than a 4870.

 

[WR2]

If you like the high resolutions you should consider the 4850x2 2GB it $299, I don't think its much more expensive than the GTX 260 but it is about $100 more expensive than a 4870.

You may have missed the GTX 260/216 prices dipping down near $200.

 

[Chissler]

Thanks for the responses all

I really appreciate it. It seems like I will do a bit of overclocking in the future. Already browsing for some new cpu cooling, and new cabinet fan. I think I will buy the xfx card that I linked earlier, just because I have better experience with nvidia cards than ATI cards.

Anyone here got that card or similar, and can give me a bit of info on it ?