Looking for insight on improving my system for gaming

[stevesimmonds]

Hello All,

I built my rig a few years ago and feel it starting to be a bit sluggish. I wanted to pick your guys' brains for input on how to maximize my gaming potential without breaking the bank. I am currently able to run Call of Duty MW3 and Left 4 Dead 2 on high graphics settings with NEVER having any FPS issues. But I recently have been playing The Warz, and even on low settings i drop down to 12 FPS sometimes even 2.5 FPS at certain "spikes". I was assuming I needed a new video card, but im getting mixed messages from friends, so I wanna throw it out your way. Here is my rig...

Motherboard- Foxconn A7GM-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
CPU- AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core
Memory- Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel
Video Card- Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT Core Clock 600MHz mem. data rate 1800MHz mem. interface 256-bit memory 1024MB PCI Exp. x16 Gen2

Please any info/input would be greatly appreciated, im hoping to keep the M/B and CPU(which i just overclocked and its at 2.8GHz now).

-Regards

Steve





P.S. My apologies for not reading the thread about the proper way to ask this question Budget would be approx $150 for Video Card, but if i kinda need an overhaul, i will save up and put down a proper $850 and build another one.

 

[stevesimmonds]

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: February 2009 BUDGET RANGE: $150-ish for video card & $200 for card and more ram

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Mainly Gaming i.e. Skyrim, BattleField 3, Call of Duty Black Ops 2, The Warz etc.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT Core Clock 600MHz mem. data rate 1800MHz mem. interface 256-bit memory 1024MB PCI Exp. x16 Gen2, power is 500W PSU (im pretty sure, but i wouldnt mind getting a new one)

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS: Motherboard- Foxconn A7GM-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD
CPU- AMD Phenom 9850 Black Edition 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core
Case- Thermaltake XaserIII, decent sized case with plenty of air movement
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg and Tiger Direct, I also live 20 min from a Fry's Electronics

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA, California

PARTS PREFERENCES: No preference

OVERCLOCKING: Yes on my CPU, not GPU OR CROSSFIRE: No

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1440x900 Acer X193W

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would love to be able to play most current games on high/ultra settings

 

[megahurtz]

Hi
i'd just pick up a cheap 2nd hand 6950 off ebay or some were like that with your system specs it should be ok but id look at upgrading your platform in the near future as your cpu is starting to get a little on the older side not that you would not get a decent improvement with a new gpu i just picked up a 2nd 6950 for 90 plus shipping wich was 120 all up that or something like a 6950 will set you up for a bit longer but with that cpu u might want to either over clock it or upgrade.