Upgrade CPU or GPU?

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tombombadil9

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Dec 26, 2012
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Alright here it is: I've got $3-500 to spend and I'm trying to upgrade my rig, hopefully to the point where it can handle a game like Planetside 2 and such. I'm trying to decide if I should upgrade my GPU, or my CPU. Currently I'm running an Intel Core i5-750, a GTX 560Ti, with 8GB DDR3 RAM all on a GA-P55-USB3 motherboard. Help please?
 
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I dont feel processor needs upgrade. that is one of the best quad processors and even though its first gen its great and has a great OC headroom. a new SSD and a GPU are a good upgrade route and i would recommend you put all that money in those two items.
 
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Some lousy suggestions here... SSDs are a nice upgrade, but the only impact they have in games is level load times are cut in half.

Your CPU is plenty for PS2 - you may consider a tower cooler and overclocking it to 3.5GHz or better, that would help. And if you're playing at 1080p, you'll need a new GPU to play at full settings. GTX 660 would be a decent upgrade - about 35% better than your current card, or a GTX 670 would be best - about 75% better.
 
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I'm fairly surprised that setup can't already handle Planetside 2.

See this chart and note from the paragraph above it "I don’t recommend upgrading your graphics card unless the replacement card is at least three tiers higher. "

The 560 Ti is sitting fairly high on that chart already...
 
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U can say the new Keplar is some tiers higher 😛 Doesn't the 560 still have the Fermi?

I do find it weird that a 560 Ti can't run planetside... Before upgrading I would check if all your parts are working correct. You can try a Memtest for example.
 
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Your CPU is great, just put a better cooler on it & overclock that SoB! Buy a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ if you don't already have one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&Tpk=hyper%20212%20plu%20s), a new GPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150605), and get either that Vertex 4 SSD or the new & improved OCZ Vector (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227915&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA&gclid=CIGc-6G2uLQCFcyf4AodSj8AxQ).
Happy computing!
 
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I actually do have my CPU overclocked to 3.8GHz atm, and I don't have any cooling problems. I can definitely play Planetside 2 on my comp., it's just frustrating when I drop down into the 20fps range in the really big battles. Anyhow, here's two cards I was looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130787

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130817

And it seems to me like the 660Ti is better than the 670, at a much lower price. Is there something subtle about the 670 that makes it better? Seems nonsensical to me..
 
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If my memory serves the 660 chips have reduced memory bandwidth. Not a big thing overall, but turning on AA will hurt those chips. The 670 has a bit better performance from the cores, and a wider memory bus so it handles AA without taking such a steep hit. If you can live without AA or lower levels of it the 660 cards are great options. If you demand 4x or 8x AA at all times, then you won't like them and will want the 670.

Edit: You still didn't answer, whats the rest of the system like?
 
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Doesn't look like a very nice cooler to me..How good is the PNY version?
 
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Great thing you pointed it out...totally overlooked that...will have to read up on it more :)
 
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its surprising to me that your i5 and 560 ti combo is having trouble running PS2.
i would suggest you get a 7950 or 670.
only these two cards will be a decent upgrade over your 560 ti.
660 ti is good as well however its memory bandwidth is actually lower than 560 ti.
am.surprised no one has recommended a 7950 yet. best bang for the buck card
 
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Wrong - GTX 660 Ti: 144 GB/s - GTX 560 Ti: 128 GB/s. Even with the narrower memory bus, the GTX 660 Ti still wins. Also, I was disappointed when the GTX 660/660 Ti showed up with a memory bus half as wide as the HD 7900 series, but Nvidia has convinced me that memory bandwidth doesn't make as much of a difference in most games and you'd think.

And before you shell out for the attractive HD 7950, check this comparison: http://techreport.com/review/24022/does-the-radeon-hd-7950-stumble-in-windows-8

Looks like AMD's driver team doesn't have a proper handle on making the most of the hardware they've got. This will hopefully change in the future.
 
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