Upgrade decision: CPU or video card?

[donny rocko]

I'm currently running a Core2duo 2.2 Ghz with 3 gigs system ram, a Sapphire Radeon 3870 512 Mb on Vista Home Premium 32 bit. I'm looking at either a new Core2duo 3.0 Ghz or a new radeon 4870 w/ 1 Gig. Thoughts? I wonder if I'm really pushing the 3870 with my current processor. Power is not an issue , as I have a nice Antec cranking out plenty of power. Thoughts/experiences/suggestions?

 

[WR2]

What size / resolution monitor are you using?
I don't suppose you want (or can't) OC' your CPU (E4500?) to 2.8Ghz?

Going from a 2.2Ghz to 3.0Ghz with a 3870 won't be as big a jump in performance
as going from a 3780 to 4870 on a 2.2Ghz C2D.

 

[4745454b]

Unless he is an RTS/sim freak.

Do you do anything else other then play games? The resolution you play at is also needed. I went from a single core Athlon 3500+ to the Intel E6600. My resolution is so low however (1280x1024) that my x1800XT or my 8800GS didn't make the games I play "better". They were already maxed out, so having a faster CPU didn't do anything for gaming. What having a dual core did give me was the ability to watch something on my TV while doing something else with no hick ups on the TV. It also cut down on my .avi conversions. What I'm trying to say is depending on the things you do, you might not need any upgrade, or both are required. Games/activities you play/do and the resolution you do these at is what matters.

 

[N890]

If you got the Radeon 4870 1GB the C2D 2.2Ghz CPU would probably bottleneck it. So the wiser upgrade i would think is the CPU.

 

[trance4850]

Overclock cpu and upgrade gpu

 

[aevm]

Overclock cpu and upgrade gpu

+1

Edit: and when you do upgrade the CPU, get a quad.