Upgrade from Pentium G2010 to Core i3 worth it?

[unreal9400]

My computer specs

Pentium G2010
Gigabyte H61M-DS2 rev 3.0(Support ivy bridge CPU out from the box)
4 GB 1600 Mhz Ram
1 TB Caviar Blue
Antec VP-450 450W ATX 12V v2.3 Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Monitor Resolution 1280x1024
Budget - 140 USD

Is it worth it to upgrade to an i3-3220 or should i spent on getting a graphics card like the AMD HD 7770?

 

[cmi86]

Not really worth it unless you are moving up to a quad. Do you even have a graphics card at the moment ?

 

[unreal9400]

Not really worth it unless you are moving up to a quad. Do you even have a graphics card at the moment ?

Using integrated graphics

 

[cmi86]

Well i suppose the question I should ask is what do you want to do with the machine ?

 

[unreal9400]

Web surfing, watching videos, running office program , web development , programming and some casual gaming.

 

[cmi86]

Then I would say use your budget for a decent little mid range graphics card.

 

[unreal9400]

I'll get the HD 7770 then.
Thanks.

 

[cmi86]

At the $150 price point I would try and snag a 650 ti its faster. Or a last gen 560 ti is WAY faster.

 

[unreal9400]

You need an i3 if you are getting a 7770. I would get the 7850 miles faster and will go well with i3. You should do some extra saving and then you will have a beast of a system for 1080p gaming.

If you are gaming at 720p then a hd 7750 and i3 will be great.

You're right I should save some more before upgrading.
Thanks for your help.

 

[unreal9400]

I just upgraded to Core i5 3330 paired with Sapphire HD 7770 Ghz Edition.
I can run most games at mid-high settings on my 1080P HDTV.

 

[RobCrezz]

You need an i3 if you are getting a 7770.

No you dont.

 

[logainofhades]

I would go with a GTX 650ti over a 7770. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-2.html

 

[RobCrezz]

You need an i3 if you are getting a 7770.

No you dont.

Pentium g series will massive bottleneck a 7770 to like 50% gpu load while i3 will get most likely 99% gpu load. Anyway the op cpu is a,n i5 which is plenty for any game out now.

What? No it wont! Where are you getting this info?

 

[unreal9400]

Well that i5 should be good for the next 4 years for games. 7770 is mid range gpu, I would have got a 7850 as the difference from a 7770 and 7850 is huge.

I will probably upgrade to 8000 Series GPU when it comes out.
The HD 7770 will do just fine for now.
Thanks for your help.

 

[RobCrezz]

http://alienbabeltech.com/main/core-i3-2105-vs-phenom-970-x4-the-importance-of-hyperthreading-in-gaming/7/
look at i3 with ht off on f1 2010 32fps no ht and 66fps with ht. I play f1 2010 on my i5 3317u and it runs 50fps maxed out at 720p except post process with an i5 3317u which is 100% cpu. If I had no hyperthreading it would run like slideshow or 20fps. Anyway hyperthreading is mostly useful in games only on dual core cpus, it sort of makes up for it over 4 core cpus as ivy bridge cpus have huge memory bandwidth and with 2 extra threads it works well in games.

Even gta 4 runs like 30fps maxed out in terms of the highest setting except view distance and its 100% cpu usage and 99% gpu load. My core 2 duo laptop cpu couldn't handle it, because it really requires 4 threads. So for dual cores it makes a huge difference in highly threaded games.

But that test is using a GTX 580. The 7770 is a low mid range card...

 

[mohit9206]

i suggest you get a 7750 as its plenty for a 720p monitor resolution. Don't waste your money by getting anything more powerful. 7750 is the best combination with a pentium dual core like yours and mine.