Got 170$ upgrade the CPU or GPU?

[Rachpoil]

Hi there,

 

I got a dilemma and would be great full for any advice. I have a 170$ to spend on my PC and I'm planing to upgrade ether the CPU or the video card.

 

Here are my curent system spec:

Motherboard: Asus M3N78 Pro (no SLI)

CPU: AMD Phenom 9950 BE 2.6GHz @ 3.0GHz L2:512KB L3:2MB

GUP: EVGA 9800 GT 512 MB

RAM: 4 GB DDR2 800

Audio: Auzentec X-fi Prelude 7.1 PCI

Power supply: Enermax Liberty 620W

 

The parts I have my eyes on are:

 

AMD Phenom II X4 945 L2:2MB L3:6MB 3.0GHz (stock)

and a

BFG GeForce GTS 250 OC 1GB (750 Mhz).

 

They are about the same price. My dilemma is that GTA 4 is hungry on both the CPU and the GPU/VRAM.

 

The CPU concern: Will my DDR2 800MHz bottleneck the performance of the newer AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU?

 

The video card concern: Will there be a noticeable difference upgrading to a slightly faster video card with twice the memory?

 

Sorry, forgot to mention... If it may be of importance in choosing the best part to upgrade, i play GTA 4 at 1920×1080 resolution (native resolution of the TV).

 

Thank you very much for any advice!

Edited February 26, 2010 by Rachpoil

[StoOopiD]

I think you should save a little more and get the AMD Flagship CPU--965. ur almost there. I think that would be the more future proof decision.

 

Yeah the 250 has nice clocks but theres one important spec its lacking is the 256bit memory interface or fill rate. u want to have a 512bit or better now adays

 

I think the 250 and one of those cheaper 5000 ati cards are pretty much the same in price and performance. yeah i know ATi but Ati 5000 cards try to make for there memory interface with faster ram. with the ATi card you'll get Dx11

 

 

I dont know. U can do what im doing. waiting intil 3-26-10 when Nvidia releases there new cards

 

 

 

Rob somebody

 

[Rachpoil]

Thanks StoOopiD

 

Maybe you are right to wait a bit longer.

 

If i upgrade to the 965 CPU do you think that my DDR2 800 and/or motherboard will bottleneck the new CPU a lot?

Edited February 26, 2010 by Rachpoil

[StoOopiD]

I dont think so. 800mhz ram really isn't that bad. I mean that if you got a 965 and later on down the road got a new mobo and with DDR3 ram. I don't think that you'll see much of a difference. maybe a tiny bit faster.

 

What ram do u have?

[Rachpoil]

I'm glad to hear that!

 

So it will be worth to wait a bit longer. Plus like you said, the CPU will be compatible when i do a major PC overhaul if i don't feel the need to change the CPU (happen every 2.5 to 3 years).

 

My DDR2 is a G.Skill PC2-6400 5-5-5-15 2x2GB

[azkay]

Also, make sure your motherboard is fully compatible with the AM3/CPU your looking at.