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Upgrade my CPU or GPU?

flanz

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flanz

flanz

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I'm looking to upgrade my PC. My current specs are:

Intel quad core 2.4ghz CPU

Dual nvidia 8800 gt's SLI

4gb DDR3 ram

750 watt power supply

 

I was looking into buying a gtx 560 to upgrade my video card but was reading this game was more CPU dependent. Only problem is if I get a new CPU I'll need a new mobo because I have a 790i ultra.

 

So would it be worth it to buy a gtx 560? I can get one for $140. Or should I just wait until I can do a bigger upgrade (CPU,GPU, mobo)?

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Indiesnob

Indiesnob

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Honestly I would wait to upgrade both CPU and GPU at the same time (and of course your motherboard/ram whatever else will be needed).

 

If you put in a new GPU, you'll be CPU bound with your setup.

The same would go that if you went with a new CPU, you'd be GPU bound.

 

Since you have a quad 2.4, I'm 99.9% sure you're running on a socket 775 platform.

 

I'd recommend going with a sandy core build, with a decent single GPU (Crossfire/SLI is a waste in my opinion, it doesn't scale in a lot of games, and one powerful GPU is better, imho).

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flanz

flanz

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Thanks for the response. That's what I thought. Yeah I have a 775 socket which sucks since most new CPUs don't support 775. So I would need a whole new mobo if I were upgrading my processor. I'm really tempted to buy the gtx 560 now though since the price is as cheap as I've ever seen it. But maybe if I wait the price will drop more and I could upgrade everything
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flanz

flanz

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Why not upgrade to 8 GB of RAM?

 

But would that really improve my gameplay? With my current set up I have everything "high" Cept shader quality and shadows and I run I'd say average 40-60 fps. Higher in closed off places.

 

Part that bothers me though is in warzones I get really choppy like 15-25 fps. So I'm worried for end game I'm gonna have problems

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Gargastoid

Gargastoid

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I'm looking to upgrade my PC. My current specs are:

Intel quad core 2.4ghz CPU

Dual nvidia 8800 gt's SLI

4gb DDR3 ram

750 watt power supply

 

I was looking into buying a gtx 560 to upgrade my video card but was reading this game was more CPU dependent. Only problem is if I get a new CPU I'll need a new mobo because I have a 790i ultra.

 

So would it be worth it to buy a gtx 560? I can get one for $140. Or should I just wait until I can do a bigger upgrade (CPU,GPU, mobo)?

 

Here is what you do:

 

buy the i5 2500k processor (best bang for your buck, ultimate budget to mid line gaming processor).

 

buy a z68 motherboard from asrock, pro 3 gen 3. It's about 120 or so.

 

buy a 560 ti card or wait till AMD releases the 7 series cards (the 6950 will most likely drop in price at this point as well as the lower end nvidia cards: 560 etc).

 

This is the only way to go. You want to make sure you get a z68 mobo, you will be able to upgrade your processor next year once the new ivory bridge chips come out.

 

good luck to ya.

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carrylot

carrylot

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But would that really improve my gameplay? With my current set up I have everything "high" Cept shader quality and shadows and I run I'd say average 40-60 fps. Higher in closed off places.

 

Part that bothers me though is in warzones I get really choppy like 15-25 fps. So I'm worried for end game I'm gonna have problems

 

The low warzone FPS is happening to everybody I have an I 5 3.0 ghz processor, with a Radeon 6850 HD 1 gig card and I still get choppy FPS under 30 in warzones. I know many people with better builds then me getting horrible warzone FPS also. It is Biowares engine and the optimization that makes zones with a lot of people near each other lag and have fps drops.

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Siderialmoon

Siderialmoon

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Do not spend any money on any upgrades until they get the FPS issues settled on this game. Don't blow a bunch of money and then be no better off then me or anyone else with a high end rig.

 

AKA

480gtx Sli (one disabled since it makes no difference)

i7 3.6ghz

 

Getting frame drops like mad down, while at the same time my gpu usage drops below 10%, my gpu usage is barely ever above 60%, usually hover around 50fps with low usage.

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carrylot

carrylot

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Honestly you shouldn't get a gtx 560 you should get a Radeon HD 6950. And you should also upgrade your CPU over your GPU for this game its mainly CPU intensive.

 

I can tell you you are wrong on both. I upgraded from a 9800 GT 512 to a 6850 HD 1 gig. No improvement , very minimal in FPS and gameplay. I upgraded from a dual core 2, 2.4 ghz to an i 5 3.0 ghz intel and still saw minimal to no increase in performance. It is the engine that is garbage and not the hardware. I also have DDR 3 8 gigs of ram and Window 7 64 bit clean install. Stop acting like upgrading will fix the issues. Yes his computer is some what out of date but he will most likely not get any increase in performance with an upgrade. Warzones are broken for the majority of people when it comes to FPS issues.

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Gargastoid

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The low warzone FPS is happening to everybody I have an I 5 3.0 ghz processor, with a Radeon 6850 HD 1 gig card and I still get choppy FPS under 30 in warzones. I know many people with better builds then me getting horrible warzone FPS also. It is Biowares engine and the optimization that makes zones with a lot of people near each other lag and have fps drops.

 

the 6850 card is not that great for this game, 3.0 is not that great for this CPU intensive game.

 

grab the it 2500k 3.3ghz and overclock it to 4.5 (this is very very easy, people are running them at 5 ghz).

 

It is widely regarded as the best bang for your buck processor for gaming at the moment, for roughly 200 bucks you get a quad core 5 ghz processor.

 

you can get the z68 mobo for 130 from asrock, great board with room for upgrades and usb 3.0

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carrylot

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the 6850 card is not that great for this game, 3.0 is not that great for this CPU intensive game.

 

grab the it 2500k 3.3ghz and overclock it to 4.5 (this is very very easy, people are running them at 5 ghz).

 

It is widely regarded as the best bang for your buck processor for gaming at the moment, for roughly 200 bucks you get a quad core 5 ghz processor.

 

you can get the z68 mobo for 130 from asrock, great board with room for upgrades and usb 3.0

 

Not gonna be a jerk to you but brother you are loosing your mind. The game should run smooth for me regardless of what you say. I know people with lower end pc's having better FPS and people with higher end PC's getting worse FPS then me. It is Biowares engine and not my PC. Stop trying to convince people to upgrade when the hero engine is junk and not optimized.

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Gargastoid

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I can tell you you are wrong on both. I upgraded from a 9800 GT 512 to a 6850 HD 1 gig. No improvement , very minimal in FPS and gameplay. I upgraded from a dual core 2, 2.4 ghz to an i 5 3.0 ghz intel and still saw minimal to no increase in performance. It is the engine that is garbage and not the hardware. I also have DDR 3 8 gigs of ram and Window 7 64 bit clean install. Stop acting like upgrading will fix the issues. Yes his computer is some what out of date but he will most likely not get any increase in performance with an upgrade. Warzones are broken for the majority of people when it comes to FPS issues.

 

well guess what, the 6850 card is not very good bud. that would be an issue. If you are not overclocking that processor, of course you aren't seeing a big improvement. learn about hardware a bit.

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Gargastoid

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Not gonna be a jerk to you but brother you are loosing your mind. The game should run smooth for me regardless of what you say. I know people with lower end pc's having better FPS and people with higher end PC's getting worse FPS then me. It is Biowares engine and not my PC. Stop trying to convince people to upgrade when the hero engine is junk and not optimized.

 

obviously there are issues, i'm not trying to convince him to upgrade. he simply asked for suggestions. As far as upgrading, there are other games than swtor ya know?

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carrylot

carrylot

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well guess what, the 6850 card is not very good bud. that would be an issue. If you are not overclocking that processor, of course you aren't seeing a big improvement. learn about hardware a bit.

 

Yes the 9800 card was about 4 years old and the processor was about 4 years old. I shouldn't get noticeable improvements upgrading over 4 year old equipment. Makes sense brother.

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flanz

flanz

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Do not spend any money on any upgrades until they get the FPS issues settled on this game. Don't blow a bunch of money and then be no better off then me or anyone else with a high end rig.

 

AKA

480gtx Sli (one disabled since it makes no difference)

i7 3.6ghz

 

Getting frame drops like mad down, while at the same time my gpu usage drops below 10%, my gpu usage is barely ever above 60%, usually hover around 50fps with low usage.

 

 

Yeah this is true. I think I'm going to wait it out because I've been reading that a lot of people have been having problems. Plus prices usually go down not up so if I wait longer I can probably get everything for much cheaper.

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Gargastoid

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Yeah this is true. I think I'm going to wait it out because I've been reading that a lot of people have been having problems. Plus prices usually go down not up so if I wait longer I can probably get everything for much cheaper.

 

absolutely wait for the video card upgrade, the prices will be dropping within the month. That is what I'm doing. good luck to you.

 

just remember, if you do upgrade...get the i5 2500k. You will be very happy you did.

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flanz

flanz

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absolutely wait for the video card upgrade, the prices will be dropping within the month. That is what I'm doing. good luck to you.

 

just remember, if you do upgrade...get the i5 2500k. You will be very happy you did.

 

Yeah I just looke up prices on the mobo you suggested and CPU. Very very reasonable. Thing that sucks is I just got a new mobo. I bought an Alienware back in 2007 so I could place age of Conan. They were having a huge sale and I got it for $799.

 

It originally had a 680i with ddr2 memory and it crapped out so they replaced everything. New power supply, upgraded me to the 790i (which is still the best board nvidia has) and ddr3 ram. Only problem with the 790i is it's socket 775 which is way outdated.

 

But thank you for the advice

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carrylot

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Yeah I just looke up prices on the mobo you suggested and CPU. Very very reasonable. Thing that sucks is I just got a new mobo. I bought an Alienware back in 2007 so I could place age of Conan. They were having a huge sale and I got it for $799.

 

It originally had a 680i with ddr2 memory and it crapped out so they replaced everything. New power supply, upgraded me to the 790i (which is still the best board nvidia has) and ddr3 ram. Only problem with the 790i is it's socket 775 which is way outdated.

 

But thank you for the advice

 

So essentially you need a new mobo which will be 100 minimum . Ram which will be 60 minimum. Processor that will realistically be around 180. You said you want a new GPU also so that will be around 200. So you are looking at at least 500 dollars , all so you can play STWOR> Then when you install it all and load a warzone to find you are getting 25 FPS average you will take your keyboard and smash it into your monitor like most people did after thinking it was there computer and not Biowares garbage hero engine.

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flanz

flanz

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So essentially you need a new mobo which will be 100 minimum . Ram which will be 60 minimum. Processor that will realistically be around 180. You said you want a new GPU also so that will be around 200. So you are looking at at least 500 dollars , all so you can play STWOR> Then when you install it all and load a warzone to find you are getting 25 FPS average you will take your keyboard and smash it into your monitor like most people did after thinking it was there computer and not Biowares garbage hero engine.

 

Lol exactly why I decide to wait for an upgrade. While the proposition of upgrading my

PC is very enticing I'm going to try to be sensible and hold out. This is currently the only pc game I play. Also the fact that I'm in school and work close to full time makes me realize it's not worth it

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carrylot

carrylot

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Lol exactly why I decide to wait for an upgrade. While the proposition of upgrading my

PC is very enticing I'm going to try to be sensible and hold out. This is currently the only pc game I play. Also the fact that I'm in school and work close to full time makes me realize it's not worth it

 

Ya it will be a lot less stressful to play with low FPS now and not blow 500 dollars just to put the rig together and see you still get garbage FPS. It may improve a little but it will not feel remotely worth the 500 dollars you invested into it. I can tell you I full upgraded to a PC that should run the game smooth without issues and I would take a refund on my parts in a second if given the choice now. I tested Battlefield 3 and Deus Ex Human Revolution to see if they ran smooth on high settings and obviously both ran perfect. SWTOR is horribly optimized and the hero engine is utter garbage.

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flanz

flanz

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Ya it will be a lot less stressful to play with low FPS now and not blow 500 dollars just to put the rig together and see you still get garbage FPS. It may improve a little but it will not feel remotely worth the 500 dollars you invested into it. I can tell you I full upgraded to a PC that should run the game smooth without issues and I would take a refund on my parts in a second if given the choice now. I tested Battlefield 3 and Deus Ex Human Revolution to see if they ran smooth on high settings and obviously both ran perfect. SWTOR is horribly optimized and the hero engine is utter garbage.

 

Do you think $140 is a good price for a gtx 560 though? Or do you think it'll drop more when the 600 series comes out

 

I could even get a 550ti for below $100

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OnlyOneWing

OnlyOneWing

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Check http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ for comparative figures on video cards and price-range value.

 

Check Newegg.com Amazon.com and Tigerdirect.com for pricing.

 

You don't need anything extremely high-end to play SWG. I have a GTX460 that's overclocked and it can handle SWTOR with ease.

Besides, if you get a high-end card your CPU will become the bottle neck....and then the ram becomes the bottleneck. lol

Edited by OnlyOneWing
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