Gaming advice for a friend

[Markfw]

OK, so they have an old Alienware system with a Q9550 and dual 4850's in SLI. Using the same motherboard, what is the most they can upgrade video and CPU to ? I am pretty sure an nothing for the CPU, but what about the video cards ? and what % performance increase would they get going from dual 4850's ?

And I don't think they can afford dual $700 video cards, so value is a big deal here.

I have been out of the gaming area for a while.

 

[janas19]

OK, so they have an old Alienware system with a Q9550 and dual 4850's in SLI. Using the same motherboard, what is the most they can upgrade video and CPU to ? I am pretty sure an 1100T for the CPU, but what about the video cards ? and what % performance increase would they get going from dual 4850's ?

And I don't think they can afford dual $700 video cards, so value is a big deal here.

I have been out of the gaming area for a while.

A Q9950 is a quad-core processor for Intel's socket 775 platform, and it's pretty much the top of the line for 775, excepting QX chips (Quad Xtreme) which will cost you at least $200, and may not be supported by the BIOS.

An 1100T is an AMD processor - it won't work, but that would be a helluva thing if it did! 😛

 

[Markfw]

duh.... Silly me I need another beer.

But what about the video cards.

 

[janas19]

A single 5850 would be better than two 4850s. But then if you get two 5850s, you can put them in crossfire. I would sell off the 4850s and use the money towards a 5850.

 

[bryanW1995]

Edit: I'd probably look for a decent single card like 6950 or gtx 560. That will still be a decent upgrade for your buddy, and he could grab a 2nd card if he really wants to get crazy.

 

[Dark Shroud]

A AMD HD 6950 2GB model is probably their best bet at the moment.

It's stronger than the GTX 560s and cheaper than the GTX 570.

 

[janas19]

That Q9550 is selling for $300 on Ebay. Just FYI

 

[wahdangun]

umm why not go buy HD 7970 its the fastest graphic card on earth right now

 

[MisterMac]

umm why not go buy HD 7970 its the fastest graphic card on earth right now

umm why not go buy 3 of them and a 3960X?

 

[GaiaHunter]

Any single gpu card shouldn't be terribly bottlenecked.

GTX460/6850 probably will be close to 4850x2 speed. 6870 and above will be faster.

 

[bryanW1995]

If he could really get $300 that would be awfully impressive.

Mark, if he can part out the system then now is a good time to upgrade. $375 would be enough for 8gb ddr3, 2500k, a budget z68 mobo, and a hyper 212+. Thats what I spent on my upgrade to those components a couple months ago, and I even have 3 x pci-e x16 slots.

 

[janas19]

If he could really get $300 that would be awfully impressive.

Mark, if he can part out the system then now is a good time to upgrade. $375 would be enough for 8gb ddr3, 2500k, a budget z68 mobo, and a hyper 212+. Thats what I spent on my upgrade to those components a couple months ago, and I even have 3 x pci-e x16 slots.

I'm telling you, the Q9550 is selling for $275 plus on Ebay. Plus a 775 overclocking board with Crossfire support = $75 at LEAST. Then 4GB of DDR2 AND dual 4850s and I wouldn't be surprised if he pockets $450 total.

Keep the HDD, PSU, optical drive, and maybe case. Sell everything else and upgrade to a Z68/i5-2500k combo.

 

[Concillian]

If he's using dual 4850s, the current equivalent is dual 6850s.

You can get a 6850 for $120ish if you camp on great deals + rebates, $140ish if not.

Single card comparison:
4850 < 5770 << 6850 < 6870 < 5850 < 5870 < 6950 < 6970

Generally 58xx cards are the best for bitcoin mining, and this has pushed their resale value up to the point that it's usually a better value to get 2x 6850 if he's already used to crossfire.

1x6950 or 2x6850 would be my recommendation.