Is it worth it to upgrade the video card on my rig?

[Doggiedog]

I've got a C2D E6600 OCed to 3.0Ghz with 6GB of RAM and an nVidia 8800 GTS 640MB.

I really have to turn down the effects when playing Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age at 1900x1200.

Would upgrading my video card be worth it or should I just save the money for a new PC?

Thanks,

DD

 

[chef-]

definitely worth it as your video card can be used again if you ever decide to upgrade your mobo+processor.

i hear ati has been beating up on nvidia

 

[MisterDonut]

Probably a 5770 or 5850 if you have the money for it, but that's if you want to upgrade it. E6600 is a fine chip and should run most stuff OK. DA:O is CPU-limited, so you might run into troubles there. It depends on the games you play really. I'd save up if your games lean towards CPU-limited, or bump up to a 5850 if they're GPU.

 

[epidemis]

The 8800 GT is pretty decent, so unless you have an urgent need, I'd wait to upgrade.

If you do upgrade, you should take the 5850, the 5770 won't be a big enough jump for the money given out.

 

[Pig_Death]

Ah the good old 8800 question, Yes in simple terms the 8800 is still a kick ass card but yeah it is kind of showing age in modern games like bad company 2. My dad has an 8800 gtx rig and it shows its age in bc2 but he just ordered a new rig 😀

 

[Doggiedog]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I bought a nice Acer laptop for my kids with an ATI 5650 chip in it and even though the resolution is lower, the effects are so much nicer than my desktop's.

I think I will go with the 5850 suggestion. I suppose I can use the card with whatever rig I upgrade to next.