New PC Time - or upgrade?

[Therk]

I generally buy a whole new PC, relatively high end, every 2 years - pretty much on the dot. I should be getting a new PC in several months but unfortunately I don't see such a big improvement happening this time.

Beginning of 2006 PC:

A64 3200+
1 gb RAM
6800GS
200gb space
19" CRT

Beginning of 2008 PC:

E8200 2.67Ghz
4gb Ram
8800 GT
1 TB space
20" LCD ---> 24" LCD

Huge difference, was probably getting something like 4 - 5 times the fps. Now, I don't see myself gaining all that much more performance unless I spend really big bucks (i7 + DDR3 + 4870 x2)

I beleive that the best thing I could do is extend this rig's lifetime to maybe around the end of 2010/start of 2011 by upgrading a few things. Which parts would give me the highest performance boost for my money? Atm I'm looking at the 4870 and 4890 - but is it worth it?

Can grab the 4870 512mb for about $270NZ or the 4980 for about $370 NZ

 

[vj8usa]

If you OC your CPU and then get a new GPU, you could get a pretty nice boost in performance (and maybe get a quad on the same motherboard to get another cheap boost later on when more games are heavily multithreaded). I'm guessing your 24" LCD is 1920x1200, so you probably don't want to get a 512MB card. What's the price difference between a 4870 1GB and 4890 for you? Also, what games are you looking for more performance in?

 

[Therk]

Mainly games like Crysis, cod 4, and suprisingly oblivion at a few points 😛

Its actually a 1920x1080 Dell lol, can't complain though, I got it for $360 NZ new ($200 US) and I got a $200NZ (~$130US) 3-in-1 printer free.

The 1gb 4870 is about $300 afaik

 

[jdjbuffalo]

If you want to get one soon then I would at least wait a little bit until the Intel i5 series comes out. These will be more reasonably priced and should be only a little slower. There will also be a bunch of new processors coming soon. There are new video cards that should be out in the next few months. If I were you, I would at least wait until those come out and we see what kind of numbers the new hardware produces.

If money is burning a hole in your pocket or you feel you need an upgrade for your games then I agree with vj8usa. Get the 4870 1GB and overclock your CPU (if you are comfortable with it).

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: Therk
The 1gb 4870 is about $300 afaik

It would probably be cheaper to take some medication that makes you care less about graphical quality. With good insurance you could probably get some pain killers for $20....

Anyway, do you have any NZ websites to show the prices of these cards? A lot of the time I think of something I want then I completely change my mind when I see the prices. For example, GTX 260 (216 core) video cards on newegg.ca range from $190 to $221. Then the next card up is GTX 275 starting at $225 CDN. Price variations like that make it impossible to recommend something.

but is it worth it?
Can grab the 4870 512mb for about $270NZ or the 4980 for about $370 NZ

Compared to the 8800GT? I would say not worth it. These cards are both a lot faster than what you have, but it seems like a pointless expense since your current video card can already run every game on the market. I could understand buying a new card if you wanted to play a certain game and it just won't work on your current card, but that isn't the case here.

 

[happy medium]

A 4870 1 gb will go nicely with a e8200 @ 2.67 @1900x1200 res. I say go for it.

Edit: It will be a real nice boost over your 8800gt. 60/70%