Question about upgrading

[Jboyd1829]

First time posting here, but I wanted to get feedback on whether or not upgrading my Gpu would provide significant Fps increases on some of today's new games or if my older processor might continue to limit my system. I would like to play games like BF3, skyrim, batman, witcher 2 at 1920x1080 with at least High to Very High graphics settings. My current build is a Dell XPS system I got as a gift linked below. I was looking at upgrading to a 560 TI or an equivalent AMD GPU. Big question is whether to update the GPU and make the rig last another year or two or if I would be better served just saving the money now and waiting for a whole new rig. Also I have not tried OCing my system at all either which is an option too. Thanks in advance.

CPU: Q6600 2.4 GHz Core duo
Mobo: 630i
Ram: 8 GB DDR2 @ 800 MHz
GPU: 9800 GT x2 in SLI
Hard drive: 500 GB @ 7200 rpm

 

[fffblackmage]

Welcome to the Anandtech forums.

Those two 9800GT is rather outdated. BF3 and Witcher 2 are both gpu-intensive games and will benefit most from an upgrade to the best gpu you can afford now. Skyrim can be fairly gpu-intensive at some times, but I'm finding myself being limited by the cpu more often than anything else. It has to do with shader processing done in the cpu instead of gpu or something. In any case, the game is poorly optimized and heavily reliant on a fast cpu (fast as in faster cores, not more cores).

Of course, if you can overclock the Q6600, do so. I didn't know you can do that with a Dell machine.

 

[Puppies04]

If you can OC that Q6600 and add a 560TI you should be good for high/very high depending on the game (BF3 mid/high)

 

[mfenn]

If you can OC that Q6600 and add a 560TI you should be good for high/very high depending on the game (BF3 mid/high)

Dell XPS, so probably not.

OP, a GPU upgrade would definitely help you out in a lot of games. You will be limited by your Q6600 in some games like BF3 though. It is a quad-core, but the relatively low 2.4GHz clock speed hampers performance somewhat.

 

[Jboyd1829]

Thanks for your advice guys. I will prob look at upgrading GPU when the new 700 series come out to try for a price drop on the upper 600 series. I will also look into OCing my 6600 since my dell is a 630i which supposedly allows it. Have a great night.

 

[General Kenobi]

Just keep in mind that your CPU will become a bottleneck if you go too far with the card upgrade.

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for your advice guys. I will prob look at upgrading GPU when the new 700 series come out to try for a price drop on the upper 600 series. I will also look into OCing my 6600 since my dell is a 630i which supposedly allows it. Have a great night.

I'm assuming you're referring to Nvidia cards? I have heard that they are going to skip 600 altogether and go straight to 700 for some asinine reason. But anyway, don't bet on high-end GPUs dropping in price unless you're willing to buy used. If you take a look at the prices of some last gen GPUs on Newegg, you will see that they are either OOS or ridiculously priced.

Honestly, just slapping something fairly inexpensive like a GTX 560 Ti or 6950 2GB in there will do wonders for your performance and won't cost an arm and a leg. That'll let you focus on upgrading the rest of the core platform, which seriously needs a boost.

 

[austin316]

I'm assuming you're referring to Nvidia cards? I have heard that they are going to skip 600 altogether and go straight to 700 for some asinine reason. But anyway, don't bet on high-end GPUs dropping in price unless you're willing to buy used. If you take a look at the prices of some last gen GPUs on Newegg, you will see that they are either OOS or ridiculously priced.

Honestly, just slapping something fairly inexpensive like a GTX 560 Ti or 6950 2GB in there will do wonders for your performance and won't cost an arm and a leg. That'll let you focus on upgrading the rest of the core platform, which seriously needs a boost.

GTX 560 Ti are $229. That is considered inexpensive?

 

[charre]

Take a look at the 6850-6870. They are solid mainstream cards that are sub-180$

 

[mfenn]

GTX 560 Ti are $229. That is considered inexpensive?

Relative to the not-yet-released high-end cards that you were referencing, yes.