Should I buy a new GPU or a CPU ?

[das.rambo]

Should I buy a new GPU or a CPU ?
I only have money for one.Currently I have a i3 2100 (LGA 1155) and a Radeon HD4850,which one should I upgrade ? please keep in mind the upcoming games like watchdogs etc which require a beefy processor and a GPU,I would like a i5 2400 or a gtx 650 ti boost/HD 7850 if I upgrade the CPU or the GPU respectively.
please help guys


thanks in advance

 

[schmuckley]

I vote for GPU 1st;You could always find a decent used quad 1155 in the forum marketplaces.

 

[Ed1]

while you really need both (good quad core and GPU ). right now changing/upgrading GPU would give more bang ofr buck as you get Dx11 availability and at very least you be able to turn res/setting up with same CPU horse-power.

Changing the CPU first would only help in limited way as GPU still be biggest bottleneck and would only help in CPU intense games (BF4 comes to mind) .

 

[Yuriman]

An i3 is a good match for a 7850. I used a 4870 with my i5 3570K for a while when I first got it and I did see some speed improvements in games over my Q6600 (specifically Guild Wars 2 and Civ5) but the i3 is going to be fine for any card under $200.

 

[buklau]

I would try to sell your i3 2100 and 4850, add whatever you plan to spend on a 650ti boost / 7850 to see if you can get a used 2500k and 7850 2gb.

 

[Seba]

Your CPU is not that outdated, compared with Radeon HD 4850. Another vote for changing the graphic card first. If money is not that limited, I'll say to go for a GTX 760 4GB. If not, then Radeon 7850 2GB or GTX 650 Ti Boost 2GB.

 

[sm625]

GPU. Definitely. You're looking at a 50% boost by spending $140 on a 7850. In many games you wont see any boost at all by upgrading to an i5-2500k, and on average you'd see less than 20% fps gains.

 

[tweakboy]

Can you afford a SSD, if so I say, SSD then CPU then GPU.

 

[das.rambo]

thanks guys ,will buy a GPU then ,the 650 ti boost costs lower than the 7850 in India,so I'll be getting that