Speculation on my upgrade path.

[dpodblood]

So my motherboard in my ~2 year old gaming rig died over the weekend. I replaced it with a cheapie board from my local PC shop, but this got me thinking about my potential upgrade path.

Here's what I have currently:
ASUS Micro-ATX motherboard (bought to replace my Gigabyte P55 board which died)
Intel e8400 w/ Zalman cooler (running @ stock)
4GB Corsair DDR2 667
Galaxy 8800 GT 512MB
500 Watt Thermaltake PSU
3x SATA HDD's
1x DVD-RW
Thermaltake Armor Case (full tower)

I was thinking first of all of replacing my crappy PSU with something better like a 750 watt model from Corsair, XFX (seasonic rebadged), or Silverstone. This would help to prepare for higher end components, and I believe 750 watt should be enough to support SLI later down the road if I desired.

My next thought was to upgrade the GPU. Probably to something along the lines of a GTX 470. Is there any point to putting a GPU like this in my current setup, or would I only be CPU limited?

Next, in 3-4 months time I could replace the mobo/cpu/and RAM with something better. Something along the lines of a Core i5 (with a decent cooler to overclock), P55 Mobo, and 4 (maybe 8) GB DDR3 1600.

Is there any point to taking this kind of upgrade path, or am I just better off waiting till I can afford to upgrade everything at once?

 

[fffblackmage]

E8400 and P55 mobo? Huh? Isn't the E8400 for LGA775 and P55 LGA1156?

Assuming you keep using the E8400, I don't think you should be CPU limited in most games with the GTX470, especially if you OC the E8400.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with SLI/xfire, unless you're gaming at resolutions above 1080p.

 

[dpodblood]

E8400 and P55 mobo? Huh? Isn't the E8400 for LGA775 and P55 LGA1156?

Assuming you keep using the E8400, I don't think you should be CPU limited in most games with the GTX470, especially if you OC the E8400.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with SLI/xfire, unless you're gaming at resolutions above 1080p.

Sorry I mean't P35, not 55. I can try overclocking the CPU. I used to have it running stable @ 3.8GHz then one day it just decided it didn't want to any more. Not sure how great of an OC I will achieve on this cheap motherboard though.

 

[MisterDonut]

What resolution do you game at? If you really NEED the boost in graphics, go for a GTX460 (depends on your resolution, but I'm gonna guess 1080p cause that's what most people have). The rest of your machine can hold over until Sandybridge is out, then maybe you can consider a platform upgrade (also depends on your budget).

You might also consider an SSD to boot + a few apps. Corsair Force 60GB is a good choice. Keep in mind that something new will always be around the corner. When you're looking at an i5/i7 upgrade, Intel might announce Sandybridge a dead socket and create a new roadmap. Buy upgrades based on needs. If you need a speed boost in a couple months, shoot for the upgrade. If you're like me and jump on any fat deals, I'd wait for one of them .

 

[dpodblood]

Currently gaming @ 1680x1050. Maybe getting a new 1080p monitor next year depending on whats in the budget. For now I guess I should stick with what I've got.

 

[mfenn]

If you do any sort of gaming, you should be looking into replacing that 8800GT. A GTX 460 1GB is a good choice and should run fine on your current PSU.

 

[dpodblood]

If you do any sort of gaming, you should be looking into replacing that 8800GT. A GTX 460 1GB is a good choice and should run fine on your current PSU.

Realistically what type of performance increase would I be looking at going from the 8800GT to a GTX 460, assuming the CPU stays the same. I realize this is a bit of a broad question since every game is different, but just looking for a rough idea.

 

[skuzzzzy]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/178?vs=180

 

[mfenn]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/178?vs=180

Yeah, I would say that it will be at least 2-3 times as fast. The numbers won't be quite as good as the ones in Bench due to your E8400, but it will still be a very nice speedup.

 

[LongTimePCUser]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/191?vs=56

If you compare the e8400 to the i5/760 at stock clock speeds, the i5/760 is only about 10% faster on sysmark and other single thread software.

The e8400 may overclock better than the i5.
You can probably stick with the e8400 and just replace the video board. That should give you a lot more bang for the $.

 

[Davidh373]

First, replace 8800GT with a 460 1GB and PSU with 650TX (around $300)


second, replace C2 D with an i5 760 + 1156 Motherboard and 4GB DDR3 RAM (around $400)

 

[mfenn]

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/191?vs=56

If you compare the e8400 to the i5/760 at stock clock speeds, the i5/760 is only about 10% faster on sysmark and other single thread software.

The e8400 may overclock better than the i5.
You can probably stick with the e8400 and just replace the video board. That should give you a lot more bang for the $.

More and more games are taking advantage of quad cores. Just look at Far Cry 2, BF:BC2, and Dragon Age for a few examples. These games see massive improvements an i5 750.