Thinking of upgrading my 7800gt

[bigguy123]

I've got a 3800x2 running at 2 ghz and a 7800gt. I have a big 1080p monitor and attempting to play crysis is a joke. I'd like to be able to PLAY the game at low settings. I was thinking of buying a used 8800gt or maybe a 4770. Is a 4850 overkill? My psu is only 430 watts and I guess I'd have to overclock my cpu as well to get the most out of the video card. Also, when I watch 1080p mkv files the video is full of artifacts. Would a faster gpu be able to help this?

What do you guys think? I won't be buying a new computer and my laptop has a 4650 which performs better than my huge obsolete desktop!

 

[Smartazz]

Depending on how much you could overclock that CPU, I'd recommend something along the lines of an HD 4850 or HD 5770 provided your power supply is up to the task. What brand of PSU do you have?

 

[toyota]

with a 3800 X2 you are going to have poor performance in many modern games no matter what gpu you buy. yes I know people on here will say that you are playing at 1920 but all that means is if you get a good card then you will be getting crap performance at a high res instead of crap performance at a lower res as with your 7800gt.

that being said anything is better than your 7800gt if you really want to play at that res. just try and find something for well under 100 bucks if you can because theres no point in spending more with your cpu at stock speeds.

 

[Smartazz]

with a 3800 X2 you are going to have poor performance in many modern games no matter what gpu you buy. yes I know people on here will say that you are playing at 1920 but all that means is if you get a good card then you will be getting crap performance at a high res instead of crap performance at a lower res as with your 7800gt.

that being said anything is better than your 7800gt if you really want to play at that res. just try and find something for well under 100 bucks if you can because theres no point in spending more with your cpu at stock speeds.

My last rig had the same CPU clocked at 2.5GHz with an 8800GTS and it was pretty rock solid at 1680 by 1050. However, it completely crossed my mind that games today are more heavily threaded.

 

[toyota]

My last rig had the same CPU clocked at 2.5GHz with an 8800GTS and it was pretty rock solid at 1680 by 1050. However, it completely crossed my mind that games today are more heavily threaded.

yeah a stock 3800 X2 doesnt meet the recommended in hardly in modern games. in fact in some cases it doesnt even meet the minimum requirements and we all know minimum requirements are usually a joke when it comes to actually trying to play a game.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

You might have some luck squeezing an overclock out of those. I had a 3800 x2 and I ran it with a 25% overclock for 4 years and it is still running. But keep in mind that CPU is OLD, even at 25% more it isn't going to help you that much.

Get a new CPU, you can get some amazing CPUs for dirt cheap these days and then think about a video card.

 

[bigguy123]

You might have some luck squeezing an overclock out of those. I had a 3800 x2 and I ran it with a 25% overclock for 4 years and it is still running. But keep in mind that CPU is OLD, even at 25% more it isn't going to help you that much.

Get a new CPU, you can get some amazing CPUs for dirt cheap these days and then think about a video card.

I wish it were that easy. A new cpu means a new motherboard, new ram, new heatsink, and taking apart my entire case just to play a video game.

 

[Via]

I went from a 4200+ X2 to a 6400+ X2 (Which I'm still using) and the difference was night and day. Maybe you could drop a new CPU in your mobo and get a decent boost.

 

[bigguy123]

I have a 939 motherboard

 

[kalrith]

See this thread for someone in a similar situation. Unless you have money for a full-system upgrade, then I'd recommend a used 4850 for about $60. Will it be CPU limited? Yes. Will it be the best $60 gaming improvement for you? Yes.

Even though a 4850 with a Core i7 would perform better than your system, that doesn't mean that a 4850 won't be a substantial upgrade for you.

 

[Face2Face]

I would look through Craigslist for a cheap 9600 GT, 8800GT or a 3870, 4850. I had a 4200 X2 overclocked to 2.7 Ghz and my e2180 @ 3.2 Ghz Destroyed it!!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

3850's and 3870s are on CL often. They sell fast, but they are typically in the $40 range. I had an X2 4200+ 2.2ghz (s939), 4GB DDR400 and an 8800GTS/3850 and both of those video cards were perfect matched for the processor.