Upgrade worth it?

[Retundant]

Hi, I currently have an older system with an AMD 64 X2 4200+ that has a 7800GT video card. The one issue is it's a 939 socket not AM2 so I can't upgrade the CPU. But it boots off a Raptor 740GT which is the older 80 gig version but still fairly fast.

This is primarily a gaming machine but it is my every-day machine too. It's fast enough for most things but not gaming at any high resolution at all. I have to play 1280x1024 at highest and then with eye candy turned off for playability. I've wanted to upgrade the motherboard, CPU and ram to an i5 750 or i7 860 but I can't afford it all right now.

So my question is, if I were to upgrade to a new power supply and a 4890, would my 4200+ be able to drive it at all? I want to get a 4890 so that when I do upgrade the rest of the machine, I won't have to re-upgrade the video card again. It doesn't seem to make sense to spend $125-$150 now for some video card that does ok when I could spend $190 and have it work really well for the upcoming upgrade as well. What do you think?

 

[eggrolls]

When do you plan to do your CPU/mobo upgrade? How much do you think you can spend at that time?

 

[CraigRT]

I myself am considering something like this: (which will be upgradeable)

Phenom 550
Gigabyte UD5P mainboard (16x PCI-E)
4GB DDR3

I'm coming from:

Opteron 170
A8R32-MVP Deluxe (939)
2GB DDR400

We're in similar shoes. I just want to do mine on a budget...

 

[fffblackmage]

If I were in your shoes, I'd save up to do a completely new build. New cpu, mobo, ram and gfx card (and probably power supply as well). My concern is that there's little point in spending money on the 4890 now if you can't upgrade the cpu+mobo within a couple months or so. And if money is such a serious concern, get something closer to around $100, or perhaps buy something used.

 

[DanDaManJC]

Yeah I'd opt to save up for the whole system. Whenever you do get around to the cpu, ram and mobo upgrade you won't want to be limited by your video card. It's not like the 4890 will be completely outclassed in a couple months, but rather by then there might be some newer games that are pushing limits and cards like the 5850 and 5870 will actually be available at reasonable and comparable prices to the 4890.

 

[WildW]

Don't know if you've got your X2 4200 overclocked, but certainly at stock that CPU will hold back even a 4670. What resolution would you be gaming at if your gpu wasn't holding you back?

 

[Retundant]

I'd want to play at 1900 at least if I got an i7 860 as I plan. And I was hoping for the upgrade in two months I would figure for the rest of the system. But it sounds like I should wait and just upgrade the whole thing