Which first; video card or CPU/mobo/RAM?

[TheSmJ]

With Crysis coming out in a couple months I'm getting antsy about upgrading my system to maximize my enjoyment of the game (and other games to come).

My original plan was to wait until just after Crysis's release (this is still true) and buy a new high end video card, such as a 8800GTX or if they're anywhere near availability a 9800. After this I'd wait to see what offerings AMD has with their new CPUs, and upgrade my CPU, RAM, and possibly motherboard (if I can't use the AM2+ upgrade board sold by ASRock).

Then, I checked out Futuremark's ORB for 3DMark 06...



Fastest FPS speeds with a dual core Opteron/Athlon (like mine) using a 8800GTX in 3DMark 06:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=2537923

Return to Proxycon 38.455 fps
Firefly Forest 39.416 fps
Canyon Flight 50.409 fps
Deep Freeze 48.906 fps


Now, these same benchmarks on a comparable system, an Core 2 Duo 6600:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=2326211

Return to Proxycon 58.533 fps
Firefly Forest 60.949 fps
Canyon Flight 79.419 fps
Deep Freeze 75.028 fps


Thats a ~20-30 FPS increase just by going to a new CPU platform! I also noticed even with my current 7600GT, I'd gain ~10-17 FPS just by platform upgrade alone. I had no idea even my current card was being bottlenecked by my system.

Now I'm wondering if it would be more worthwhile spending $500 on a new CPU, mobo and RAM before spending the same on a new VC.

What do yall' think?

 

[tuteja1986]

Just wait until Crisis demo is out :! AMD is launching bercalona , a new CPU price war about to begin.

 

[daveybrat]

CPU: Opti 165 @ 2.7GHz - Motherboard: ASRock s939 Dual SATA2 - Video Card: eVGA 7600 GT - RAM: 2GB OCZ Performnace - Hard Drive: 300GB Maxtor SATA2 - Heatsink/Fan: Custom Water system - Windows Vista Ultimate x86

If you have a dual core opteron running at 2.7GHz with a 7600GT, then i'd say you have plenty of horsepower for these new games. You just need a better video card. Unless of course you have money burning a hole in your pocket and want an entire system upgrade, then we won't stop you.

But an upgrade to an 8800GTS level card on your system from your 7600GT would make a huge difference. I went from a 7900GS to a 8800GTS and noticed almost double the frame rates on my athlon X2.

 

[TheSmJ]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
Just wait until Crisis demo is out :! AMD is launching bercalona , a new CPU price war about to begin.

Yeah I'm not buying anything till after the Crysis demo is out. Then I'll be able to see how everyone else's hardware is holding out before making any decisions with my wallet in hand.

Originally posted by: daveybrat
If you have a dual core opteron running at 2.7GHz with a 7600GT, then i'd say you have plenty of horsepower for these new games. You just need a better video card. Unless of course you have money burning a hole in your pocket and want an entire system upgrade, then we won't stop you.

True. It all depends on how the Crysis demo plays in the end though.

If for instance systems like mine with a 8800GTX are getting 35-40 FPS with most (if not all) eye candy enabled at 1280x720 or 1680x1050, then I can live with the performance hit from the older CPU until I can upgrade it 6 months later after the dust has settled on the Phenom vs. whatever Intel has up it's sleeve. This way I can play the game and enjoy it while everyone else is playing it too.

If the frame rate is lower than that I may as well get the CPU and mobo first, as there would be little point in spending ~$500 on a video card I can't actually get any benefit from in the game I intend to play most. Not to mention by the time I'll be able to spend another $500 in hardware, the 8800GTX would be in the ~$200-$350 range at the highest.

I guess right now all I can do is wait 25 days for the demo and read feedback from other users. Till then all I can do now is speculate.

It would be really, really cool to see a benchmark comparison done between two systems like the ones I used in the 3dMark comparison with a high end video card and try them on a set of games currently available - say Bioshock, Prey, Oblivion, and R6: Vegas - and see how much of a hit the performance really takes.

 

[Zinthar]

I would imagine that those benchmarks are much more CPU-intensive than modern games, which almost always are heavily GPU-intensive. Wait and see, but I suspect that the GPU upgrade will be the cheaper and more effective path to take.

 

[TheSmJ]

Thats kinda my thinking too. If I did buy the CPU/Mobo/RAM first, I'd still have a craptastic video card which wouldn't be able to keep up with a game like Crysis (at least the way I want to play it). If I bought the video card first, there'd be a really good chance the game would play just fine, and once I get around to the CPU I'd get a "free" boost in performance from the video card.

Of course, nobody other than Crytek knows for sure till later next month.

 

[Slugbait]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
AMD is launching bercalona , a new CPU price war about to begin.

Not likely. Intel's current roadmap for price drops do not include any Core2 procs for the next six months. A few EOL procs were reduced this month, some Xeons will get a drop next month, but otherwise you're waiting until February at the earliest.

This is actually the best time, price-wise, to get a new CPU.

I would imagine that those benchmarks are much more CPU-intensive than modern games, which almost always are heavily GPU-intensive

That kinda changed a couple of years ago. For example, the Doom3 engine is very CPU-dependent. It's only when you decide to heavily crank up the resolution and graphics detail does the videocard really need to have some muscle.

 

[RussianSensation]

I would expect to see significant difference between single core and dual core processors in Crysis and marginal increase from dual core to quad core (specifically for minimum framerates). You can see a new game like Bioshock has a 40% reduction in performance on a single vs. dual core - Benchmark at 1600x1200!!! You already have a dual core at 2.7ghz which is not going to be a severe bottleneck in Crysis. At your speed the graphics card will be the most severe bottleneck no questions asked. Hopefully by then you'll be able to pick up HD2950Pro for $199 or GeForce 8800GTX for $300 or so if 9800 comes out. That would give the most bang for the buck.