Which is more worthwhile upgrade?

My current Specs:Nvidia 8800GT 512 MB, AMD Opteron 165(X2) 1.8 ghz, OCZ 2 GB DDR 400, 550 Watt PSU, Micro ATX SLI EVGA board.Right now i can play Crysis on a 37'' HDTV @ 1768 x 992 with High/Medium settings at around 20-25 fps.(small areas like 30-35) Should i buy another 8800GT or buy a new CPU motherboard and ram? I feel like my CPU may be limiting my gpu severely because many people can use an 8800GT and play on High and get a solid 30 fps. Mine is at 25 during the beginning of the game and towards the end its at around 10-20 fps. Do you think these following parts would boost my PCs overall performance. I can OC my CPU but its at 40 C idle and when OC it runs up to 50+ idle(unstable shuts down temps get to high because i have a really hot room. Oh yea i want to play at 1920 x 1080 because its my TV's native resolutions so it looks better at that res. Motherboard Ram CPU So which would give me abetter increase ^ or new 8800GT?Which is more worthwhile upgrade?
Go for the CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo.Which is more worthwhile upgrade?
[QUOTE=''Sordidus'']Go for the CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo.[/QUOTE] Alright will do. Do you think my current cpu/mobo/ram is whats limiting my gpu?
I'd go for a nicer GPU now, and a better processor later.
Don't throw all your money at Crysis. It's a future gaming engine and not a realistic basis for upgrade. Wait a wee while until prices drop as hardware standards are all set to change.
I agree with jimmiejammer, however you need, NEED, a better Mobo/Processor Both of which are rather cheap to get into the mid 2 ghz range or higher, I would advise you get a Quad somthing, amd or intel and a better motherboard, your video card is not bad and will hold you over. The video card is Like a nice paint Job, but if you have a $10,000 paint job on a Geo Metro its no good, the $10,000 is better spent on painting your Ferrari. So get a good base first then paint it.... I think thats what I'm saying....
[QUOTE=''bigblunt537''][QUOTE=''Sordidus'']Go for the CPU/Motherboard/RAM combo.[/QUOTE] Alright will do. Do you think my current cpu/mobo/ram is whats limiting my gpu? [/QUOTE] in games like crysis which are heavy on cpu your cpu is limiting the gpu
[QUOTE=''Predator123'']I agree with jimmiejammer, however you need, NEED, a better Mobo/Processor Both of which are rather cheap to get into the mid 2 ghz range or higher, I would advise you get a Quad somthing, amd or intel and a better motherboard, your video card is not bad and will hold you over. The video card is Like a nice paint Job, but if you have a $10,000 paint job on a Geo Metro its no good, the $10,000 is better spent on painting your Ferrari. So get a good base first then paint it.... I think thats what I'm saying....[/QUOTE]Ferrari....they suck....all a matter of opinions :-)Anyways OP, see about getting yourself a new MB that supports SLI and both PCI-E are 16x (PCI-E 2.0), you should be able to find reasonable 2GB DDR2 800 memory and a new CPU - shoot for either the Q6600 or perhaps the E8400 from Intel.Once you do that, you can always pick up another 8800GT card and run them in SLI. For the most part 2x 8800GT cards can run about just as good or fairly close to some of the newer cards that have come out.One last thing, if you do want to go SLI you'll probably want to look into a new PSU to make sure you have enough juice to power everything. I'd suggest a well built 650-750watt PSU. Don't cheap out on a PSU....
E8400 isn't much more ;)
thanks for all of your input. Ill see what my money allows me to do.
Which cpu should i get. I've decided to go quad core because it will have a longer future, but im confused between the Q6600 and the Q8200... The Q8200 might have a slightly less cpu clock but im thinking it would be easier to overclock that one considering its 45 nm? Am I right or wrong?
Yes and no, it has a crappy multiplier, so the Q6600 is the way to go, see if you can find a Q6700.
[QUOTE=''X360PS3AMD05'']Yes and no, it has a crappy multiplier, so the Q6600 is the way to go, see if you can find a Q6700.[/QUOTE]I'm going to stick to the 6600 money it kind of tight right now. Only reason im getting alittle spending happy ie because my birthday is soon. I'm buying the cpu/ram and i have a new job but haven't started working yet :( lol
Doing what dude?
[QUOTE=''jimmyjammer69'']Don't throw all your money at Crysis. It's a future gaming engine and not a realistic basis for upgrade. Wait a wee while until prices drop as hardware standards are all set to change.[/QUOTE] But prices are already dropping, and that can be said 3 months from now. It's a revolving cycle and if you wait, something cheaper and better will always come out. Are you asking this guy to wait forever? Within the next 4 months, gaming will be changed forever with all these big hit titles and I think he deserves to play them!
I heard the Q9550 is a good Intel Quad core 2.8 x 4Seems to handle well in the reviews, its what 'll most likely getBefore you got down the 4gb RAM idea...are yu using Windows 32bit or 64bit?
[QUOTE=''Joker1232003'']I heard the Q9550 is a good Intel Quad core 2.8 x 4Seems to handle well in the reviews, its what 'll most likely getBefore you got down the 4gb RAM idea...are yu using Windows 32bit or 64bit? [/QUOTE] Windows Vista 64. I'm going to do 4 gb but once i have the money to do so. Also to the poster above i work for my school.
[QUOTE=''X360PS3AMD05'']Yes and no, it has a crappy multiplier, so the Q6600 is the way to go, see if you can find a Q6700.[/QUOTE] yet it takes a big overclock before it even matches the e8400 in photoshop or gaming, for gaming your better off to get a fast dual now then get a quad when they are faster and cheaper
[QUOTE=''imprezawrx500''][QUOTE=''X360PS3AMD05'']Yes and no, it has a crappy multiplier, so the Q6600 is the way to go, see if you can find a Q6700.[/QUOTE] yet it takes a big overclock before it even matches the e8400 in photoshop or gaming, for gaming your better off to get a fast dual now then get a quad when they are faster and cheaper [/QUOTE] I'd have to agree. As much as I would like a Quad, it wouldnt benefit me now. I'm going to wait until I can get a Quad-Core with around 3.2-3.3 stock speed @ around $325 or less. If I had to pick a Quad now, it would be a Q9650 but it's way too expensive.