Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: What is better? Upgraded CPU, or Upgraded GFX Card?
  • Subject: What is better? Upgraded CPU, or Upgraded GFX Card?
Subject: What is better? Upgraded CPU, or Upgraded GFX Card?
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I can't decide wether to get a 3.4 GHz Intel P4 processor, or a ATi Saphire Radeon X850 XT. Which would help my game performance more? The processor costs about $350 w/ motherboard, and the Radeon Costs $550.

My current stuff:

AMD 1.8GHz processor
ATI Radeon 9600 XT

Which one should I upgrade? CPU or GFX Card?

  • 05.22.2005 7:04 AM PDT
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What kind of processor is it? It would be worthwhile to get the PCIe version of the x850. I think that if you get only the video card, your processor will be the bottle neck, if you get only the CPU, your GPU will be the bottle neck. If you plan on upgrading your GPU, the x850 is overkill.

  • 05.22.2005 7:23 AM PDT
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get both

if u cant afford both get the processor casue if u think bout the processor will improve most aspects of ure gaming (probibly being 64bit and all)
so ull game really fast(part frm on halo pc cause it = LAG!!)and the processor will make ure computer a better machine and if its coming with a new mthboard than that will be new so better for ure processor and the processor prob has ht so even faster

so in a few words go for the processor it sounds like a sweet deal

  • 05.22.2005 9:00 AM PDT
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1.8GHz AMD is going to give you similar performance to the P4 if it's an Athlon 64. I say this because you can't compare clock speeds from AMD to Intel. Intel is speed-happy, while AMD focuses more on other stuff, specifically south-bridge and controller bottlenecks that Intel has on their systems.

Is it a socket 754 or 939, and what type of processor is it? Cuz I'd say get the graphics card. If it is A64, no need to replace at all. I'm running a 3200+, 2.0GHz AMD that's exceeding Pentium 4 extreme editions in performance during games and in memory bandwidth :D

  • 05.22.2005 9:27 AM PDT
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It all depends on what kind of processor you have right now.

  • 05.22.2005 10:56 AM PDT
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if you have a good processor already, then it might be better to buy a video card. like chewy said, it all depends on your current hardware.

  • 05.22.2005 11:16 AM PDT
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here's a swell idea; get a new pc all together. you might get some better performance on other components such as SATA or RAID 0 hard drive setup, PCI-Express, SLI, and some other things.

  • 05.22.2005 12:48 PM PDT
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Well, if he upgrades from an AMD to an Intel, he'll need a new motherboard anyway :/

What socket AMD do you have? If it's 754 then you may well just sell it, along with the board and GPU, and get a new board, CPU, and GPU. 3200 + Chaintech VNF4 or Gigabyte board + X850XT = happiness.

  • 05.22.2005 1:16 PM PDT
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whoa! i didnt see his current stuff...

hmm. i would say that if thats a athlon 64, get the video card. if its not, then the cpu might be a better idea.

  • 05.22.2005 3:36 PM PDT
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I would get the processor definately and save for the graphics because the 9600 xt plays most games ok now any way and the processor will speed up the gaming a bit aswell.

  • 05.23.2005 7:41 AM PDT
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No it won't. A 1.8GHz AMD is fine, in fact if it's an A64, perfect. Mine is 2.0GHz and I get 6000+ on PCMARK04. The 9600XT will speed up his games. What is slowing him down is the new and more complex geometry and textures, and the cpu doesn't do that. It calculates AI and physics.

Get the graphics card if it's an athlon 64 cpu.

  • 05.23.2005 12:05 PM PDT