Advice on maybe either a new CPU or GPU, any suggestions?

[DigChaos]

OK, so here is my dilemma. Right now the only game i'm really playing is Rift. I have the settings set at Ultra and i'm getting 20-30FPS @ 5040x1050. I would like to be getting more, obviously :) My setup is as follows, AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz 4 x,6GB Corsair Dominator, 300Gig VelociRaptor, nVidia GTX260 x2 SLI, GigaByte M750SLI-DS4 (socket AM2+), Corsair 750TX PSU. I don't think my CPU is bottle necking me but i'm not positive? I'm wondering if i should get a faster CPU or ditch this GTX260SLI setup and go for a single faster card? If you guys think the card would be a better choice for increasing performance, which card would you suggest, and how much of an improvement do you think ill see? I'd like to stay under ~$300. Thanks.

[Abram]

Are you set on staying with Nvidia? If not, I'd suggest an ATI 6950, then using the unlocking procedure to increase the shaders to a mock 6970. They're under $300.

Have you tried overclocking you CPU? 2.5ghz is stock, no? And a CPU cooler is much cheaper than new components. And a good overclcok will give you an idea of how a CPU sped increase helps.

[DaFox]

Are you set on staying with Nvidia?

Well he needs to switch considering he wants just a single card with triplehead. :wink:

I've got to give it to the 6950 as well.

[DigChaos]

Pretty sure my motherboard only supports SLi and not crossfire. Probably better to stay with nVidia for that reason. I also read an interesting article comparing the GTX260 vs the 6950. They were saying not much of an upgrade. I was hoping there was a single card out there these days since these 260's are pretty old, that would be better enough to justify an upgrade.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1573671

[DaFox]

Pretty sure my motherboard only supports SLi and not crossfire. Probably better to stay with nVidia for that reason. I also read an interesting article comparing the GTX260 vs the 6950. They were saying not much of an upgrade. I was hoping there was a single card out there these days since these 260's are pretty old, that would be better enough to justify an upgrade.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1573671

Well the biggest problem is, i'm sure you want to keep your Surround eh? You NEED SLI to run Nvidia Surround. So a single nvidia card is likely completely out of the picture.

[Armenius]

If you want an upgrade in performance while sticking with surround screen then you have to be able to spend more than $300. The 6950 2GB flashed to a 6970 is a pretty decent performer and is the only way to have surround screen for under $300. If you can spend up to $500 then check out the NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti, as they can sometimes be found for under $250 a piece now.

[DigChaos]

[quote]Pretty sure my motherboard only supports SLi and not crossfire. Probably better to stay with nVidia for that reason. I also read an interesting article comparing the GTX260 vs the 6950. They were saying not much of an upgrade. I was hoping there was a single card out there these days since these 260's are pretty old, that would be better enough to justify an upgrade.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1573671

Well the biggest problem is, i'm sure you want to keep your Surround eh? You NEED SLI to run Nvidia Surround. So a single nvidia card is likely completely out of the picture.

I don't use nVidia Surround, i use a Matrox TH2G

[DigChaos]

If you want an upgrade in performance while sticking with surround screen then you have to be able to spend more than $300. The 6950 2GB flashed to a 6970 is a pretty decent performer and is the only way to have surround screen for under $300. If you can spend up to $500 then check out the NVIDIA GTX 560 Ti, as they can sometimes be found for under $250 a piece now.

Thought i read somewhere on this forum that the 5 series GTX Cards don't support surround or something? Or maybe with the TH2G? I'll try to find where i read it

[Armenius]

It has to be TH2G, because all NVIDIA GPUs from the 8800/9800 and later mid-to-high level cards support surround in SLI (260, 280, 460, 480, etc.). Sorry, I only read your post and didn't see the TH2G in your sig.

[DigChaos]

5000 series and up cannot use the TH2Go higher than 3840x1024. So the best option is the 580 for you.

Though, i'd say if you're not using win XP, Go for an eyefinity setup with the 6950's.

This is what i was talking about. I think he was talking about ATI cards though so I think i misunderstood.

[DigChaos]

How about this. Coming from 2 GTX260's what would you guys recommend as a "worthwhile" upgrade? I've read some stuff on this forum about people running into problems because of the VRAM? If that's the case, what do you guys think about a pair of GTX460's, the 2GB model? Tax return is coming so my budget has been extended a little bit. I want to stay with nVidia. Another thing i have to consider is i have a Corsair 750TX PSU.

[Armenius]

You have to watch because there is now a version of the GTX 460 with just a 192-bit memory bus floating around and these are a lot cheaper than the standard 256-bit. The more narrow memory bus will contribute to poor performance over the texture fill rate and when using any anti-aliasing. Look at it this way: ATi started using a 256-bit memory bus in 2002 with the Radeon 9700 Pro.

A 2GB framebuffer will definitely help prevent memory being the bottleneck at a high resolution. I don't know what the exact performance difference is, but the GTX 460 outperforms the GTX 260 for sure. The GTX 460 also supports DirectX 11 while the GTX 260 does not. That alone makes it worthwhile in my opinion. I would give a serious look at the GTX 560 Ti, though. It would be a substantial upgrade from the GTX 260 for only $50 more than a GTX 460. Palit makes a 2GB version of the GTX 560 for $20 more than the 1GB models. Here's my situation: as you can see under my profile I am currently running SLI'd 8800GTXs and I would like to replace them with a single GTX 560 Ti.

[candle86]

Honestly if you have dual GTX 260's a GTX 460 even SLI would be about a 5-7% gain period. Remember the GTX 460 1gb = GTX 275 in actual performance so It wouldn't be a worthwhile cost. If i where you, id look into a GTX 560 Ti they can be found for 250 online and in most places in the states and its also significantly faster.

[DigChaos]

Ok, so that 560 from Palit looks good, under the power requirements it says Minimum 500W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 30A), with my 750w PSU, would that be able to power 2 of those 560's? Or am i looking at having to purchase a new PSU if i upgrade to two of those 560's?

[candle86]

you will need a new PSU also your 9850BE will bottleneck a GTX 560 you already arnt getting full preformance from a GTX 260 SLI. Gigabyte has a bios update for AM3 CPU's.

Your board with the newest bios will support the AMD PHenom II X6 1090T and lower, Phenom II x4 965 and lower, I would highly suggest getting at least a Phenom II x4 965 if you want to take advtange of dual GTX 560's, or go for the 1090T. If you leave your 9850BE you will be bottlenecked severly even at extreme resolutions, your CPU simply wont be able to feed enough data

[Paradigm Shifter]

I was running GTX460 SLI and a 1090T on a 620w PSU with no issues. I'd be tempted to say that 750w should cope with GTX560 SLI, but YMMV.

[DigChaos]

you will need a new PSU also your 9850BE will bottleneck a GTX 560 you already arnt getting full preformance from a GTX 260 SLI. Gigabyte has a bios update for AM3 CPU's.

Your board with the newest bios will support the AMD PHenom II X6 1090T and lower, Phenom II x4 965 and lower, I would highly suggest getting at least a Phenom II x4 965 if you want to take advtange of dual GTX 560's, or go for the 1090T. If you leave your 9850BE you will be bottlenecked severly even at extreme resolutions, your CPU simply wont be able to feed enough data

I think I will upgrade my CPU, the Phenom II x4 965 looks good. I found an interesting article about the power consumption for the GTX 560 SLI http://guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-560-ti-sli-review/14. According to that I MAY be able to squeak by with the 750W. What do you think?

[candle86]

if you plan to OC id go for at least an 850