What computer upgrde will be more beneficial for 3D gaming?
Currently I have:

Athlon 64 X2 4400 (AM2)
3 gigs of ram
Windows 7 64 bit
Nvidia GTS 250 1 Gig

This system is fine for playing most 3D games from 2007 and before but Id like to start playing some of the newer games on something other but low settings. I have about 200-300 bucks to spend to improve this rig so I ask...which one of these would be most helpful for in game framerate?

Option 1. (May be more than 300)

1. Another GTS 250
2. AM2+ Mobo with SLI capability
3. Power supply to support SLI

Option 2.

1. A quad core CPU like AMD Phenom II X4 940
2. anothher gig or 2 of ram

Option 3.

1. GTX 275/285
2. gig of ram

What do you think will be money well spent here?

I'm open to other ideas and combinations.
Currently I have:



Athlon 64 X2 4400 (AM2)

3 gigs of ram

Windows 7 64 bit

Nvidia GTS 250 1 Gig



This system is fine for playing most 3D games from 2007 and before but Id like to start playing some of the newer games on something other but low settings. I have about 200-300 bucks to spend to improve this rig so I ask...which one of these would be most helpful for in game framerate?



Option 1. (May be more than 300)



1. Another GTS 250

2. AM2+ Mobo with SLI capability

3. Power supply to support SLI



Option 2.



1. A quad core CPU like AMD Phenom II X4 940

2. anothher gig or 2 of ram



Option 3.



1. GTX 275/285

2. gig of ram



What do you think will be money well spent here?



I'm open to other ideas and combinations.

#1
Posted 12/18/2009 07:05 AM   
Option 3 + a little overclock of the CPU if you haven't done so already... it will bring best results in what you need and will be using the PC for ;)
Option 3 + a little overclock of the CPU if you haven't done so already... it will bring best results in what you need and will be using the PC for ;)

My 3D Vision Blog - 3dvision-blog.com

#2
Posted 12/18/2009 07:46 AM   
[quote name='Bloody' post='966816' date='Dec 18 2009, 07:46 AM']Option 3 + a little overclock of the CPU if you haven't done so already... it will bring best results in what you need and will be using the PC for ;)[/quote]

Totaly agree go with 3 for sure.
[quote name='Bloody' post='966816' date='Dec 18 2009, 07:46 AM']Option 3 + a little overclock of the CPU if you haven't done so already... it will bring best results in what you need and will be using the PC for ;)



Totaly agree go with 3 for sure.

#3
Posted 12/18/2009 09:16 PM   
[quote name='disolitude' post='966809' date='Dec 18 2009, 01:05 AM']Currently I have:

Athlon 64 X2 4400 (AM2)
3 gigs of ram
Windows 7 64 bit
Nvidia GTS 250 1 Gig

This system is fine for playing most 3D games from 2007 and before but Id like to start playing some of the newer games on something other but low settings. I have about 200-300 bucks to spend to improve this rig so I ask...which one of these would be most helpful for in game framerate?

Option 1. (May be more than 300)

1. Another GTS 250
2. AM2+ Mobo with SLI capability
3. Power supply to support SLI

Option 2.

1. A quad core CPU like AMD Phenom II X4 940
2. anothher gig or 2 of ram

Option 3.

1. GTX 275/285
2. gig of ram

What do you think will be money well spent here?

I'm open to other ideas and combinations.[/quote]

Im running the GTX 275, and benchmarks for Resident Evil 5 im getting 40fps in S3d (80-100 in non3d), with everythign maxed (on the samsung 2233).

i've been very impressed with it. (upgraded from a 8800gt last week)
(im running 4 gigs ram, q8200 @ 2.3, win 7 64 bit)
[quote name='disolitude' post='966809' date='Dec 18 2009, 01:05 AM']Currently I have:



Athlon 64 X2 4400 (AM2)

3 gigs of ram

Windows 7 64 bit

Nvidia GTS 250 1 Gig



This system is fine for playing most 3D games from 2007 and before but Id like to start playing some of the newer games on something other but low settings. I have about 200-300 bucks to spend to improve this rig so I ask...which one of these would be most helpful for in game framerate?



Option 1. (May be more than 300)



1. Another GTS 250

2. AM2+ Mobo with SLI capability

3. Power supply to support SLI



Option 2.



1. A quad core CPU like AMD Phenom II X4 940

2. anothher gig or 2 of ram



Option 3.



1. GTX 275/285

2. gig of ram



What do you think will be money well spent here?



I'm open to other ideas and combinations.



Im running the GTX 275, and benchmarks for Resident Evil 5 im getting 40fps in S3d (80-100 in non3d), with everythign maxed (on the samsung 2233).



i've been very impressed with it. (upgraded from a 8800gt last week)

(im running 4 gigs ram, q8200 @ 2.3, win 7 64 bit)

#4
Posted 12/18/2009 09:42 PM   
For what it's worth, my experience with recent upgrades taught me one rather costly lesson. My original system was a core 2 duo, Geforce 8800GTS 640MB, I thought by upgrading to a 285GTX it would speed up thing a little bit but to my dismay it wasn't giving any noticeable improvement FPS-wise.

So after some research on the net, I found out that the CPU was the bottleneck, confirming my fear. One thing lead to the other, I ended up buying an i7 core, whose impressive processing bandwidth and overclocking, later on even allowed me to add another 285 GTX in a SLI config.

In short, for your present and future's expansion, a powerful CPU should be at the center of the budget gameplan.

Good luck and cheers,
For what it's worth, my experience with recent upgrades taught me one rather costly lesson. My original system was a core 2 duo, Geforce 8800GTS 640MB, I thought by upgrading to a 285GTX it would speed up thing a little bit but to my dismay it wasn't giving any noticeable improvement FPS-wise.



So after some research on the net, I found out that the CPU was the bottleneck, confirming my fear. One thing lead to the other, I ended up buying an i7 core, whose impressive processing bandwidth and overclocking, later on even allowed me to add another 285 GTX in a SLI config.



In short, for your present and future's expansion, a powerful CPU should be at the center of the budget gameplan.



Good luck and cheers,

Xeon X5675 hex cores @4.4 GHz, GTX 1070, win10 pro
i7 7700k 5GHz, RTX 2080, win10 pro
Benq 2720Z, w1070, Oculus Rift cv1, Samsung Odyssey+

#5
Posted 12/18/2009 10:05 PM   
[quote name='distant' post='967181' date='Dec 18 2009, 04:05 PM']For what it's worth, my experience with recent upgrades taught me one rather costly lesson. My original system was a core 2 duo, Geforce 8800GTS 640MB, I thought by upgrading to a 285GTX it would speed up thing a little bit but to my dismay it wasn't giving any noticeable improvement FPS-wise.

So after some research on the net, I found out that the CPU was the bottleneck, confirming my fear. One thing lead to the other, I ended up buying an i7 core, whose impressive processing bandwidth and overclocking, later on even allowed me to add another 285 GTX in a SLI config.

In short, for your present and future's expansion, a powerful CPU should be at the center of the budget gameplan.

Good luck and cheers,[/quote]

I was thinking getting a new M/B for the i7 (which then also always me to go SLI - GTX 275), thanks for the assurance...
[quote name='distant' post='967181' date='Dec 18 2009, 04:05 PM']For what it's worth, my experience with recent upgrades taught me one rather costly lesson. My original system was a core 2 duo, Geforce 8800GTS 640MB, I thought by upgrading to a 285GTX it would speed up thing a little bit but to my dismay it wasn't giving any noticeable improvement FPS-wise.



So after some research on the net, I found out that the CPU was the bottleneck, confirming my fear. One thing lead to the other, I ended up buying an i7 core, whose impressive processing bandwidth and overclocking, later on even allowed me to add another 285 GTX in a SLI config.



In short, for your present and future's expansion, a powerful CPU should be at the center of the budget gameplan.



Good luck and cheers,



I was thinking getting a new M/B for the i7 (which then also always me to go SLI - GTX 275), thanks for the assurance...

#6
Posted 12/18/2009 10:22 PM   
Id go for a Am2+/Am3 setup it wud be alot cheaper as u wudnt need to buy different memory, just a processor, motherboard and i wud get another gtx 250 and sli them , just my 2 cent
Id go for a Am2+/Am3 setup it wud be alot cheaper as u wudnt need to buy different memory, just a processor, motherboard and i wud get another gtx 250 and sli them , just my 2 cent

#7
Posted 12/18/2009 10:33 PM   
Wow, thanks guys.

Few opinions in here...all pretty valid. I'm going to buy a gig of ram and overclock my CPU first and see what happens.

In the meantime I will look for a sale on GTX275...they go for ~$250 canadian right now and for boxing day I am hoping to find them cheaper.
Wow, thanks guys.



Few opinions in here...all pretty valid. I'm going to buy a gig of ram and overclock my CPU first and see what happens.



In the meantime I will look for a sale on GTX275...they go for ~$250 canadian right now and for boxing day I am hoping to find them cheaper.

#8
Posted 12/19/2009 03:07 AM   
Upgrade your GPUs to SLI, that will give you your best upgrade.
Upgrade your GPUs to SLI, that will give you your best upgrade.

#9
Posted 12/20/2009 01:49 AM   
[quote name='andrewf@nvidia' post='967691' date='Dec 19 2009, 08:49 PM']Upgrade your GPUs to SLI, that will give you your best upgrade.[/quote]


Sli'ing what he has would be a mistake, his CPU is/will be a SERIOUS bottleneck for SLI.

We also don't know what res he is gaming at. That determines some things as well.

OP,

1.) Get a PII 940 and OC a bit..
2.) A total of 4 gigs of DDR2 800Mhz mem at a minimum.
3.) Sell your GTS 250 for a GTX275


~Nutz
[quote name='andrewf@nvidia' post='967691' date='Dec 19 2009, 08:49 PM']Upgrade your GPUs to SLI, that will give you your best upgrade.





Sli'ing what he has would be a mistake, his CPU is/will be a SERIOUS bottleneck for SLI.



We also don't know what res he is gaming at. That determines some things as well.



OP,



1.) Get a PII 940 and OC a bit..

2.) A total of 4 gigs of DDR2 800Mhz mem at a minimum.

3.) Sell your GTS 250 for a GTX275





~Nutz

---- Core System Components ----

(MBD) EVGA® Classified™ (x58) E760
(CPU) Intel® i7™ '980x' (OC'd) @ 4.8Ghz
(CPU) Corsair® (CPU) Cooling™ (H50)
(MEM) Corsair® (MEM) Dominator(GT)™ 12GB @ 2000Mhz
(PSU) PC)P&C™ (PSU)'T12W' @ 1200w
(CSE) Cooler Master® Stacker™ (830)

---- (3D) Graphics Sub'Sys ----

(2x) EVGA® GTX'970 (SC) - Nvidia® SLi™
(1x) EVGA® GTX'660 (Ti) - Nvidia® PhysX™

(1x) ACER® (GN) 246(HL) - Nvidia® 3DVision™
(1x) ASUS® (VG) 248(QE) - Nvidia® 3DVision™
(1x) ACER® (GN) 246(HL) - Nvidia® 3DVision™

---- Audio & System Control ----

(1x) ASUS® - Xonar™ (HDAV1.3)
(1x) VL'Sys® - MPlay202+ 'GUI' & (RF) Remote

---- Storage (HDD's) & Media (ODD's) PB & REC ----

(1x) (SSD) Samsung® - 850(PRO) '3D'Vertical™
(1x) (2TB) Seagate® - Hybrid Series™
(4x) (2TB) W.Digital® - 'Blacks'™
(2x) (ODD) LG® BluRay™ - 'Play'n'Burn'

---- Nvidia® (WHQL) Drivers (x64) In Use ----

(NV®)DR - v347.88 (WHQL) - Primary (GTA V)
(NV®)DR - v350.12 (WHQL) - Testing (Stable)
(NV®)DR - v353.06 (WHQL) - All Other Titles

#10
Posted 12/20/2009 02:25 AM   
+1 for Nutz's idea
+1 for Nutz's idea

EVGA X58 760 Classified (VREG,NB/SB WB Koolance seperate loop), i7 980X@4.4+GHz 33x134 1.3625V Thermaltake Venoumous S with CoolerMaster push-pull fans, 12GB OCZ 8-8-8-24@16000 1.65V, ATI 5970 WB Koolance on seperate loop @1.16V 850-1200 or Nvidia 295, Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe into Yamaha RX-V3800, 4x300GB Velociraptors Raid 0 on Adaptec 4505 RAID, 4x60GB OCZ Vertex SSD RAID 0 LSI 9750, 1TB WD SATA3, 128GB Falcon SSD, Thermaltake 1200W, Thermaltake TX Mozart, Logitech diNovo Bluetooth Keyboard + MX1000 Mouse, Logitech Sphere MP webcam, Logitech cordless Rumblepad2, 50" Samsung 3D PS50B450 plasma, Samsung SSG1000 3D glasses, Nvidia 3D Vision, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 RTM

#11
Posted 12/20/2009 02:42 AM   
[quote name='ImNutz4NvSLI' post='967703' date='Dec 19 2009, 09:25 PM']Sli'ing what he has would be a mistake, his CPU is/will be a SERIOUS bottleneck for SLI.

We also don't know what res he is gaming at. That determines some things as well.

OP,

1.) Get a PII 940 and OC a bit..
2.) A total of 4 gigs of DDR2 800Mhz mem at a minimum.
[b]3.) Sell your GTS 250 for a GTX275[/b]


~Nutz[/quote]

Done.

I'll get another gig or two of ram next week... The cpu may have to wait a bit but i do want a faster one.

The GTX 275 helped a lot actually. I am gaming on the 67 inch samsung in 1080p and I can set Gears of War to look much better than the 360 version and have a great frame rate...in 3D. I could probably max it out in 2D.
[quote name='ImNutz4NvSLI' post='967703' date='Dec 19 2009, 09:25 PM']Sli'ing what he has would be a mistake, his CPU is/will be a SERIOUS bottleneck for SLI.



We also don't know what res he is gaming at. That determines some things as well.



OP,



1.) Get a PII 940 and OC a bit..

2.) A total of 4 gigs of DDR2 800Mhz mem at a minimum.

3.) Sell your GTS 250 for a GTX275





~Nutz



Done.



I'll get another gig or two of ram next week... The cpu may have to wait a bit but i do want a faster one.



The GTX 275 helped a lot actually. I am gaming on the 67 inch samsung in 1080p and I can set Gears of War to look much better than the 360 version and have a great frame rate...in 3D. I could probably max it out in 2D.

#12
Posted 12/20/2009 05:52 AM   
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