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Persuming I had a decent GPU like an 8800GT or better (which I don't yet) at what point should i consider upgrading my CPU currently clocked at 3GHz. With new intel Quad and dual cores coming out Q1 2008 is that when I make my next jump or wait further down the line for Nehalem cpu's. How much life does my faithful little E4300 have in it?
Only asking really so I can start saving up but helps knowing what I'm saving for :) already saved up £200 for new GPU :)
Change the cpu when it runs out of steam for the games you want to play..
I'm sure there's plenty of life in it yet.
Pretty certain that in most games your card is going to be the limiting factory unless your playing at VGA resolution!
Intels habit of changing voltage & pin specs may mean your lovely board cant do the next cpu iteration or you should at least wait until its certain it can.
QFT.Quote:
Originally Posted by staffsMike
When I finally decide on my gfx card upgrade I'm (which will most likely be a 8800gt) I think I might ask Hexusites to submit some modern game benchmarks (at a certain spec) to see how much performance gain their dual/quad cores are over my Opty 146 @3ghz with the same or similar graphics cards. Just out of interest to see what the real world difference is.
there was a really good article a long time ago (back in the athlon xp days) which showed a range of graphics cards AND processors, was incredibly useful for seeing what graphics card paired up best with which processor, and which you would see the greatest gains by replacing.
havent seen anything similar since which is a shame, reviews just tend to use the latest and greatest proccy in gfxcard reviews, and the latest and greatest gfxcards in proccy reviews. only telling half the story
Yeah but the reason they do that is to eliminate as much CPU or GPU bottleneck depending on what they are reviewing so that it is the item that is reviewed which is showing the effect on performance rather than the whole system.
I do however agree that "real world" system tests would add that little bit extra to reviews showing that for example your Athlon x2 3000+ (or whatever) is bottlenecking your 8800 Ultra and you really should get a new processor (or should never have got the graphics card in the first place :p)
You've got a fair bit of life left in that little CPU yet :)
The current fastest Core 2 Duo you can get is 3.0GHz I believe. Games are being written with that in mind. If you write a game that needs a faster CPU, or quad core, it won't sell. Look at Supreme Commander - awesome game - ahead of its time, but needs a beast of a PC to play... thus sales are poor :(
The 4300 has less cache, which will impact on performance, but only a little - around 5% as I understand - no big deal.
Bottom Line, no point in upgrading until you can double your performance. Wait until a quad core at more than 3GHz sounds a good idea. And it'll be a while before the quad gives noticeable perfance improvements over what you have...
Enjoy your new graphics card :)