Upgrade Help Anyone?...much appriciated :)

[cwright111]

Okay.. so basically i built a computer couple of years ago its now becoming slightly out of date and id like to be playing shogun 2 in all its glory because atm im barely playing on medium/High.. not getting above 30fps

My System

Amd Athlon x3 435 @ 2.9Ghz
GTX 260
4Gb Ram
Reso - 1920 x 1080 (playing on my TV because my monitors ******.. pardon my french!)

the problem is im stuck on whether i should be upgrading my graphics card or upgrading my CPU, can only really afford to do one and with the cpu i can only go so far.. think the highest clocked one is at 3.00Ghz either phenom x4 945 OR athlon x4 640. my motherboards abit old and dont really want to have to upgrade that because it means faffing and reinstalling windows 7 :/ LOL graphics card is no limit really just not something over £200 dont mind second hand either.. just as good in my own experience

So yeaa and recomendations would be much aprriciated.. thankyou

 

[GEWB]

Your system looks pretty good - I would try to optimize your OS and existing hardware before spending money on new hardware, unless you consider a new monitor.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[cwright111]

Thanks.. what do you mean by optimizing my OS and existing hardware ..example?..

I was looking to upgrade to a DX11 card anyways what with dragon age out and everything would like to play that in its glory aswel..but dont want to be bottleneckd by my CPU..

 

[GEWB]

CPU bottleneck isn't what it used to be (back in the day) - do some searches on gaming sites and hardware test sites (such as Tomshardware, etc.).

Learn what to turn off in the OS to make it lean and mean, same for your video card (if you have video software installed).

Oh, hard drive speed can be a factor but not to the extent that it would double your FPS rate. Also keep in mind that FPS are over rated. Film runs 24 FPS, video around 30 FPS. A well trained eye pretty much can not distinguish above 35 to 40 FPS. However, a top of the line video card will give improved performance on your CPU, much more so than a new CPU with your existing card.

Same for your monitor - check refresh rates.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[bobkn]

I doubt that upgrading from a 2.9 GHz triple core CPU to a 3.0 GHz quad would help much. As your mainboard is an AM2+ one, it might be best to limit upgrades that would not be transferrable to a future system.

I'm not familiar with UK prices. It looks (www.ebuyer.com) like £200 would limit you to a Radeon 6870 or worse. An nVidia GTX470 would cost a bit more. I prefer nVidia slightly, but the 6870 may be a better deal.