Help me pick the processors and graphic card

[devilwant]

Hello! I want to upgrade my pc which i use mainly for games and films.
My current config:

Biostar P45 D7
Core 2 Duo E8400
6GB RAM 800
HD4850 512MB
160GB+500GB HDD


I want to upgrade my proc and graphic card and i have the choice between these hardware:
CPU: Q9505/Q9550/Q8400
Graphic:GTX260/HD4890

 

[FoxMcCarther]

I am not a big fan of Intel processors, but obviously you are sort of stuck with it, so I would say if you have a loose budget, you would be fine with the Q9505, the 9550 may be a bit more than you actually need, And if you are on a budget the 8400 will work fine as well. I am only using a 2.55ghz processor and it does everything fine, the only reason you would need a whole lot more than that is if you are getting into a bit or 3d rendering or processing large amounts of data.

As far as graphics go, I like Intel and the nVidia cards, I have had some bad luck with radeon, so on that note, I am going to suggest the GTX260, but that is based on my personal experience and I don't have the specs on the top of my head to back that up, it is just what I would do. I know somebody here can give you some good feedback. Also, there is a decent list of graphics cards on these forums somewhere.

 

[devilwant]

I am not a big fan of Intel processors, but obviously you are sort of stuck with it, so I would say if you have a loose budget, you would be fine with the Q9505, the 9550 may be a bit more than you actually need, And if you are on a budget the 8400 will work fine as well. I am only using a 2.55ghz processor and it does everything fine, the only reason you would need a whole lot more than that is if you are getting into a bit or 3d rendering or processing large amounts of data.

As far as graphics go, I like Intel and the nVidia cards, I have had some bad luck with radeon, so on that note, I am going to suggest the GTX260, but that is based on my personal experience and I don't have the specs on the top of my head to back that up, it is just what I would do. I know somebody here can give you some good feedback. Also, there is a decent list of graphics cards on these forums somewhere.

You mean you are using 2 cores for playing games and HD Movies??
Well am playing games at a resolution of 1920*1080 and at optimum capability and i see that the new games are lagging a bit. i really need an upgrade and also what Bluray drive can you recommend me?

 

[FoxMcCarther]

You mean you are using 2 cores for playing games and HD Movies??
Well am playing games at a resolution of 1920*1080 and at optimum capability and i see that the new games are lagging a bit. i really need an upgrade and also what Bluray drive can you recommend me?

No, I am using a Quad 2.55 so I am saying any of those quad core intels you listed should suffice, (the 2.66ghz being the 8400). Simply put, you can have a good gaming rig with any of those processors you listed, but if you are a 3d animation artist you would need to go with the Q9550 (I am also running at 1920x1080)

As far as blu-ray drives go, do you want just a reader or a reader and burner?

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

I have used both AMD and Intel processors and to be honest both are very good, I haven't had any major CPU issues with either brand. For new builds right now I would say go Intel, in your case you'll have to go Intel unless you want to buy a new motherboard and RAM. The Core 2 Quad chips are good enough for pretty much anything you'll do outside of a professional graphics environment, but the i7's give you a bit more speed if you do a lot of heavy work on your machine or like to multitask a lot. My i7 930 at stock runs just about any game I can throw at it, can run multiple virtual machines with other operating systems, and puts out incredible numbers on Folding@Home.

As for graphics, either go with ATi or nVidia. Someone mentioned Intel above, Intel doesn't make graphics cards, they do however make integrated graphics processors for some of their chipsets. While these are good enough for light use and are often found in cheaper or low power systems (especially laptops and netbooks), they are terrible for gaming. For gaming, go with a good powerful card from ATi or nVidia. ATi's newest offerings are the Radeon HD 5xxx series, their top of the line GPU is the HD5870 and their HD5970 card is 2 HD5870 chips on one board for extreme performance. nVidia's newest chips are the GTX 4xx series, their top of the line (and currently the single best graphics processor around) is the GTX 480, which beats the HD5870 in most benchmarks although at an additional $200.

I have an HD5870 card (around $400) and it is amazing. Runs Crysis at great settings and everything else at absolute maximum. It can play games smoothly even while running the GPU2 Folding@Home client so I am happy with mine. ATi also has a new technology called Eyefinity, which lets you hook up multiple monitors in a custom configuration that makes them into one big super monitor, allowing you to play games spanning 3 1080p monitors.

 

[FoxMcCarther]

Good points Calc, but I am not sure he is looking for one of the $400 cards lol, if you are looking for more in the $200 range, the 260 will work, and my GTX275 can max out crysis (and all other new games) with full AA and such, really not much it can't handle at this point. Obviously the 400 series will last you longer but a 260 or 275 will save you money now (though they are already a year into their life-span)

Also, You will enjoy intel, I have nothing personal against them other than the cost / performance ratio is a bit higher than AMD. They make a good solid processor.

 

[Muffin Man]

i say a 4890 instead. it is also around $200, yet it's better than a gtx 260 and on par with the more expensive gtx 275.

 

[FoxMcCarther]

Looking through some of the comparisons, I have come to the conclusion you are correct Muffin, and for the extra 30$ it costs the HD4890 is the way to go.

While this is only one snapshot, they all broke down about in this order for crysis

While not quite up to the 275, it more than justifies the extra $20-$30 you pay for the 4890

In other words, I am going to put aside my semi-extreme bias towards nVidia and say... Sigh... Radeon is the way to go.

 

[devilwant]

Looking through some of the comparisons, I have come to the conclusion you are correct Muffin, and for the extra 30$ it costs the HD4890 is the way to go.

While this is only one snapshot, they all broke down about in this order for crysis

While not quite up to the 275, it more than justifies the extra $20-$30 you pay for the 4890

In other words, I am going to put aside my semi-extreme bias towards nVidia and say... Sigh... Radeon is the way to go.

Ok...But i have still have some doubts about ATI, its the PhysX processing.Previously i have been facing many problems when playing many games i had to install Nvidia PhysX driver to be able to play the games. IS IT THE CASE THAT ATI cards CANT HANDLE PHYSX processing???

 

[FoxMcCarther]

The HD4890 can handle physx, just not as well as the nVidia GTX260

Here is another snapshot comparing the physx engines

link

As you can see, besides the fact I really need to find more reputable diagrams, the 4890 out performs the GTX260 in the 1920x1080 test without the physx or AA on, however with the physx on high and a little bit of AA, both cards suffer dramatically (Though not un-playable) with the GTX 260 out performing the 4890

Here is the same deal, though with 4xAA included
link

There are examples located at this site where they run more tests, but to save you time looking too hard into this particular source, the GTX out performs the 4890 in all the physx challenges, where as the 4890 out performs the GTX when not running the physx engine or AA.

Actually, here is one more
link


It all boils down to what type of gaming you want to do.

That said, I would like to hear what muffin man has to say, I know more about nVidia cards than I do Radeon, perhaps there is something I am missing. And Hopefully, he can provide us with some more reputable stats.


PS: Unfortunately I can't link that website because this forums page keep censoring the title lol. But it's on the pics in the links.