Upgrade CPU or video card?

MonsterBone · 2012-06-23, 12:38 PM

Should I upgrade from Nvidia GTX 460 to Nvidia GTX 670 ($400)

Or upgrade my CPU from i5-2500 (3.3ghz) to i7-2600K ($290) (4.3ghz).

Thoughts?

Goku · 2012-06-23, 12:50 PM

2500 even not K is still good for the next few years. GTX 670 is the way to go if you have to upgrade. What do you have for a PSU?

MonsterBone · 2012-06-23, 02:00 PM

Its a Antec TruePower New TP-550 550W

Rbstr · 2012-06-23, 03:00 PM

Video card for sure. You're getting >50% increase in performance with that.
2500 to 2600 is like 10%, maybe.

Honestly, my rule is to never upgrade within one generation. The soonest you should think about a CPU is Haswell's release next year.

The 670 only takes 20 more watts than the 460. so I think you're fine there unless you have a boatload of hard disks.

MonsterBone · 2012-06-23, 07:04 PM

I like that rule to never upgrade within 1 generation. Is the 670 the same generation as the 460?

Ailos · 2012-06-23, 07:22 PM

Originally Posted by MonsterBone

I like that rule to never upgrade within 1 generation. Is the 670 the same generation as the 460?

No, it is two generations younger, and that IS a worthwhile upgrade.

Rbstr · 2012-06-23, 08:41 PM

Yeah 460 to 670 is going to be a nice improvement.

Obviously, my rule only applies if you've bought decent stuff to begin with. Dude rolling with a GT 640 might think about a 670 if he wants more.
But I'm not going to go from a 570 to a 670 (a single generation apart, same original market position) unless my card breaks.

Bags · 2012-06-23, 09:10 PM

Yeah, my 460 did BF3 on medium with some high settings @ 40 - 50 fps, 670 does BF3 on all ultra @ 60 - 83 fps when I had zsync off.

MonsterBone · 2012-06-24, 01:19 AM

See for me I will never play the game on anything but low graphics with shadows off and I want maximum frames per second. Over 100 would be good.

So 460 or 670 my setup will likely be CPU locked right?

Therefore I might be better with a CPU upgrade.

Bags · 2012-06-24, 01:58 AM

Upgrading from a 460 to a 670 should be a much bigger upgrade than a 2500 to 2600, but there's no way to be sure until the game ships.

Vancha · 2012-06-24, 02:58 AM

Originally Posted by Bags

Upgrading from a 460 to a 670 should be a much bigger upgrade than a 2500 to 2600, but there's no way to be sure until the game ships.

Well there kind of is. A 2500 will be more than good enough for PS2, but if it wasn't, then neither would a 2600...There's barely any way to make an upgrade from a 2500 to a 2600 anything but a waste of money and none of those ways include gaming. A 2600 isn't a big step up. It's tiny.

Also, do you have a 120hz monitor, Monster? Otherwise anything more than 60FPS will, at best, look identical to 60FPS, assuming you don't create tearing.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_9.html

Bags · 2012-06-24, 03:21 AM

I'd assume he just wants a huge FPS so he never drops below 60 fps in any situation.

But yeah, 2500 - 2600 ain't big at all.

MonsterBone · 2012-06-24, 01:12 PM

I love playing a game where everything is always smooth.

Its very possible people are going to be disappointed with the jerkiness caused by CPU load when alot of people are on the screen.

Especially those people that have an older generation CPU and buy a new video card.

Comments by the devs hint at this.

Ailos · 2012-06-24, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by MonsterBone

See for me I will never play the game on anything but low graphics with shadows off and I want maximum frames per second. Over 100 would be good.

So 460 or 670 my setup will likely be CPU locked right?

Therefore I might be better with a CPU upgrade.

The E3 demos were running a single 670 at higher than HD. If you're running a 1080p monitor, you will probably need to keep the 670 vsynced.

You don't really need a CPU upgrade because the improvement from the 2500 to 2600k is less than 10% - it won't be a make-it-or-break-it change on any level. I'm not sure where you're getting the 4.3 GHz number for the 2600k, either: Intel's stock settings are 3.4 (3.8 turbo) GHz - so unless you overclock, you only gain 100 MHz. The 2600k DOES have hyperthreading, but we don't know if PS2 will actually be able to use that many threads. If it only uses 2 or 4 threads, it'll perform the same on the 2500 as it does on the 2600k.

Rbstr · 2012-06-24, 01:40 PM

2500 to 2600 is dumb, you're just wasting money. Do the card upgrade or none at all.

If the 2500 can't handle it the 2600 can't either. In fact, hardly any CPU on the market would be sufficient because those are pretty much at the top of the pile.