How should I upgrade my PC?

Question

I have an AMD Athlon X@ 6000 (Dual-core @ 3.1 GHz)
nVidia 9400 GT (1GB DDR2)
4GB RAM
Running Windows 7 Professional x64 (not that it matters)

Anyway, I am considering upgrading. My question is this: Should I upgrade my GFX card or my CPU?

I would love to have a blazing fast CPU. If I upgrade, I would most likely upgrade to a Phenom II model @ 3.0GHz (because that is the fastest model that my mobo's socket supports).

However, I was told by some people that it might be better just to upgrade my video card, simply because it will have a better effect on gaming performance. I know my GFX card is not exactly fantastic (though it IS a 1GB card). However, will upgrading it really increase my performance more than practically doubling my CPU speed?

I am personally leaning toward upgrading my CPU, because while I am a PC gamer, I do like to use my computer for actual work as well. (If you consider video editing/encoding work).

Anyway, I was just wondering what you all thought? Upgrade my CPU to the near-awesome level and fix my out-of-date GFX card later, or would upgrading my GFX card be better in the long run?

Answer 1

Upgrading your cpu seems like the way to go. The one you have is pretty weak. It has a passmark score of 1090 which is pretty bad for gaming. I'm willing to bet it's your bottleneck. If you're talking about upgrading to the AMD Phenom II X2 545 though, it's not worth it. That chip has a passmark around 1500 which is not worth the trouble. I suggest you look at something more powerful.



You can use this chart to compare processor strength. Just control+f and enter the names of what you're looking for to get their scores. Passmark scores are great as they translate well to gaming: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php



If you do video encoding, upgrading the cpu is a no brainer because it helps gaming AND encoding (and everything else you do) while graphics would only improve gaming. Though ideally, you could upgrade both.



I have a question about what you said in my question earlier:



"All of the heads move at the same time for all platters.

All of the heads are actually connected to a single arm."



Does this mean that platters do not work at the same time and have to waite for one head's work to be done before working on another? Could you edit your answer in my question to let me know? thnx!

Answer 2

Excuse me, but how is going from a 3.1GHz processor to a 3.0GHz processor going to "practically doubling my CPU speed?" You are going to a slower processor. Evidently, you are under the impression that going from a dual core to a quad core will double the speed? No, sorry, it is not that simple. It might make your video editing and coding faster if that software is capable of multi-threading, but there are few games that do much multi-threading. Several cores will likely sit idle most of the time. (In the new Intel processors, if one core is idle, the others can speed up. Very cool.)



Now, if you can use faster memory ( a faster front side bus FSB) with the Phenom, then that is okay, but you will have to buy memory, too, then? Maybe a new motherboard?



No, getting the new video card is the better choice here.



However, I have another suggestion. Get a Western Digital 300GB Raptor hard drive and install all of your software on it. Use the old drive for back-ups and little used data. The Raptor spins at 10,000 rpm, so it is much faster than what you probably have on your computer. You will notice the increased speed in both games and video work, whenever loading data is involved. It can make a significant difference in games (not so much, perhaps, in online games) when new graphics detail has to be loaded.



So, first choice is to get a Raptor, second choice is to get a new video card, and last choice is to upgrade your cpu.

Answer 3

As a confessed gamer, I would recommend upgrading the graphics card. As an experienced builder, I can honestly say that cpu upgrades have to be drastic to notice any real difference in performance.

Answer 4

particular, finally.. whilst relies upon on you, in case you require your workstation to run new application finally you will ought to enhance, additionally in case you surf the internet lots as information superhighway technologies grows it demands further and extra out of your workstation. you're in a position to surf the internet with an previous computing gadget you will see it is going to likely be gradual and a few websites would be complicated to view devoid of the maximum recent flash application and such. in case you purely desire issues like notice processing and digital mail, upgrading each and every 5 - 7 years is a sturdy rule of thumb, yet once you prefer to do issues like run the maximum recent video games, you're staring at an improve each and every 2 - 3 years, and that is pushing it slightly. yet once you're doing a great form of gaming this is often much less costly to construct your guy or woman and improve aspects one or 2 at a time as mandatory.