Will there be a big difference?

[Dev]

My current set up:

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-K8N Pro-SLI
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 2.5GHz 2x512KB Socket AM2 Dual-Core CPU
RAM: 2GB Kingston Hyper-x DDR
GPU: EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS Superclocked Video Card - 640MB GDDR3

My soon to be set up:

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W
RAM: Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Everything else is the going to be the same in my computer. Will I see a big difference in gaming performance if I stick with my current GPU but upgrade everything else? I'd like to ride out my GPU for a while longer.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Yes. But how much $?

 

[Asus]

What games do you play and what resolution do you use (or is your LCD's native resolution)?

Because depending on how demanding your games are and how high of a resolution then the CPU/system may not have much impact on game performance beyond a certain point. On the other hand if you use more medium resolutions and not high detail settings you can still increase average FPS with a CPU upgrade (depending on the game).

Both your CPU and your GPU are fairly good and yet a few years old so it may go either way which is better to replace.

Obviously if you do more intensive CPU stuff than gaming then the intel quad will be an improvement over the X2.

 

[Krynn72]

Everything else is the going to be the same in my computer. Will I see a big difference in gaming performance if I stick with my current GPU but upgrade everything else? I'd like to ride out my GPU for a while longer.

I dont really think you would get much of a performance gain at all for games. Quad core CPUs at the moment are for people who edit video, render things, or work on high resolution images. 2 more gigs of ram is really not necessary for gaming either.

 

[Dev]

The new motherboard, CPU and memory cost $537.89

I'm running native res on my monitor for games. 1920/1200

So not much huh? Will I have to just buy a new GPU to get better framrates on new games (high settings)

Saints row 2 for example, runs crappy on low. Or is that because its a poorly optimized, bad port? And I'm assuming GTA 4 runs worse for most people.

 

[Krynn72]

Both of those games are really, REALLY heavy on video memory. So yeah, for those games, CPU and ram wont help much. But your card has a lot of video memory, so I dont know why you're getting bad performance on Saints row.

Probably because you're playing at 1920x1200.

If I were you and wanted to upgrade now, I'd just get another of the same card and run them in SLI.

 

[Stigmata]

Yeah that'll set you back $500 for essentially nothing. Your system will be future-proofed, however. However, your future-proofed system won't be very good when quad-core becomes standard and supported by mainstream software.

[edit] "that" being the Mobo/CPU/RAM. Grabbing another 8800 for SLI would be a somewhat better decision.

 

[Dev]

I heard SLI was still messed up, and not working properly. Can u have v-sync on in sli?

Im thinking of just getting a new card too. any suggestions?

I was looking at these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143175

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130444

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130433

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130400

 

[DEATHMASTER]

SLI is lots better now than it was in the past, or so I've heard. But getting a gtx260 rather than the other stuff will give you better performance for half the cost.

 

[Asus]

For 1900x1200 with a single GPU your CPU is probably fast enough to feed any except the fastest and Crossfire/SLI configurations.

Some comparisons:

First, your 8800 GTS 640MB vs the 512MB versions of 8800GT and 8800GTS. Scroll down to 1600x1200 or 1900 resolution benchmarks which apply to you more.
The newer 8800 cards just have 512MB but they quicker. Just pointing this out for reference as the 640MB card isn't in current benchmarks against new cards. Just the 8800GT 512MB really.

Going from a 8800 to a new card can give you a huge boost. And sometimes just a medium boost.

If you upgrade your system and not your GPU you are looking at something like this:
26 FPS @ 1900x1200 in Oblivion w/8800 GTS and X2 4600 and 5200 CPUs. As you can see upgrading to a faster AMD CPU with the same card does not do anything for FPS here.

35 FPS @1900x1200 in Oblivion w/8800 GTS and 2.93GHz Intel dual core (6800). First, most games don't use 4 cores so this example is probably not far from what a 3GHz Intel quad would do. Second, again you can see that upgrading between the Intel CPUs does not increase FPS. Although going from the last link with AMD to an Intel CPU with the same GPU you do gain ~10 FPS. But you would have to check the other games at 1900x1200 to see.

Battlefield 2142 has the same 52FPS on both configurations with the 8800 GTS @ 1900x1200. AMD's here.
Intel's here.

 

[Dev]

Well, I had already ordered the parts. I had heard performance would increase from a friend, then I thought to ask here. I'm puting it together tonight, so I will let you guys know. Soon I will probably buy a new video card.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

You can return the parts if you haven't opened them, just to let you know.

 

[Asus]

Hehe
Don't ya have that backwards? Get all your asking out of the way otherwise you still have questions when you are laying down the money.

Have fun with the new stuff I guess.
It is always nice to get new parts anyways.

And it will feel great after the fresh OS install. Always feels faster even on the same old hardware.

EDIT
As for a GPU I would recommend just getting a single card. Noise and heat is lower. Cost is lower. Performance is steady and dependable across all games unlike with 2 cards trying to work together. Just get 1 fast one. If you like spending money then replace that card in 6 months with the new stuff.

As for the GTX 260 cards you linked to t hey are all about the same. Same cooler and similar clock speeds except for one of them. Although a bit more of an OC doesn't make that much difference and you pay for them to do the OC for you. Plus OCing does use more power. If you want faster speeds then get an actual faster model rather than OCed cards. I'd get the cheaper of the bunch that you linked to. And EVGA is a good brand with a good warranty.

 

[iizbl4ck]

My current set up:

Everything else is the going to be the same in my computer. Will I see a big difference in gaming performance if I stick with my current GPU but upgrade everything else? I'd like to ride out my GPU for a while longer.

if you pay really close attention you would see a slight increase but ultimately you need to upgrade the videocard

 

[Dev]

Well, the parts are in and to be honest there IS a BIG difference. GTA IV is totally playable now (I read that it supports quad core), I could see that saints row 2 ran better. Crysis is way better... all around improvement, along with using applications besides gaming (muti-tasking etc.) Thanks for your guys input. I would say my hopes to ride out my 8800gts are a success. CPU (quad) and RAM (3.2gigs because I'm on 32 bit windows) upgrade helps a lot.