Am I due for an upgrade?

[LouisOUFC]

Hiya, basically I've been thinking about my computer recently wondering Is it time for an upgrade...

I'm into online gaming as well as video and sound editing. Most recently I've bought Guild Wars 2 (Which I cant seem to run very well, unless it's on Low) and this simply isn't good enough. I've got a Dell XPS 630 Running Windows 7 64 Bit the computer is about 3 years old, but at the time it cost me a hell of a lot, so I would be quite gutted If I had to completely scrap it and get a whole new one, plus I simply don't have the money to do that! I'm a student on student money!

Is there anything I can do that's going to give my computer a good boost and let me play Guild Wars 2 with a good FPS on High Graphics.

My specs are as follows:

Dell Inc Dell Inc 0PP150 Motherboard

Intel® Core™ 2 Quad-Core Processor Q9550 (2.83Ghz, 1333MHz FSB, 12MB cache)

4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [4x1024]

Hard Drive 1TB NCQ SATA (2x500GB) 7200Rpm Dual HDD Config Raid 0 Stripe

Single 1GB DDR3 nVidia® GeForce™ GTX285 graphics card

PCI Card Ageia PhysX 128MB

Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio

I basically want to be able to play the most recent games, on High graphics with a decent frame rate.

I appreciate all your help, thankyou!

 

[peanutbudder]

Honestly you are almost due for an upgrade but with that being said a gtx 670 or a 660ti would suite your gaming needs just fine. If I were in your shoes I would just upgrade the gpu for now and save your money. In a year or two I would look into upgrading to Ivy bridge after aswell has been released.

 

[LouisOUFC]

Ok cool! I posted this same question on another forum and I got roughly the same answer that I should upgrade my GPU. That's deffinatly something I can do, do you think my processor/ram is fine for most games It's just my GPU holding me back?

Also how hard is upgrading a GPU with a Dell XPS 630 and the motherboard that comes with it?

 

[peanutbudder]

I wouldn't go any higher than a GTX 670 because you will start to see a bottleneck from your Q9550, infact a 670 will probably be bottlenecked. I think a 660ti would be a good balance for your current rig and won't hurt your pocket as badly as a 670. The gpu is very simple to install if you search youtube you can find a hundred tutorials in seconds. good luck.

The cpu will start to hold you back in the next year or two but for now it shouldn't have any real problems.

 

[Marinetuck]

I wouldnt even go that crazy... im running a gtx 460 and can play all games on high
Your card is the only thing i would update...

 

[LouisOUFC]

Ok, that's sorted I'll purchase a new GPU, what would you guys say I go for as I know you mention It'll be bottlenecked by my CPU but In a year or so I can always upgrade to a new rig and just move the GPU over, I dont want to spend to much but I'd like to get a solid video card which wont be outdated in a year. Thankyou!

 

[peanutbudder]

I would get a 660ti it can grow with your new rig also.

 

[Marinetuck]

I got my GTX 460 SC for 90 bucks... and can play all games on high no problem FYI

 

[peanutbudder]

There is many flavors of the gtx 460 but the only true 460 is the 256bit version. the Gtx 660ti is a much better choice since most modern games require or will require more than 1gib of Vram. My 560ti's in sli run into the Vram wall with bf3. when I set it to ultra im using 1009mb of Vram and gpu's are at 70% usage when on high settings im using 945mb and gpu usage is at 90%. my friends 660ti uses 1560mb of Vram and is at 99% gpu usage constantly on bf3 ultra setting 1920x1200 res with 60fps.

 

[LouisOUFC]

Ok so the 660ti seems like a good choice!

I would just be gutted If I put the card in, botted up my computer launched a game and the performance was exactly the same as my computer is now, If I was to purchase the 660ti would I get a guaranteed performance boost?

Thanks guys!

 

[peanutbudder]

I would say double all of your games fps with a 660ti. Also I am willing to bet you won't have any bottlenecks with that single 660ti and even if you have a slight bottleneck the card will be solid enough to last three years while you upgrade the core components. Also if you later decide the card is slow years down the road you can always sli them and have a good gaming rig for four-five years. I men the gtx 460 was released in early 2010 and is still an ok card being almost 3years old.

 

[Conumdrum]

What resolution, monitor size and game settings you using? And you can run it with more eye candy. It won't be like night and day but it's going to be better if you have a large monitor and like all the max settings for sure.

 

[LouisOUFC]

Its a 23" Monitor
1920 x 1080

 

[Conumdrum]

You'll see good changes. Having 2 GB of Vram will help also. Your best bet is to save your pennies and just get a new PC later all at once if you think your CPU will bottleneck you a lot.

Still, I see a better gaming rig the minute you pu it in.