Worth upgrading?

[Red]

With the holidays here I'm looking to upgrade my PC, the problem is I don't know what to upgrade or if it's worth it considering I can't afford anything top of the line.

Some info on my system:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
4096MB RAM
AMD Phenom II X6 1035T Processor (6 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
ATI Radeon HD 5450 (1024 mb)

At the moment I can't run Black Ops without it freezing the screen forcing me to ctrl+alt+del my way out. My question is for around $150-200 would it be worth upgrading my graphics card or processor? What would be best for the price? Or should I just wait till next year?

[GasMask]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130562

GeForce GTX 460

[Ishan]

If this is only game giving you trouble at your native resolution then there is no need to upgrade.
I have also heard that this game is buggy, wait for it's patches or something.

btw at what resolution you play these games?

[Red]

If this is only game giving you trouble at your native resolution then there is no need to upgrade.
I have also heard that this game is buggy, wait for it's patches or something.

btw at what resolution you play these games?

Black Ops freezes even at the lowest resolution. I normally try to play games at 1600x900 (my native resolution) but I often have frame rate issues even at lower resolutions and settings.

[Devilmaypoop]

If you want to go for 5850 or 5870, you should just get 6850/70 since they are cheaper and as effective, altough have twice the tessalation power. Your CPU is perfectly fine and wont need upgrading.

HD 5450 isnt realy meant for modern gaming, so no wonder you have bad fps. It is also majorly bottlenecking the CPU.
6870 would rape both GTA IV and Arma 2, so you should go for it since those games tend to be bit demanding.

[Red]

New CPU seems to expensive right now. I've had bad experiences with Nvidia so I think I want an ATI. the 5870 looks good but I'll have to look for a deal on that. The 5850 looks perfect for price I'll definitely keep that in mind.

As for what I'm after I just want play games like Black Ops or N:TW on medium-high settings with minimal frame rate drops.

Thanks for replying I'm a total dummy at this kind of stuff any knowledge will be helpful.

Edit: I've also been eying games like Arma II and GTAIV. I can play the Arma II: Operation Arrowhead demo on lowest settings with no crashes(that I remember).

[Ishan]

hm at that resolution buying a HD5770, HD5850 or a GTX460(<---More inclined towards this) is a good call.
And i'm a not a Nvidia fan but still i vote for GTX460 as it's better and bang for buck. Buying a HD6870 would be Sweet though.

[Doono]

Be careful with 6000 series cards there performance is the equivalent of the group below it when comparing with the 5000 series, e.g 6870 is the equivalent of a 5770 not the 5870 as you would expect. This has led to confusion when people have upgraded from say a 5870 to a 6870 and ended up with a card that performs worse than what they had.

And I would definitly consider upgrading the graphics card, the rest of your system specs are fine as they are but the card is relatively crap. 5770 would make a very nice upgrade without spending too much, especially at the resolution you play at.

[Red]

I've narrowed it down to either the GTX460 or HD6850, which one is better?

Edit: @Doono, really? is the 5000 series better than the 6000?

[Doono]

Wouldn't say better just misrepresented, the 6000 series cards are also alot more expencive than the 5000 series equivalent

[Ishan]

Almost equal but in benchmarking HD6850 is slightly above than GTX460.

[Red]

I think I have enough info to make a purchase now thanks guys! Everyone gets rep!!!

[karamazovmm]

err the performance of the 6870 is almost on par of the 5870, its not even close to the 5770.

you probably have confused the issue of the repositioning of the line the 6800 is to replace the 5700 line. not the 5800 line. The latter is to be overthrown by the 6900 line.

[Doono]

Ahh now looking at it you appear to be correct, my mistake, dosen't change the fact that the 6000 series is extreamly misleading in the naming stucture

[karamazovmm]

Ahh now looking at it you appear to be correct, my mistake, dosen't change the fact that the 6000 series is extreamly misleading in the naming stucture

indeed I hate when they do such market changes, it always leads to confusion and usually mistrust

When AMD named the 5800 mobile chips I was utterly disapointed due to it not using the cypress XT core, instead it used the cypress core (the 5700 core) it was a first from them, Nvidia on the other hand...

[GasMask]

May i ask what card you will be getting .

[Red]

May i ask what card you will be getting .

Haven't decided yet but I'm leaning towards an HD 6850.

[Big Boss]

6850 is a damn good card.

[Red]

Will this:
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-P...490433&sr=1-16

fit inside a dell xps 7100?

[CoconutFred]

It should, but I'd go for an EE (External Exhaust) Card. Those funnel out all heat through the back of the card, so even if your case is cramped, your card will be protected from overheating (immediately, anyway).