CPU or GPU upgrade?

[Schall]

Right now I'm running a 9500gt(1gb) and e6750(2.00ghz). I'd like to either upgrade to q9300(or around there), or a GTX460. Would the e6750 bottleneck the GTX460 if I were to buy it? Or would a q9300 bring an even more significant change in performance? Currently I'm playing WoW and Starcraft II on or near the lowest settings, so I would prefer to play on ultra.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sedako]

Go with the GPU. I have an E6600 (albeit overclocked to 3ghz) and a GTX 470, and games perform beautifully, with SC2 maxed at 1980x1200. If you have the power supply for it, you can even use your 9500gt as a dedicated physx card. Also, keep in mind that if bottlenecking does exist for your setup, it would be worse if you played games at low resolutions. With a card like that, you'll want to run games at 1680x1050 at least to minimize bottlenecking, but you'll be able to game at 1980x1200 with no issues.

The next time you do plan on upgrading though, move to a better CPU.

EDIT: Don't you mean 2.66ghz for your current CPU, or do you have it underclocked for some reason?

 

[VirusType2]

GPU!

Also the E series CPUs, aren't they like overclock demons? Get the video card and a heatsink for your CPU if you can afford it. Then overclock the CPU. (the 460 should overclock like mad too). You'll be at ultra settings for sure. You probably don't need much of an overclock to do so. Maybe you don't even need to bump up the voltage and still get a fair overclock.

Yeah, the 460 needs a power supply with 2 PCIe connectors (4 pin x2, I think) Be sure and check that all out to be sure your PSU is up to the job.

Keep in mind overclocking uses more power, especially if you increase the voltage. Like I said, you may not even need to bother. The 460 is a good card.


Without increasing voltage, you can increase clocks with almost no risk, as long as you keep the temperatures within range.

 

[Schall]

Strange, I've never gone in and underclocked it. I'll see if I can clock it up to what it's supposed to be.

Anyway, thanks for your responses. I'm gonna go for the gpu. Thanks!

 

[unozero]

I bet that's ur bios telling it downlock when the system is't working hard or at all.

 

[Stigmata]

Probably. Run a game, minimize, and see what CPU-Z shows then.

 

[Vegeta897]

My CPU does the same thing, E8400 here.

 

[Sedako]

Yeah, your bios probably has speedstep enabled then.