Question on upgrading

[ACE]

It will be pretty simple I just want some opinions..

What would you guys upgrade first if you had my computer?

My spec's are as followed:  AMD Phenom(TM) II x4 925 Processor 2.80 GHz,  Nvidia GeForce GTS 450 1GB, 1 TB HDD, 8GB RAM, and I believe an 800 Watt Power supply (might have to re check that its been a while.)

Also being liquid cooled.

So yeah with those parts what would you guys ugrade first?  To improve FPS performance on all sorts of games.

Thanks in advance Gentleman. 

[Debrody]

The GTS 450 is the bottleneck.
Exuse me, my brain itches from seeing such an unbalanced system. (liquid cooling and 800W PSU for that...)
Let me guess, it was a pre-built brand one?

So... HD-7850 1GB is about the maximum what your CPU can handle. 180 bucks, the improvement will be huge.

[gyrene81]

gonna depend on what southbridge chipset is on the mobo Debrody.

Ace, any games that are heavy on the cpu will only get better eye candy with a better video card and the level will depend on the memory the video card has onboard. any games that are more video card dependent should have improvement with a better video card to the extent that the gpu will handle the load.

if you switched to a new intel cpu and mobo, then your overall performance will greatly improve. there are things you can do to make the amd cpu perform better but, it can be a painfully time consuming process and it still won't be able to compete with an intel i5 or i7 cpu. i'm running a 965be with a radeon 6950 2gb video card and even though i have tweaked my system, it's just "adequate for my needs". haven't had a problem running any game i want on med/high settings.

[Debrody]

Most likely Spek has a 7xx series chipset - i have no idea how the southbridge (standard PCI-E 2.0 controller) would effect the performance...

For full-hd playing, the 1GB RAM is enough, above that the GPU would be too weak anyways.
Also, speaking about full-HD and high settings, he is most likely to run into a GPU limit, or at least a mixed limit. So an i7-7850 combo wouldnt be much faster than a Phenom-7850 pair unless he is playing in 900*1600.
Of course, he could build a completely new setup, with an i5 and a 7970, from 900$, only to see about 40-50% improvement from the 180$ 7850 what would already double his frame rates compared to the GTS 450.

[gyrene81]

Most likely Spek has a 7xx series chipset - i have no idea how the southbridge (standard PCI-E 2.0 controller) would effect the performance...

For full-hd playing, the 1GB RAM is enough, above that the GPU would be too weak anyways.
Also, speaking about full-HD and high settings, he is most likely to run into a GPU limit, or at least a mixed limit. So an i7-7850 combo wouldnt be much faster than a Phenom-7850 pair unless he is playing in 900*1600.
Of course, he could build a completely new setup, with an i5 and a 7970, from 900$, only to see about 40-50% improvement from the 180$ 7850 what would already double his frame rates compared to the GTS 450.

sorry Debrody, an i7-7850 combo will out perform a phenom-7850 combo by a big margin at full 1080p hd resolution and it wouldn't matter what game was being played. if there is anything to be believed in benchmarks, the amd cpu's perform very well in some tasks but overall, they are a generation behind intel performance.

performance differences between an i7-2600k and a 965be
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=287&i=2.5.3.4.6.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.45.46.53.54.55.60.61.62.63.64.57.56.50.49.48.47

i5-2500k and 965be
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/102?vs=288&i=2.5.3.4.6.25.26.27.28.29.30.31.32.33.34.35.36.37.38.39.40.41.42.43.45.46.53.54.55.60.61.62.63.64.57.56.50.49.48.47

just upgrading to a 7850 will give definitely give him better graphics capabilities but, again frame rate improvements are going to depend on the game.

[Debrody]

Those tests werent in 1920*1080, nor at maximum settings.
I still hold that in full-hd and with some AA, the difference isnt nearly as large. Also, who cares if its 150 or 250 fps, he will turn on all the eye candy, so it will closer to 60 either way.
Not saying the i5 isnt better than the phenom though.

Check this out, might be a bit more detailed, several CPUs paired with a 7970:
http://prohardver.hu/teszt/amd_fx-8350_vishera_piledriver_teszt/jatekok.html

And once more, 180$ for a VGA what gives you doubled frame rates or 900$ for a whole new system what gives you 2.5 times more frame rates. Let him decide.

[cattb]

I had run a 6950 paired with a AMD 940 BE OCed @3.2. I would get frame stutters around bases with smoke and many aircraft. This is also with new install OS and drivers.

Seems at times to run great and at times poorly. I did a reinstall of game and GPU drivers at the time. Seemed to help, but still had problems with frame rate. EIther I had a driver problem or some glicth or the system was CPU bound. Thinking the system was CPU bound as I have rebuilt the system now with intel 3570 (same 6950). I can run the game almost full slider (detail)and no shadows, video 2048, full AA and run 60fps.

Ace you have plenty of power, a upgraded video card will help greatly. I don't think its the complete answer depending on the type of performance your looking for. Heck a 560ti or a 6870 would be better then what you have. I am not recommending what you should buy, just sayin.

Do some research, theres plenty of reviews.
GoodLuck.

[alskahawk]

 What I did to speed up my older computer was to add a SSD and a video card. A lot depends on what you use the computer for. As others have stated, your video card is a bottle neck. A good 2 GB video card will do a lot of good and can handle a lot of the newer games.
 I only use my computer for Aces high so a 120GB SSD (around $100) works good. In addition to making windows boot faster, a SSD makes your pages load faster. If you want still use your old HD just load up Windows on the SSD and slave the old drive. A SSD also takes less power so you probably won't have to upgrade your PSU to handle a newer video card.
 
 
 

[ACE]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826&Tpk=02G-P4-2662-KR

I think i will be going with this.  Karaya offered a few good points in PMs aswell as Debrody. 

[Masherbrum]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826&Tpk=02G-P4-2662-KR

I think i will be going with this.  Karaya offered a few good points in PMs aswell as Debrody. 

If you have any questions Spek, feel free to PM me.   

[ACE]

Thanks and will do!