What should I upgrade, or is it even worth upgrading on my current platform?

[PaulW]

Hi all. My current system is getting long in the tooth and in need of an upgrade so I’m trying to figure out the best bang for my buck as I’m on a limited budget.

My current specs are:
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TA-790GX A3+

CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 630 (stock speed 2.8 Ghz , overclocked to 3.08 Ghz. Can’t seem to get it any higher. Should I be happy with a 10% overclock?)

Memory: 4 GB (2 GB x 2) of OCZ3G1600LV2G

Graphics: SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X HD5770 1GB GDDR5 (not overclocked but will be soon to try and get the most out of it I can).

Harddrive: WD 1 TB drive, nothing special. I recently bought a 64 GB Crucial SSD I will be installing for OS.

CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H50

Current Hardware Considerations:
Upgrade CPU to AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (~$110) and overclock it as far as I can.
Or
Upgrade Graphics card by either adding a second HD5770 (~$110) and run in CrossFire or replace my HD5770 with a Radeon HD 6850 (~$150)

Note primary usage is gaming at 1920x1080 with AA x2 or x4 and moderate to high game settings.

Other questions, can I run a HD5770 and HD6850 in CrossFire together? If so would everything slow down to the 5770 level of performance?

Thanks in advance for any feedback!
Paul

[Blacksmith1]

I say go with an x6 cpu, then you can upgrade the m/b later to the bulldozer capable boards, and then get a bulldozer chip when those come down a bit in price. I think (opinion only here) you be better off with the crossfire than changing cards. I'm not really familiar with the radeon cards so i can't say for sure.

[PP Mguire]

No point in getting the 955 since you already have a an Athlon 2 quad. I say do like Black suggests and get a cheap X6 or keep the dough and save for Dozer.

6950 for sure. You can flash it to 6970. If you buy this and sell the 5770 then you can probably afford a nice 1090t or something.

[PaulW]

Too bad my Biostar board doesn't support X6 CPUs. :(

[PP Mguire]

Since it supports 140w CPUs I bet it will support the X6.

[PaulW]

Since it supports 140w CPUs I bet it will support the X6.
I thought the same as you but Biostart says no, it doesn't support the x6 line of CPU and they won't release a BIOS to add support either.

[Blacksmith1]

Then go with the strongest am2+ you can support and the rest of my advice stands (except for the gpu part)

[PP Mguire]

955BE if you must then.

[Joshua_Mahr]

The cheapest route for now would be a second HD5770. Also what is you PSU can it support a HD6950 or a second HD5770?

[PP Mguire]

I think his better option would be 6950 and flash it since 2 5770s roughly equate to a 5870.

Btw, I find it ironic how a friend of mine is in the same situation you are in. He has the A2+ and can't upgrade higher than the P2 940.

[Joshua_Mahr]

To flash the 6950 to 6970 he would have to get a 2GB hopefully reference card which is 210.00 or more another 5770 is only 94.00

PSU?

[ET3D]

I'd say that the graphics card is more of a bottleneck currently, so you can start with that and see if the improvement is enough for you. I'm browsing on the phone right now so won't go looking up benchmarks, sorry.

[PP Mguire]

To flash the 6950 to 6970 he would have to get a 2GB hopefully reference card which is 210.00 or more another 5770 is only 94.00

PSU?Still think a 6950 would be better than even 2 5770s. I used to have 2 5770s before and it was pretty crap.