What should I upgrade?

With games getting more demanding every single day, I hit a bit of a wall yesterday while trying to play Call of Duty 3. I can actually run it on max settings, but MSAA just absolutely kills my performance—without it, I’m seeing about 30-40 fps (tracked via Fraps), but once I toggle that option on, I drop down to a miserable 19-20. It isn't just about this one game, though; what really worries me is thinking about all the big titles coming our way in 2013. That’s where the real headache starts. 🙂

Here’s what my current rig looks like—any advice on what I should swap out first?
Motherboard: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...rd-dp55wb.html
CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/42915/...Cache-2_66-GHz
GPU: http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Products/g...n-HD-6950.aspx
PSU: http://www.corsair.com/power-supply-...er-supply.html
RAM: 8GB DDR3
HDD: 750GB
Monitor: Philips at 1680x1050 resolution

Just swap that card out for an Nvidia one. 😁 You’ll see the same kind of headache with GeForce cards—take Civilization V, for example—because those drivers just don't play nice with DX11 multithreading. Instead of getting a performance boost, you end up getting the exact opposite effect. In Civ5 specifically, the FPS gap is almost double in favor of Nvidia when you're comparing cards with similar specs.

The CPU isn't really the issue here—multi-core scaling doesn't actually move the needle much in this case, so even two cores are plenty.

Benjamin King2 said:Just swap that GPU for an Nvidia card. 😁 You see similar issues with Radeon cards—take Civilization V, for example—since Radeon hardware and their drivers don't really play nice with DX11 multithreading. Instead of getting a performance boost, you actually end up with the opposite effect. In Civ5, the FPS difference can be nearly double in favor of Nvidia when comparing cards of equal power.

The CPU shouldn't be the issue here, since multi-core scaling isn't really providing much of a jump—honestly, even two cores are plenty.

Alright, thanks for the heads up—sounds like I've got myself a decent little bucket here. As for the graphics card, I'm aiming for a GTX 570. I'll sell my current one and maybe toss in a bit of extra cash if I need to... But wait, does the VRAM matter? Mine has 2GB. Is it true that having more gigabytes on the card helps when playing games at higher settings or resolutions? If that's not quite right, and if the GTX 570 isn't the best move, could you recommend something else? Just nothing from the Kepler architecture for now.😁

What do you guys think—is an upgrade actually worth the hassle here? I’m thinking about selling my current card for $533 and tossing in another $200 on top of that to snag a $600 from someone on Craigslist. But honestly, the big question remains: does this move actually make sense? http://www.hwcompare.com/9021/geforc...n-hd-6950-2gb/

A GTX 570? Are you kidding me? For $600 you can grab a brand new GTX 660 that absolutely crushes it—not to mention how much less power it actually pulls from the wall.

Benjamin King2 said:A GTX 570? Seriously? For $600 you could grab a brand new GTX 660 that'll blow it out of the water—not to mention how much less power it pulls from the wall.

Do you have a link?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=gtx+660

Man, prices are just plummeting everywhere lately—it's wild. Check this out, though: someone I know found an MSI GTX 580 just sitting there without any warranty, $633. What do you guys think? Is it actually worth the gamble, or should I just run the other way since there's no coverage?

If we're talking about Lightning, then the graphics are definitely top-tier, but since there's zero warranty involved, I'd steer clear and listen to Benjamin King2 instead...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing-example I mean, my current power supply probably wouldn't even handle this, right?

It’s a top-tier card, but unfortunately, there’s no warranty. The real question is how much the previous owner pushed it with high voltage, so it’s definitely a gamble...
Better to grab a new MSI GTX 660 TF with a three-year warranty for that kind of money; at least you'll have peace of mind.

dustyskipper77 said:It’s a top-tier card, but honestly, the lack of a warranty is a real bummer. You really have to wonder how much the previous owner put it through—like, did they push it way too hard with high voltage? It’s definitely a gamble...
For that kind of money, you might be better off grabbing a brand new MSI GTX 660 TF with a three-year warranty just so you can sleep at night.

I mean, do I really want that peace of mind? Or if I pick this up and it dies, am I just out of luck? And more importantly—how much of an actual jump is this from what I'm running right now? Based on these specs, they look pretty similar, right? I know the GTX 660 is newer, which means better tech and less power draw... but I'm still wondering, is there actually going to be a noticeable difference if I upgrade to it?http://www.hwcompare.com/13185/gefor...n-hd-6950-2gb/

EDIT: I’m talking about the standard GTX 660, not the Ti version—since from what I can tell, the extra performance it adds $750 just isn't worth the cash I'd have to shell out. I'm wondering if the base model is actually an upgrade over what I've got right now?

The MSI GTX 660 TwinFrozr features excellent cooling, great overclocking potential, low power draw, and a three-year warranty... With some OC, it easily hits GTX 580 levels... It’s definitely a smarter move than gambling on a card without any coverage.

dustyskipper77 said:The MSI GTX 660 TwinFrozr has great cooling, solid overclocking potential, and low power draw—plus you get three years of warranty. With a little OC, it can easily keep up with a GTX 580... honestly, it’s a much smarter move than gambling on some card with no warranty.

Ah, my mistake—I thought you were talking about the Ti version when you said Tf. Looking at it now, I see the (Tf) model is actually available for $604 over at Best Buy. That's basically what I could put toward it, though I really need to see if I can even move my current card first; I listed it for $467. It's the full bundle, and of course, it still has the warranty—I haven't had anyone reach out yet.

Just wanted to give you guys an update—I ended up selling my old graphics card, so I headed over to Best Buy to pick up a GTX 660 TF. Turns out they sold their very last one this past Saturday. A new shipment should be arriving tomorrow with a price tag of $633. Once I grab it tomorrow, I'll let you know how everything performs 🙂 and maybe even post a few photos...

Just wanted to check in and give you all a quick update—I'll be putting my new graphics card through its paces with some gaming tests over the next few days. In the meantime, here are a few shots of the setup 🙂

Just another proud member of the TwinFrozr club...😁

dustyskipper77 said:Just another proud TwinFrozr owner here...😁

Are you talking to me? Or did you pick one up for yourself too? 😁

I don't want to start a whole new thread, but could someone walk me through how EVGA Precision Xperience actually works? I've just been leaving everything on the default settings—is there a way to safely overclock my GPU a little bit? Also, I just swapped out my motherboard for this http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H55M-...Specifications