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So here i am with some left over cash and thinking i should get myself a gtx 670 but considering my current rig which is in the sig(wow that rhymed) has a e8400 how much of a performance bottleneck am i going to be looking at.

I'd actually recommend you upg the CPU, mobo and RAM and buy a video card next year, or as soon as financially possible (everyone has problems, it's not a race, when you get the money then do it).

With 400 bucks you could get a ~200 worth CPU in the likes of a Core i5 2500K (if you fancy overclock) if not a Core i5 3550, a ~150 motherboard (Z68 if u go for SB or Z77 if u get Ivy) and 8 Gb of DDR3 (costs ~40 bucks) and drink the 10 bucks u got left.

I agree with arclight; you can probably get a lot more bang for your buck by upgrading the CPU, mobo, and RAM to a DDR3 platform.

Arclight wrote:

I'd actually recommend you upg the CPU, mobo and RAM and buy a video card next year, or as soon as financially possible (everyone has problems, it's not a race, when you get the money then do it).

With 400 bucks you could get a ~200 worth CPU in the likes of a Core i5 2500K (if you fancy overclock) if not a Core i5 3550, a ~150 motherboard (Z68 if u go for SB or Z77 if u get Ivy) and 8 Gb of DDR3 (costs ~40 bucks) and drink the 10 bucks u got left.

hmm ok then if that is going to be a better upgrade then i can do that could u guys recommend me parts within 400 ill be ordering from amazon

killadark wrote:

hmm ok then if that is going to be a better upgrade then i can do that could u guys recommend me parts within 400 ill be ordering from amazon

I always start with the latest systems guide. I imagine JAE will be here soon to give excellent recommendations.

Actually, the Sweet Spot's combination of mobo, CPU, and RAM is just about in that $400 envelope (priced from Newegg). You might be really close to that with shipping, but you'd obviously want to compare with Amazon. Might save enough on that combo alone.

Do you live near a microcenter? If so, I recently purchased an i5-3570K and an AsRock Pro4-m for $260 after tax. Microcenter is probably the best deal you're going to find anywhere. If you don't need the overclocking, they have the perfectly potent i5-3450 for $150 which also gets you $50 off any z77 motherboard purchased with the processor. I am pleased with the Pro4-m and the low cost is great. With that $50 combo discount, you can get the Pro4-m for $60 before tax. Throw in 8GB of DDR3-1600 ram and your total cost with the i5-3450 is only $260. Then you're already a third of the way back to your $400 GTX670!!

DPete27 wrote:

Do you live near a microcenter? If so, I recently purchased an i5-3570K and an AsRock Pro4-m for $260 after tax. Microcenter is probably the best deal you're going to find anywhere. If you don't need the overclocking, they have the perfectly potent i5-3450 for $150 which also gets you $50 off any z77 motherboard purchased with the processor. I am pleased with the Pro4-m and the low cost is great. With that $50 combo discount, you can get the Pro4-m for $60 before tax. Throw in 8GB of DDR3-1600 ram and your total cost with the i5-3450 is only $260. Then you're already a third of the way back to your $400 GTX670!!

actually i live in dubai
But i soo wish there was a microcenter here would have saved a but load of cash
anyways i jus got some more cash so i can get a full upgrade to my current system
just ordered a 7950 for 359.99$ form amazon since it was cheaper than gtx 670
will probably get the
i5 3570
8gb corsair vengeance
asus p8z77-v

Is there any real reason to go with a GTX 670 vs a GTX 580 that can be had for the same price? Isn't the performance very similar and actually a lot less for compute? I mean, I haven't really used it for that purpose but that's because not a lot of programs seem to be written to take advantage of it yet.

Yes I know Kepler is far more efficient, but it doesn't come without sacrifices.

DeadOfKnight wrote:

Is there any real reason to go with a GTX 670 vs a GTX 580 that can be had for the same price? Isn't the performance very similar and actually a lot less for compute? I mean, I haven't really used it for that purpose but that's because not a lot of programs seem to be written to take advantage of it yet.

Yes I know Kepler is far more efficient, but it doesn't come without sacrifices.

No the performance is NOT very similar, the 670 murders the 580 for gaming, but is specifically less capable for non-game applications, do NOT buy a 580 unless you're focusing on non-game applications, in terms of performance it's become an either-or situation for this and the last generation of Nvidia cards.

Point taken, however the 580 isn't exactly a slouch in current games, either. I have my doubts on whether you'd actually need any more power unless you had a resolution greater than 1920x1200. But if all you're doing is gaming then there's no reason to go with a slower, more power hungry card. I guess that would put it in the same category as the X79 platform, faster for some things, but not for everyone. Still I don't think it should be completely ignored.