It's been a while since I've looked much into processors. I've got a asus hd7970, core 2 duo 3.0ghz, 4GB Patriot ddr2-800, and and an evga 750i sli ftw motherboard. Been really looking to upgrade my processor, mobo, and memory.
Would you guys think getting a second 7970 would be a bigger improvement in gaming; or a better processor, mobo, and ram? (Got a 700W Thermaltake, which I believe should handle any of those options)
It comes out to a little less than what a second 7970 would cost (which is pretty much my maximum budget for now) Maybe a few months down the road I'll get a second 7970 as well, which is why I chose the motherboard with the two PCIE3.0 x 16 slots (not sure if the other motherboards with x8 slots would bottlekneck the 7970)
if you get a second 7970 the core2 will surely bottleneck dual cards.
the 7970 is avery powerful card standalone so you don't have to worry about that. I would definitely upgrade your cpu/mobo/ram. when you do it will actually allow the 7970 to stretch its lets further and get more fps.
NOTE: don't worry about pcie 3.0 that much pcie3 x8 = pcie2 x16 and modern graphics card are almost saturating pcie meaning that there isn't a real difference in performance.
Upgrade the processor and motherboard first, then do the 7970 later. You may already be bottlenecking the current 7970 with the slow ram and processor .
Alright cool, processor, mobo, and ram first it is than. :)
Also, I was looking at this chart, and it seems that the AMD FX-8350 is the best performing processor under $200? Would you guys recommend one of those or stick with an i5?