More RAM, or better GPU?

[genbrien]

Hi all!

 

I got a bit of spare cash to spend this week, and I was wondering what should I upgrade to get a better experience with DCS A-10 ?:music_whistling:

 

-I dont think that changing my Q9550 for a i7, clock for clock, will make a big difference(+ I must change MOBO+ram =nono :P)

 

1-One of my 4870 showed some aging (artifact), so I only have one left, wich runs most of the recent game at 1980*1080 max settings with 2-4AA under 60fps :cry: + it has only 512mb of VRAM

 

2- Of my 4gb of RAM, 1.5gb is used only for windows+other programs, wich left only 2,5gb available. Will it helps if I have 6gb or 8gb?

 

3-Currently, the 64bit of the sim is installed on my 1TB HDD with 64mb of cache, and I'm earing it working quite often + a bunch of stuters in game. Will installing it on my Intel X25 SSD instead will resolve the problem or I'm running out of VRAM (1)/ RAM(2)

 

Textures are High, and want to get as much eye candy as I can :joystick:

Thx guys!

[Kuky]

you're far better off with better video card. 4GB of RAM is enough.

[FZG_Kes]

you're far better off with better video card. 4GB of RAM is enough.

 

Seconded

[CaptHawk]

New card:joystick:

[EtherealN]

Card is a good idea, though you might see more advantages than you might think from switching to an i7. Whether that is worth the expense I don't know though, so get the card first and re-use it when you do get a CPU/Mobo upgrade.

[Konovalov]

Nice shiny new graphics card. Then latter down the track look to upgrade the CPU/motherboard/RAM combo. :thumbup:

[coolts]

What is your OS?

 

your GFX card is 3 generation out of whack

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-radeon-hd-6870-radeon-hd-6850,2782-7.html

 

Like my outgoing GTX 285, its most likey your bottleneck.

 

You wont ever run out of VRAM (pagefile) unles you;

 

disable the windows pagefile then run out or RAM

manually set the pagefile too small

have dynamic pagefile set and run ou of HD sopace

[Steel Jaw]

I have six GB RAM and have not seen A10C go over 4.

[MTFDarkEagle]

GPU +1

 

(Also if the good ol' wallet allows: SSD drive )

[Konovalov]

if the good ol' wallet allows: SSD drive )

Or wife. :lol:

[MTFDarkEagle]

point taken :)

[Napa]

Definitely new GPU.

[genbrien]

Also if the good ol' wallet allows: SSD drive

 

I have already one: see point 3 ;)

 

Ok, I'm going to buy a new GPU, but can I have an official answer to :

 

should I buy Nvidia over ATI or both have the same optimisation.

 

If the game runs better on NVIDIA I'll buy a GTX580 but if ther e is no difference I'll wait for the ATi6970 :smartass:

[MTFDarkEagle]

Ah! Read to quickly ;)

 

Hmm... I don't know how ati cards run the a-10c with full details/aa etc, but I know my gtx295-o/c does the job very well..

[Succellus]

Well if No cpu than GPU and in your case 580 would be the way to go or some ATI equivalent. 59XX can t remember is equal to the 580.

There s also the point that:

I7 + Nvidia / AMD + ATI.

There s a thin fence there, if you can try not to mix them.

[MTFDarkEagle]

I'm running amd + nvidia ;) works perfect

[Succellus]

Some people can t attest if true says integration of brand work a little faster especially if SLI Crossfire. I sincerely don t know but wouldn t doubt.

[Moa]

I spent a lot of money on a Radeon HD 5970 but have an old (late 2008 ) Q6600 processor.

 

The GPU upgrade made a difference from my HD 4870 so you would also see an improvement getting a HD 5xxx series card (some of them are cheap too). Both FC2 and A-10C run fine with everything up, but it is pretty clear that I'll have to upgrade my CPU to get the maximal benefit. These cards are so powerful they they often idle waiting for the CPU and memory transfers.

 

Make sure you get a decent amount of RAM on your GPU (that is, prefer GPU RAM to a few more clock cycles). Moving textures between main memory and the GPU is relatively slow.

 

4 GB of RAM is plenty. On a 64-bit OS with more RAM than that you'll just be using it as a disk cache since the game doesn't need it (and textures are on the GPU).

 

So, like everything else I'd suggest working your way through upgrades in the following order:

1) GPU

2) CPU + mobo + RAM (prefer faster RAM rather than amounts more than 4GB for the moment).

3) disk.

 

If you upgrade to a AM3 mobo you will be able to upgrade CPUs for a few years without changing the mobo. AMD is not as performant in absolute terms as Intel but since it is *vastly* cheaper at the higher end (and with less planned obsolence in mobos) you can upgrade more often. This means you get better performance in a year or two, as you can afford to upgrade the CPU without having to change from an AM3 socket. If you have money to throw around then sure, get Intel.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Moa

[Succellus]

If you upgrade to a AM3 mobo you will be able to upgrade CPUs for a few years without changing the mobo. AMD is not as performant in absolute terms as Intel but since it is *vastly* cheaper at the higher end (and with less planned obsolence in mobos) you can upgrade more often. This means you get better performance in a yera or two, since you can afford to upgrade the CPU without having to change from an AM3 socket. If you have money to throw around then sure, get Intel.

 

About the same socket for years.. well i wouldn t hold my breath on that.

 

About the AMd cheaper than Intel, i reaaaaaaalllly wish it was true over here.

[Echonomix]

Definitely new video card. SLI and Crossfire don't appear to be worth the cost either.

 

An SSD would help with loading but it won't really increase frame rate. I just installed an ssd (Mushkin Callisto deluxe) in my macbook pro and after the 'post' I'm logged in within 5 seconds :D