Upgrade choices

[Justin Swan]

Hi all.
I have an entry level Alienware X51 with the following:

CPU_Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2120 CPU @ 3.30GHz

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 (1GB DDR5)
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GT 545
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 2717 MB
Dedicated Memory: 978 MB
Shared Memory: 1739 MB

4GB ram

What upgrade would give me better performance? (sim racing obviously)
Upgrading to an i5?
Upgrading to a GT 660 or 660ti
Or increasing the ram to 8GB?

I'm guessing the 660ti but I find it all a bit confusing?

Thanks for any advise.

 

[Peter]

i5/660ti/8gb ram.
It makes almost no difference upgrading only one part. 8 gb ram is the cheapest when you have an X64 OS.
edit: maybe you also need a PSU with more power.

 

[Jim Cole]

Hi all.
I have an entry level Alienware X51 with the following:

CPU_Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2120 CPU @ 3.30GHz

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 (1GB DDR5)
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GT 545
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 2717 MB
Dedicated Memory: 978 MB
Shared Memory: 1739 MB

4GB ram

What upgrade would give me better performance? (sim racing obviously)
Upgrading to an i5?
Upgrading to a GT 660 or 660ti
Or increasing the ram to 8GB?

I'm guessing the 660ti but I find it all a bit confusing?

Thanks for any advise.

Upgrading ram won't have much of any effect what so ever on performance. Your CPU has plenty of power to run most games, though you could get a little more with an i5. If you are going to upgrade the graphics card, I would go for no less than the GTX 670 as anything lower and you wouldn't see much in the way of performance gains.

 

[Justin Swan]

Th

Upgrading ram won't have much of any effect what so ever on performance. Your CPU has plenty of power to run most games, though you could get a little more with an i5. If you are going to upgrade the graphics card, I would go for no less than the GTX 670 as anything lower and you wouldn't see much in the way of performance gains.

Thanks. I think a 670 might be out of my price range. Also the x51 only has 350w psu so I have to watch what goes in. I know the 660ti would work ok with that but I'd have to look into it more. So you say the 660ti wouldn't give me a noticeable increase in FPS over the gt545? There is almost a £200 price difference!

 

[Peter]

If you stick with the i3, its only a waiste of money. With a i5/660ti you double your fps

 

[Justin Swan]

Yeah

If you stick with the i3, its only a waiste of money. With a i5/660ti you double your fps

Yeah that's what I intent to do but I can only do 1 for now and the other later on. Which would give me the best increase at first? The i5 or the 660ti?

 

[Jim Cole]

I would upgrade the graphics first in your case, even though it might require that you upgrade the PSU at the same time. The CPU won't be a bottleneck, or won't be that bad a one anyways.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

i dont know how your money works out but graphic cars come down in price quicker that processors,
in six months to a years time you may be able to bet a better card for the same price as a 660 ti now
but you will properly stick with your processor longer than your card..
that was my theory on my purchases
Edit but i do work in strange ways
had to buy my stuff in stages and my card upgrade was the last i bought.. must of saved nearly 80 pounds..
if they get much cheaper ill maybe get another of the same and run sli..
2x660ti 3gb should give a good result and way cheaper than the bigger cards..