Should I spend less on a cpu and more on a gpu if I plan on pc gaming?

I atleast want a cpu that can last me up to 5 years before upgrading. I seen peoples specs, where they had a AMD X2 3800+, or cheap Intel equivalent with a 8800GTX 640mb or HD 2900XT. Is this a good, or bad thing? Should I invest in a cheap cpu and high price quality video card, or just splurg on both for gaming?

$900 budget, want's to play Crysis at high settings!

There is no CPU that will last you five years for serious gaming without an upgrade.subrosian

[QUOTE="subrosian"]There is no CPU that will last you five years for serious gaming without an upgrade.theragu40

[QUOTE="theragu40"][QUOTE="subrosian"]There is no CPU that will last you five years for serious gaming without an upgrade.subrosian

[QUOTE="subrosian"]There is no CPU that will last you five years for serious gaming without an upgrade.theragu40

late model p4 = 2.5 years ago not 5

5 years is pushing it. A $3000 PC maxed out with the LATEST CPU and tech will last you for serious gaming 3 years AT MOST, maybe less if you demand top rez and top fps. And you will still need to probably upgrade at least the GPU at some point to get 3 years from the PC. For $900? Doubtful you can max out Crysis. This assumes you need the WHOLE PC, not just some pieces and parts.

If I tried to run Bioshock or STALKER on my 3.5 year old Dell XPS Gen2, it would likely choke. If I turned down the rez and graphics settings, I could MAYBE get it to run somewhat decent, but not great. 3.5 years ago it was top of the line.

5 years is pushing it. A $3000 PC maxed out with the LATEST CPU and tech will last you for serious gaming 3 years AT MOST, maybe less if you demand top rez and top fps. And you will still need to probably upgrade at least the GPU at some point to get 3 years from the PC. For $900? Doubtful you can max out Crysis. This assumes you need the WHOLE PC, not just some pieces and parts.

If I tried to run Bioshock or STALKER on my 3.5 year old Dell XPS Gen2, it would likely choke. If I turned down the rez and graphics settings, I could MAYBE get it to run somewhat decent, but not great. 3.5 years ago it was top of the line.

ZBoater

true, you get more bang for your buck buying midrange and upgrading more often. there isn't much difference between

athlon xp 2000+ and 2400+ or 2500+ and 3000+ or 3800x2 and 4600x2 but the price difference is pretty big

P.C. gaming is a money pit that if you spend wisely, will be able to have games preform at a high level for 2-3 years. This is why I learned how to build my own rig in-order to use old parts in a newly built computer. For $900, you can build a decent rig that will play games like Crysis ok and by adding parts, when funds become available, you can get new games to run at a high level 3-6 months down the road depending on your budget. We gamers and the business community push the P.C. industry for better hardware which results in new products. Do you expect the PS3 or Xbox 360 to play new games 5 years from now? Sony and MS are already working on sequels with the generation after words in the planning stage.roulettethedog

I buy where you get the most bang for buck which when I got my pc was amd 64 3200+ and then 4200x2 when the price drop came the 4400x2 was $100nzd more for nothing but more cache while the difference between 38 and 42 was like $20. with the 32-35 it was another $100nzd for 200mhz, what a joke. ram is one you should never buy in the highend. 2gb chips are stupidly expencive when compared to 2 1gb chips.

The difference between the pentium dual core 2160 and the e6750 is pretty small for the price difference 8800gts 320-640 is huge for next to no increase at normal resloutions

true, you get more bang for your buck buying midrange and upgrading more often. there isn't much difference between

athlon xp 2000+ and 2400+ or 2500+ and 3000+ or 3800x2 and 4600x2 but the price difference is pretty big

imprezawrx500

Well, I dont know about that - if you added up all the upgrades and time you spent, it would be that much more bang, but to each his own.

basicly there is not cpu now that will run games well in over 3 years timeimprezawrx500

[QUOTE="imprezawrx500"]true, you get more bang for your buck buying midrange and upgrading more often. there isn't much difference between

athlon xp 2000+ and 2400+ or 2500+ and 3000+ or 3800x2 and 4600x2 but the price difference is pretty big

ZBoater

Well, I dont know about that - if you added up all the upgrades and time you spent, it would be that much more bang, but to each his own.

Okay I'm back with my final build that is within my price range. I've read all of your post and took certain things into consideration. Now will this rig last me at least 3 years without any needed upgrades and be able to run games like Crysis and Far Cry 2 on high settings?

Drive

Case

RAM

PSU

HDD

CPU and GPU combo, the one that includes the 8800GTS 320mb

Motherboard

Total cost came up to $880.74 with shipping included. Is there any parts cheaper that I can exchange for my needs, if so suggest them please?

true, you get more bang for your buck buying midrange and upgrading more often. there isn't much difference between

athlon xp 2000+ and 2400+ or 2500+ and 3000+ or 3800x2 and 4600x2 but the price difference is pretty big

imprezawrx500

EDIT: I'd get a Antec EathWatts 430W instead of the StealthXtreme. It's not that it's any better; it'll just be chaper and get the job done.

A good PSU at a great price is the Antec NeoPower NeoHE 550 for $100 - $45 Mail-in Rebate and free shipping.

I would also suggest GeIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 SDRAM (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit for $85 - $30 Mail-in Rebate.

For $20, you could alsoget ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro to help with overclocking/stability.

Whatever, guys. Like I said...we clearly have a different concept of what "serious gaming" means. You can be poor and still be a serious gamer. I'm running a P4 3.2 ghz w/ HT right now...and guess what? I can run Bioshock just fine. Is it at an incredible resolution? No. Can I play it? Yes, and without substantial slowdown. My processor came out roughly 4 years ago. I'm not saying you're going to get perfect performance in everything...but if you want to use a CPU for 4+ years, it's certainly possible (contrary to what you blokes are saying). The guy asked an honest question, and I'm giving him an honest, simple answer. That answer is yes, you can. You don't need to be a graphics whore just to consider yourself a serious gamer. Period. Also I want you to look long and hard at both my first post and the OP's post. Do either of us mention a motherboard anywhere? He asked about CPUs, not motherboards. I'm sorry your girlfriend has an awful motherboard with poor upgrade support. But some people don't have such problems. You can get a mobo that will last you longer than a couple years if you're smart about it. And I'm sorry, but I refuse to lie to people and tell them they need to buy a new processor every 2 years. Because they don't. To the guy who said late model P4s are 2 years ago - I'm not talking about Pentium Ms or Extreme Editions here. Yes, the very latest models of straight P4s (Prescott core) came out perhaps 2-3 years ago...but I was referring to the slightly older Northwood cores...most have the same speeds but came out much earlier. theragu40

Nice try, but I don't think any of them get it.

As for the motherboard not being upgrade friendly, there was a change in the standard graphics card slot. Although, I don't see why would have to be a problem. Just replace it with a slightly more expensive card for your slot. After 2 more yr, get a new rig.

I have a theory that, for the most part, the consoles bottleneck the games. As long as a console, Xbox for example, is top of the line, games will be made with low enough requirements that they can be played on it. If your computer kicked the console's butt when you bought it, it should still run games at close to decent frame rates at the end of the console's life. When a new console comes out, 360 for example, upgrade to a pc that kicks its butt, and it will last you as long as the console is the top of the line.

That won't give you max quality or maybe not even medium quality near the end of the consoles life, but you could play games decently. Like I said, the consoles will bottleneck the games and keep them from getting way to demanding for your pc.

The only exception is games made only for the computer. You may need to upgrade in 3 years if you want to play those.