GTA IV: CPU dilemma. Please help me!

[NVIDIAGeek]

Hi, I couldn't control my question about Dual- vs. Quad-core in GTA IV. I searched the internet and found no relation to my Q. So, I need a answer from you guys. I have the rig which is in my sig , Does GTA IV use 4-cores?? I need a suggestion quickly 'cause am about to buy a MoBo and a proccy [optional if E8400 is good] tomorrow. Which Quad proccy is better [if I buy]: Q8200 or Q9300 or Q6600 G0?? Which would OC better?? Is E8400@3.4GHz enough to beat these Quad's or is it have to be 3.6GHz?? If I think that E8400 is good, then I won't be able to upgrade to a Quad in the future. This is going to be my last upgrade . Or are there any proccy's worth waiting? I don't do any Video/Image editing, Multi-tasking or........ I will be only Gaming. So, suggest me the best proccy for Gaming. Let it be AMD or Intel, If AMD suggest me a good M/B for OCing that proccy. Okay, Here's my question & the answer is yours.

[RMN]

with the config in my sig im able to play GTA4 smoooothly.
Textures and one another setting is in MED rest all are highest.

[NVIDIAGeek]

So, you are telling me to buy a Quad-core, so be it! Which one of the above three?? Or suggest me a good Quad. Budget Rs. 12k

[furious_gamer]

Dude, E8400 is one hell of good proccy.. So no need to update it now.. Rather save it and spend on Core i7 when u afford..
Spending in a C2Q when u have a heavy proccy like E8400 is complete waste of money IMO...

[NVIDIAGeek]

^^You sure, Is E8400 "one hell of a proccy"??? Anyway, thanks buddy, for some encouraging words 'bout my proccy

[amitash]

As far as gta 4 goes, it loves quad cores and performance is brilliant on them...I saw a youtube video where someone with a core i7 was running it at the highest settings with an 8800gt.. the same game on a dual core with 8800gt can run only at medium...So i would say go for a quad core and if you are, then dont buy any of te procys you listed..If you cant go for core i7 then go for amd phenom 2 940 for 12k, biostar 790gx for 5k and since you have a 4850, you will have the dragon platform... Here you might be able to run gta4 at its highest... What i am pretty sure of is that gta4 runs awesome on a core i7.

The cheapest core i7 setup you can buy in india is:
gigabyte ds4,i7-920,2gb corsair ram which will total approx 33k...mention your exact budget...You may be able to sell your E8400 and the intel mobo to reduce costs on the i7 build.....I suggested this because you are not upgrading again for some time so with i7 you will be future proof

[NVIDIAGeek]

Core i7's a dream for me. I am the only geek in my family. No one is interested in PC, all they hate Gaming, that too for Gaming Rs. 33k not worth they say. They say, if it's below Rs. 500 it's ok WTF! Even a dream of i7 build is also rare! That's it the rig in the sig is my last stand for gaming.

[furious_gamer]

wait for sometime. sure the prices of i7 will fell. no need to rush when it comes build a rig. so wait till the miracle happens.

[comp@ddict]

Your cinfig rocks, ur mobo fkus but try with patch 2, and don't worry abt cpu, it's mostly a gpu limitation.

[NVIDIAGeek]

^^Thanks, Comp. You made me cheer up! Ok, MoBo Phuc's I know, I'll change that to MSI P45 or MSI P7N SLi Platinum. Then OC the proccy to 3.5GHz, it'll be alright with the stock HSF, no??

[freshseasons]

Core i7's a dream for me. I am the only geek in my family. No one is interested in PC, all they hate Gaming, that too for Gaming Rs. 33k not worth they say. They say, if it's below Rs. 500 it's ok WTF! Even a dream of i7 build is also rare! That's it the rig in the sig is my last stand for gaming.

Ghar Ghar ki baat as in all over India.

[IronManForever]

^ And beyond.

[comp@ddict]

^^Thanks, Comp. You made me cheer up! Ok, MoBo Phuc's I know, I'll change that to MSI P45 or MSI P7N SLi Platinum. Then OC the proccy to 3.5GHz, it'll be alright with the stock HSF, no??

Yup, go for any P45 mobo like ASUS or Biostar or PSI. No need for a SLi mobo, the 45 chipset it better than 750i SLi chipset I think.
And if you have good ram, no need to worry.

[NVIDIAGeek]

^^I have 2Gigs of 667MHz RAM, Am gonna add 2Gigs of 800MHz. Will it be OK?? Or will there some crashes?? Is any diff. in gaming between 667MHz & 800MHz???

[amitash]

i beg to differ with compaddicts first post... Its the cpu that is always the bottleneck not the other way around... Before games were quad optimised, the e8400 was ruling but today, even the old q6600 is starting to pwn it... Especially in games like gta4..... As for nvidiageek, i suggest you extend your budget to 15k and get phenom 2 920 and biostar 790gx mobo... This will be equal to a q9450 and you can game easily at resolutions not exceeding 1440x900.... If u are looking for full hd gaming then you will have to buy a new gfx card.

[comp@ddict]

^^^Well, yes you are right. But with a HD4850, it's a GPU bottleneck.

With a card like GTX285 or higher, it's a CPU bottleneck, there simplified everything.

^^I have 2Gigs of 667MHz RAM, Am gonna add 2Gigs of 800MHz. Will it be OK?? Or will there some crashes?? Is any diff. in gaming between 667MHz & 800MHz???

Buy 667MHz, they are cheaper.

And no, the faster ram becomes automatically slower.

[amitash]

it wont be a gpu bottleneck at resolutions below 1440x900

[NVIDIAGeek]

^Yeah, I'll not be playing beyond 1440x900 res. Anyway, I'll play GTA IV with my bro's rig. Which's a Core i7 965 build! My dream-come-true rig. Yeppee! . I am satisfied with my C2D rig.

[comp@ddict]

^^^ 1440x900 is a modest resolution.
Amitash is rite there.

Man, I'm on a P4 HT with 6200TC, anything is better for me.

[furious_gamer]

I am on ur league comp@ddict, with P4 HT and 7600GT....
But still playing GTA IV and even some good games like FOUC, Burnout Ultimate Paradise Box....

[comp@ddict]

7600GT huh, that GPU is said to have issues with GTA IV, reasons unknown.

Burnout Ultimate Paradise Box...

This game rocks!!!

[NVIDIAGeek]

^^Really!? How are the physics? When are you gonna upgrade?

[comp@ddict]

^^can't say much about the physics as I run on a crappy PC but it still looks good.

Me upgrading in April/

Planning on this:

790GX + SB 750 Motherboard
Phenom II X4 940 B.E.
4GB DDR2 800MHzRAM(4-4-4-12 timimgs)
HD4870 1GB GDDR5(most probably palit dual sonic)

[furious_gamer]

^^Really!? How are the physics? When are you gonna upgrade?

The PhysX is very good, and the EA done pretty good job by making such low Requirements to play the games. Thanks EA. I played the game at medium settings with no AA @ 1024x768. The game is a pure eye-candy and the city is perfect. I expect Rockstart to choose such a city for the next GTA Installment. They sculpted the game very well. Playing the game w/o controller is somewhat difficult. Otherwise, the game is a must-play for all.
Man, dont wait. Got it and play...

^^can't say much about the physics as I run on a crappy PC but it still looks good.

Me upgrading in April/

Planning on this:

790GX + SB 750 Motherboard
Phenom II X4 940 B.E.
4GB DDR2 800MHzRAM(4-4-4-12 timimgs)
HD4870 1GB GDDR5(most probably palit dual sonic)

Advanced Congrats for ur upgrade..
BTW Hope u get it by April...
Happy Gaming...

[comp@ddict]

April = 200% pakka

Waiting for HD4870 1GB prices to come to affect. Shud be 179$, roughly 11.5k here.

And then I'm trying to find out about a low latency DDR2 RAM as:
4-4-4-12 DDR2 800MHz performance is 16% better than 5-5-5-15 DDR2 800MHz.

I read this a long time ago, and will keep this in mind to get good, low latency ram.

[amitash]

Any idea when the new set of gfx cards from ati and nvidia are coming out?

[furious_gamer]

By the start of April....

[NVIDIAGeek]

Guys, anyone know how to OC AMD Phenom II X4 920 with Gigabyte MA78GM-S2HP?? Please help me. I want to tell to my yet another cous.

[comp@ddict]

Phenom II 920? You can't expect much.

Due to Bus limitation o'course. That's y, when an AMD procc for OC, it shud be a B.E.
but it goes 3.4GHz I heard or 3.6GHz as well.

[NVIDIAGeek]

^No need shell out extra for "B.E." He just wants to touch the 3.0GHz margin. And it does. That's enough. He changed the proccy from Intel C2D E7300 to AMD Phenom II just to play GTA IV.