Best possible graphics card for CPU

[Gwadien]

For a AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-core procesor 2.5ghz
I'm not entirely sure what MOBO I have because for some reason my PC doesn't pick up on it.

Basically, cos my new PC is inc, I'd like to keep this PC for my younger brother, but I'd like to know how much more I can get out of it without having to buy anything but a new graphics card.

Or, how you can work out how to do this.

I appreciate the help

 

[Scouse]

For a AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-core procesor 2.5ghz
I'm not entirely sure what MOBO I have because for some reason my PC doesn't pick up on it.

Use CPUID and post here.

As for the graphics card, what you already got?

If you can't pump that many polygons then you're right, there's an overkill situation. But it ain't worth upgrading if you're already in the good zone.

I reckon you spend 80 quid on a 1GB 7770...

 

[Gwadien]

Use CPUID and post here.

As for the graphics card, what you already got?

If you can't pump that many polygons then you're right, there's an overkill situation. But it ain't worth upgrading if you're already in the good zone.

I reckon you spend 80 quid on a 1GB 7770...

It's got a Nvidia 9800 GTX+ atm.

 

[Gwadien]

that?

 

[Scouse]

Aye.

I'd have a look here: toms hardware gfx card list...

Find your 9800GTX+ and then if you're looking to upgrade then look at least 3 levels higher.

It's never ideal without the CPU upgrade but I did a pure graphics card upgrade from a Radeon 4850 to a 7870 and it's been great - on a Phenom II X3.

 

[Gwadien]

Aye.

I'd have a look here: toms hardware gfx card list...

Find your 9800GTX+ and then if you're looking to upgrade then look at least 3 levels higher.

It's never ideal without the CPU upgrade but I did a pure graphics card upgrade from a Radeon 4850 to a 7870 and it's been great - on a Phenom II X3.

Yeah, but how far do I go before it bottlenecks, that's my question.

 

[Scouse]

Yeah, but how far do I go before it bottlenecks, that's my question.

There's always bottlenecks and the solution isn't linear so there's no CPU to GFX card list.

Have a look at the CPU heirarchy list. I reckon you could still go up 3 steps on the gfx card list and still see a benefit.

 

[Bigmac]

I'm still using a Radeon hd 4850, going to upgrade it when Dark Souls 2 comes to pc, probably to a gtx 760/770.

 

[Athan]

I can only give a reference point of my old Core2Duo E4500 with a GF8600 getting very CPU-bound in WoW when I upgraded the GPU to a GTX260. Then upgrading the CPU to an i5-760 meant it was once more very GPU-bound (I then bumped the GPU again to a GTX 560 Ti 448 core, so back to CPU bound).

Going on that and the equivalent AMD CPU/GPUs I'd say your Phenom X4 9850 won't benefit from more than jumping a tier or 2 on http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32850-7.html . AMD-wise that puts it around 7750 or 7770, which as someone else mentioned is about £80. £110+ to bump another tier to 7790.

 

[Xalara]

using a radeon hd 4850 aswell