New Graphic Card, Minimal Improvement

[Ruinku]

I guess I'll start with my desktop I'm currently playing on.

Long story short, the desktop is a Gateway Lx6200, I've replaced the OS with Windows 7 64 Bit (Had a nightmare reformatting it). Replaced the stock PSU of 400w with a Cool Master 650w. And replaced a slight upgrade over the integrated video card Radeon 3200 -> Radeon 4670 -> Geforce GTX 550 TI.

So far I've probably spent around 300 dollars, trying to bring a old prebuilt computer up to modern times. My current conclusion is that I need a new CPU because something is just not right ...

Either my expectations are too high (and this is where I need help) or hardware/software is not compatible with my machine because I'm not getting great FPS in World of Warcraft or games like Starcraft 2. It's a SLIGHT improvement over my previous video card (essentially the only thing I've upgraded here, the PSU was for the new card which requires 500w). According to the website http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html my old video card was rated 763 and my current card is 1,856. That's a 2x+ improvement but I'm certainly not seeing that in FPS.

Currently on ultra settings I'll idle with about 35 FPS but when I'm moving across (for example) Twilight Highlands and flying above it'll dip to 5-10 FPS. Previously on my older video card (The Radeon HD 4670) I could probably have done the same, with maybe losing 10-15 FPS idling and 2-3 FPS while moving. It's starting to eat at me that I dropped about 200 dollars (not counting a new PSU) to not see the expected upgrades in FPS. Let alone custom games like Marine Arena in SC2 is basically unplayable to me which was one of the main reasons I was looking to improve this desktop. Again the conclusion I reached myself was that the CPU needs an upgrading to see any changes in FPS in which case I'm not sure what this mobo supports in regards to the latest CPU.

If anyone could lend some advice or wisdom regarding my matter I would much appreciate it, or just to clarify that my expectations are too great and that I would see drastic improvements if I got my hands on a better CPU.

Thanks in advance.

Edit:
All of this rises also from reading what other people are getting in regards with their systems. It seems that a 2.20 GHz processor with a video card of my power would yield better results <-- This is at the core of my situation. Why am I not getting similar results (or am I misinformed and I'm getting exactly what I should).

Edit : http://www.gateway.com/product_spec....ecid=529668196
link to gateway website with the stock specs of the LX6200

[Wries]

There's a difference between CPU and CPU. Not up to the gigahertz, it's up to efficiency in cpu architecture. A 2.2 GHz Sandy bridge i3 would yield way better results than that compared to your first gen Phenom.

Yes I do believe we're seeing a CPU bottleneck here.

[Ruinku]

Hmm well that seems to be a preferable scenario (Better than knowing that my time was wasted and that I've just been using broken hardware/software I guess). With all things considered such as me wanting to be able to play D3 when it releases to it's full beauty and games like SC2 (Certain custom games) would upgrading the CPU on my current rig be an okay solution. Or is it leaps and bounds better to just start from scratch build my own rig for gaming. It appears that the chipset/mobo is only compatible up to a Phenom II x4 which according to http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html it is a 60% or so upgrade. Not sure how MUCH that'll improve the FPS out as far as performance and my system being able to handle epic situations (Massive battles on SC2 or D3 with high settings).

Obviously starting from scratch has much more potentials but then the entire budget thing comes into play, I'm not really looking to pay more than I have to play video games at the moment on my PC. But another 100-200 for a CPU that could possibly extend the usefulness of this desktop would be worth it, well I suppose that is the real question here, would it even be worth it.

[Deleted]

When talking about CPU's the GHz doesn't really tell all that much these days, it's about architecture, cache, number of cores/threads etc that matter. You may have a 2.2GHz CPU but it's an Phenom, which as far as I know where pretty bad CPU's even when they were new and that was ages ago in terms of CPU technology.

WoW is also highly CPU dependant game so switching to a new GPU really doesn't make a world of difference (and you should've asked around a bit before upgrading the GPU, 550 isn't all that great afaik).

The good news is that since you have a Phenom processor you probably have a socket AM2+ motherboard which would allow you to upgrade to a Phenom II processor, a fair bit more powerful than your current one and quite cheap upgrade, I believe the general consensus is that a Phenom II x4 955 BE is about the best price/performance processor AMD has out right now (and can easily be overclocked for even more performance), I have it myself and it runs games just fine (30-40 fps in Orgrimmar with everything on Ultra except high shadows or something like that can't remember exact details). Of course if you have the cash to throw around upgrading to I5-2500 (k) is a massive upgrade for you but it'll require a new motherboard and probably ram as well.

[Djinni]

Starting from scratch isn't as bad as it seems, chances are you will be able to "re-use" alot of the hardware you already have: PSU, Optical Drive, Hard drive, RAM, Graphics Card, Case, Peripherals, etc.. So you only actually probably need to change the Motherboard and Processor.

[vesseblah]

So you only actually probably need to change the Motherboard and Processor.

And RAM.

Bottom line comes to about $400 for motherboard+cpu+ram when switching up to i5-2500K.

The first Phenom OP has now is known to be rather bad performer, and AM2+ board has wattage limit to what CPU it can take. 95W is maximum and there aren't that many good 95W PhenomII's available so the CPU upgrade options are really limited.

[dokilar]

WoW has always been cpu dependent. if your cpu is bottlenecked addin a nice gpu isnt going to do you much good.

a previous poster said mentioned the phenom II. which is what i bought a few months ago for my first build. it is in fact the best dollar for dollar cpu. i bought mine off newegg for 145 bucks i think and it runs everything i throw at it with ease.

[MachoSasquatcho]

Definitely being held back by your CPU. If I were you I would salvage what you can from you current build (gfx card, ram etc.) and start fresh with a new Mobo/CPU/PSU. Going from what you have to a Phenom II 955 or i5-2500k is going to be miles ahead of what you currently have. If you just wanted to go the AMD route here is what I would go with:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-808-_-Product - $119.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131595 - $79.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139028 - $69.99

If you are going to install a new motherboard/CPU you might as well upgrade your craptastic 400w PSU that came with your Gateway. Prebuilt Computers are notorious for coming with shoddy PSUs and its best to go ahead and grab a quality one if you are going with a new CPU/Mobo.