4870 bottleneck? which should i upgrade

so i am going to get a 24 inch 1920 X 1200 monitor and i wish to be able to play games at that resolution on full so i was planning on getting the 4870 cause it seems to have the best value for this resolution, correct me if im wrong, but my question is will my dual core Athlon 64 X2 4600 @ 2.5 (i could overclock higher with mobo upgrade) be bottlenecking this card.
i wish to upgrade the cpu over the summer if not sooner, but should i wait on the GFX and get the cpu first or other way around. i want to be able to play games like crysis and farcry 2 with at least 15 FPS because i am pretty unsensitive when it comes to fps
i currently have a 3870.

 

The X2 will do for Far Cry 2, but you won't be able to turn Crysis all the way up on that CPU. Your best bet is really a quad core, so if you have an AM2 motherboard and CPU, stick a Phenom 9950 in there. if you're on socket 939 though, you may as well upgrade to an Intel Socket 775 system as the Core 2 Quad will be a better choice for playing games like those.

 

no i have am2 so which model should i get if i am on a budget

 

To be honest, you're better off buying AMD's fastest Dual core, it's cheap, and for most games it'll give you better performance than a Phenom, just live without the boost you get in the odd game that actually supports quads.
The new 3.1Ghz energy efficient X2 6000+ is $75 at newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103272

 

also i my bored is am2 but came out before the phenoms
so i would probably have to still upgrade right, because it isn't listed a supported model

 

That's a likely scenario. You shouldn't have a problem with the 6000+ I recommended, but I can't guarantee it.

 

o ya sorry i didn't see that post, and when i say crysis i dont mean crysis but basically all future games at least for a little like GTA4 mirrors edge and bassically any 360/ps3 port

 

Crysis is one of very few games genuinely limited by the CPU to that extent, so the X2 6000+ should be fine.

 

cool so do you think i should upgrade the cpu or gpu first after i get my huge ass monitor

ps i have a 13 inch crt monitor right now so i am pretty excited

 

I'd say the graphics card first. It'll be a more noticeable upgrade.

 

ya that is what i was thinking thanks for reaffirming my position on this isuue

 

if you do upgrade to the 4870, do you plan on getting the 1gb one? i would recommend that over the 512mb version because of the size of your monitor.

 

i have heard mixed things about that but if anybody can point in the direction of some viable benchmarks ill decide for myself

 

Generally, the 1GB version provides a negligible performance increase except for memory-intensive games like Crysis. Unless you use Anti-Aliasing, you will never notice the difference between the two cards, but if you do, the 1GB version is a nice upgrade.

 

well if i have the extra dough ill get the 1 gig but it doesnt sound like it is necesary


ps i just read all of my old posts on this thread and i apologize for sounding so arrogant, but i was writing an essay so i was kinda in pompous mode

 

I'll be honest, unless it costs you relatively little, the upgrade to 1GB is a bit of a waste, it's only really for people like me who insist on using Anti-Aliasing for all games.

 

well i too do see the difference and do like running things on full and i am planning on buying on ebay anways so hopefully i could get it for under 2 houndo

 

200 of what currency?
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148105

 

USD but ya nobody is selling these shits just the 512 versions
newegg has em for 240 are these 2 about the same, why is the sapphire's memory clock so low, but ya if they are the same id rather have it in black and blue for the sake of matching lol
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102801
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161247

 

Sapphire give the bandwidth before DDR is applied. HIS give it after, the memory speed is exactly the same for both cards, 900x4=3600mhz, they just state it in different terms.
These cards have just had a big price drop, they never used to be anywhere near as cheap as $230, consider yourself lucky. The 4870 1GB is one of the fastest single graphics cards you can buy, and top end video cards always used to cost 500 dollars plus.