I had that same processor, 2 upgrades ago, and it ran ROF very well. Im not familliar with that video card, so I couldnt tell you if its any good or not. I dont want to stear you wrong, so Ill let someone else chime in, but my guess would be to get a new video card. When I had the 860, I was using it with a single 460GTX and it ran ROF smooth with most settings high.
This was an older video I did with the 860 and a 460GTX.
Rob P.s. At the end, you can see my great piloting skills!
I would hold off and build a new system when you can afford it with a 64 bit os.
My latest system is an i5 2500k Asus P8Z68 deluxe GTX 580 16GB RAM
Runs ROF maxxed out, including on the new channel map.
If a new system just isn't practical in the near future, try a new video card, although I can't make an educated suggestion as to which one with that Mobo.
Video card could definitely be a good move if you are looking for a budget upgrade.
Is your CPU overclocked? You should be able to get that overclocked by about 1GHz, pushing 3.8 or so. You'd want to invest in an aftermarket cooling alternative. Stock is okay, but I'd check out aftermarket. I have an i7-870 (stock is 2.93) at 3.9GHz with HyperThreading disabled (researching HT in games has shown no benefits, and quite a few negavites) using the Noctua NH-D14 cooler. That heat sink quite pricey. There are cheaper after market CPU coolers that will still do just about as well.
More memory with XP will be a waste, you'd need a 64bit OS to use memory above the 3.5GB range. It won't help with performance either unless you are experiencing stutters due to drive access.
SSDs won't help with in-game performance, just a little with load times - but you'd be better off upgrading everything else (especially Windows to 64bit) before looking into SSDs.
And before you go overclocking, if you haven't done it before, please research (google) it and/or ask here. The CPU can be burned out if too much voltage is applied.
Yeah, get a new video card before you upgrade anything else. Only if the new video card fails to improve as much as you'd like should you replace anything else.
Well, I would recommend going to Win7 anyway, as XP is at the end of its life, but that's not a hardware change.
The Jedi Master
The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
Everything is good inhere, except what people already wrote down your Vcard, that is a low performer. Keep in your mind if going to another Vcard verify if your PSU can handle it and the Vram must be 1.5 Gb or more.
I should mention quiet and cool are important. Anyone know if Saphhire Dual-X 7870 will be noisier or hotter than Saphhire Vapor-X 5770? Vapor-X was a bit of a big deal 3 years ago. Most reviews seem to say most video cards are pretty quiet these days, but it's hard to judge what they're comparing to.
I'll also mention the PSU is Enermax Modu 82+ 525W. The computer is nicely quiet and doesn't heat up the room too much. CPU heat sink is the TRUE with a slow 120mm fan. It's great at stock frequency but I haven't tried overclock yet.
It's a fact that the PSU is probably the most neglected hardware component in most user's PCs...yet it is vital for proper operation! Sort of like buying a sports car and then wondering why it doesn't run well with the Hess 87 octane gas and the cheapest tires you can buy at Sears.
Don't waste money and power by getting a 1000w PSU for a system that won't top 600w in usage, but you do want a comfortable margin of maybe 100w.
The Jedi Master
The anteater is wearing the bagel because he's a reindeer princess. -- my 4 yr old daughter
PSU is ok it can handle the 7870, but you can do your calculations on http://www.enermax.outervision.com/PSUEngine About the sound just type in Google, there must be a site, that did the sound measurements.
