Lately I've been running into some performance issues with my ol' pc. Specifically, UDK runs a little slow and I've had some issues using the paint tools in Mudbox. I don't have the budget to build an all new pc, so I was wondering if I could get some suggestions on what I might be able to do to get this one to a more usable state.

Basic specs - it's an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.5ghz with 2 gigs of ram and a Geforce 8600.

I'm thinking video card upgrade is the first step?

The more mileage I can get for cheap the better. Any suggestions for specific pieces of hardware would also be appreciated.

The cheapest thing to get off the bat would be more ram. Just make sure it's the correct one for your mobo. 4 gigs in the lower denominator, 8 for the higher.

Next would be a video card, but depends on how much you're willing to pay. I would go with the 8800 GT, but you could also go for one of the X60 series, such as the 360, 460 or 560.

At the same time however, if you're more into rendering stuff, then you might want to look into a CPU instead, and a Quad'er at that.

What exactly do you usually do more time then not? Mudbox or UDK? Do you render alot? Also, what price tag is your budget in?

I'm going to be doing environment stuff for UDK, so real-time performance is priority. The budget's tight, so upgrading will probably be done one part at a time as the paychecks come in.

Looking at Newegg, it seems that the 8800gt is no longer around. It also looks like the motherboard I have tops out at 4gigs of memory. I read a glowing review of a gtx 550 somewhere. Any thoughts on that vs a gts model that would be 30 bucks cheaper?

The 8800gt isn't around anymore, but the 9800gt still is apparently: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500115

I'm running a 9800gtx still and minus the lack of DX11 It works just fine for UDK.

Here's a card that looks somewhat comparable to the 9800, and maybe a little faster. Looks like it's about $80 after rebate. Only thing that I can see that's any different is the memory interface is 128bit instead of 256. Think that will make a huge difference? I'm pretty sure my mobo is pcie 1. Not sure how that will come in to play.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814500187

Well that card has a bit more memory and should be on-par speed wise with a 9800gtx, at the very least Windows7 gives it a slightly higher performance score (9800gtx=6.9, 450gts=7.1) if that counts for anything.

On a budget I'd say it'd be a worthwhile upgrade from a 8600.

Wow. I figured it would be pretty close to the 9800gtx. I'll take that into consideration. I've got some time to mull this over. Thanks a lot for the input!

If there is any chance you can afford I'd go for the 460 gtx, 450 gts is nice and will be a big jump from 8xxx, but 460 gtx has that extra oomph. personally I went from 9600 GT (passive) to 450 gts to 560 gtx ti. 450 gts does suck less power so it might be less problematic when it comes to upgrading an old system. I'd also think the core2duo would become more of a limit for the higher end cards. So in short 450 gts sounds like a good choice, at least you can run dx11 tech.
(legal blah: I am working for Nvidia as devtech, but speak for myself)

Good info, CrazyButcher. If my budget wasn't so tight I'd go with the 460gtx for sure. Looking hard at that gts now. If I pick it up in the next week it's only 75 bucks after rebate. Feeling impulsive... Must continue to sleep on it.

If you're still looking for a cpu, check out the 1090T. Quad core goodness running at 3.2ghz and 20C idle, and for a very reasonable price. Some people say that AMD units have trouble with some modeling programs, but I beg to differ. Video cards are a different story, though. I have a 9800GT paired with my 1090T, and I'm loving it.

If you can wait for the Bulldozer, however, I highly suggest doing so. It should smoke the i7's out there for a third of the price.

I've got a new motherboard and 8 gigs of ddr3 incoming. I'm still looking at a new graphics card. I'm thinking gtx550 is looking like the right price for the performance. Any thoughts?

what is your budget for a card?