i7 huh.. *remembers the price*

*DEEEPP BREATH*

I'm going to far from my original plan. Anywho...

Ok.. How about this.. Would it be better to invest on a high-end CPU then just get a decent high-end GPU?

I can't handle those two together.

I think everyone has gone over baord with this...

your original choice will suit you fine if you only want decent performance in the workstation department but unless ur dealing with images 10 MP+ I wouldn't worry about it for example i'm using a geforce 8800GT and my system runs a treat using photoshop CS 4 its only when I do really big images I see a performance drop but then again that may be due to the fact I only have 4GB of RAM and we all know photoshop can suck that dry in a matter of minutes.

So get one that fits ur budget now and wait 8-12 months before getting a new rig since the computing market is still aload of shit at the moment in regards cost to performance.

plus if u want an i7 expect alot of noise and alot of heat ^_^ but on the plus side u get a nice fast CPU...

(but i'm still on a dual core duo 2.4GHz and everything runs sweet as a nut under Win 7)

Also if you get an i7 you would need new RAM a new motherboard and I can put money on it a new PSU (Also getting a mac would be cheaper and how often can you say that! lol)

GPU first, then CPU later on. If you change the CPU, you'll also have to change the motherboard and RAM. GPUs affect game framerates more than CPUs for the same money spent.

Even though an non-i7 CPU can be shown to bottleneck the graphics, at that point it tends to be the difference between 80fps and 100fps. Not so that you'd notice. GPU is more important for going from unplayable to playable framerates.

What's your current CPU?

agreed it also can be the cheapest upgrade option next to ram to boost performance in apps like photoshop and 3Ds MAX but it is never a long term solution for hardcore editing.

The answer for hardcore work would have to be any i7 with a beefy workstation card but like i said if you dont deal with 10mp+ images I wouldn't be worried about it as long as you have a decent amount of ram (4GB+)

Actually yea.. I got a little confused about the bottleneck thing and thought of some pretty stupid stuff.. Now I'm a bit demoralized on spending on a new processor and would rather get something else. 

@Soleron

Right now this old pc is running on a Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.7ghz with the board only allowing 2GB max ram. Was planning on building a new pc. My original budget allowance was $700-1200 but then again I kinda don't want to spend much. :(

Here's my original plan btw just so you guys would know. In two years time after I finish college I'd be moving out of my home country. So I needed something that I can pack and move easily. So bringing the whole CPU is out of the question. 

Once I move to a much more stable place, I could easily fetch the other parts without worrying about discarding/reselling the stuff. This is why GPU is the only thing I wanted to invest on and also I saw that it would be by far the cheapest upgrade/investment I could do.

I'm not the kind of person who upgrades pcs too much. As long as it can keep up to what I do then I see no point in assembling a new one. I'm going for a long term investment here. Something that could last a long time till it can't keep up.

@Avynet

Sometimes I do things that are 10mp+.. But when it comes to some brushes even though the canvas isn't that huge it suddenly becomes delayed, especially when I try to blend colors.

Now the things I'm willing to spend for are a board with 4GB or 8GB max RAM and a GPU. I actually don't want to spend on a processor anymore if it's possible.

I'm thinking it's ok if I can't maximize it but just to the point that it can give good noticeable difference on the present performance.

iron_,megalith

To a more stable place? Isnt the UK stable?

I'm not there right now. I'm in my home country in the Philippines. And I'm stuck with my old PC.

By stable I mean that I'd stay their for a long time. In 2 years time I'd be moving out again and I can't have this PC tagging along with me across the globe. :P

So u want a PC that lasts 2 year? Forget about Core i7 then cos it's a waste of money.

Do u plan to keep your current CPU? Or u said QuadCore 9xxx?

In light of your plans, I would still say a GPU only, then full replacement in two years. The CPU is good enough.

Does your current board not support more RAM?

@Slimebeast

As much as possible I don't want to buy the Q9**** since I figured a lot would go to waste.

If I go down with Q9*** I'll be getting rid of
-board
-CPU
-RAM(this currently has 2 1GB DDR2)

While If I just choose to upgrade the board and keep the CPU only
-board
-RAM

Not to mention I need to buy another Power Supply since this isn't rigged for a power hungry hardware.

@Soleron

Right now it's only on 2GB max. This is already running of an obsolete motherboard. Luckily they still sell AM3 boards here which support 4GB so I guess that's ok. 4GB is enough for gaming IIRC.

I have to say that bottleneck thing got me stirred up. :S