what should i upgrade on my computer

[legendsn3verdie]

I have about 200-300$ it spend on a upgrade since i just got my 1920 x 1200 monitor i think i could use some more horsepower:

core 2 duo e6300@ 2.33ghz
asus p5n32 e sli 680i
pcpower an cooling 750watt silencer
2 x gb corsair 800mhz dominator
antec 900
evga 8800gts 640mb.

questions:
-if i upgraded to a pci express 2.0 card (yes backward compatible i know since my 680i is pci express 1.0) how much performace would i lose if i did upgrade graphics to a pcie 2.0?
-are games taking advandage of multi cored cpus with multi threading or something of the sort?
- what are the adavantages of ddr3? just more room for high overclocks??

 

[jj463rd]

Really I think that you should keep what you have and save up more money to build a new system when either Intel's Nehalem or AMD's Deneb comes out in a few months time.One thing that you will enjoy is the smoothness in gameplay with an Integrated Memory Controller in addition to being able to have higher frame rates with these upcoming CPU's.In addition when running in 1920 X 1200 resolution you will probably want a more powerful graphics card with at least 1 GB of video memory (2 GB will be better) like the ATI Radeon 2 GB DDR5 version of the 4870 X2 coming out next month.4 Gigabytes of video memory would only be needed at much higher resolution so for your monitor it would be overkill and show no real improvement.

Yes,more games will take advantage of 4 core CPU's in the future.
Some currently already are like Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Supreme Commander.FSX can already use many more cores than 4 right now.

 

[iicsus]

I agree about DDR3. For about 300$ you could buy a 4850 (or a 9800GTX if you plan to SLI in the future, since you have a 680i mobo) and 2 more gb of Corsair Dominator DDR2. As for the CPU, i'd overclock it a bit more, then later on buy a Q9300 or Q9450.

 

[Matt26LFC]

You'd need a new mobo for DDR3 aswell, and to be honest you want notice much of a diff with it over DDR2 i think.

I'd OC that CPU to around 3Ghz and invest in some cooling for the CPU and the NB. And buy a new GFX card like a 9800GTX+ or the 260 if you can stretch that far, as you can go Sli with those later if you want because buying Ati you wouldnt b able to do crossfire on your mobo.

As for more RAM as some1 has suggested that depends on what OS your running if your running 32bit might aswell not bother, if you've got 64bit go for it.

Also you might wanna get 2*2Gb memory sticks, as i've got the P5N-E Sli and my mobo doesnt like all 4 memory banks filled up. Though mine is a 650 chipset and yours a 680 you still might wanna try searching for info on that. In my case having all 4 memory banks filled limits for far i can OC.

Thats why i have 2*2Gb DDR800 G.Skills on there way to me 2morrow so i can get my OC back up too 3.23Ghz

 

[reconviperone1]

nothing, unless u want to add a hdtv tuner

 

[jitpublisher]

I would choose a new video card first.
Another 2 gig of memory would be my second choice.

 

[legendsn3verdie]

hm ok alot of good input so far.. no one answered how this question of mine thou.. how much performance do you lose using a pcie 1.0 slot with a pcie 2.0 card in it?

 

[Grimmy]

DDR3 HAS HIGH CORE CLOCKS SO THAT IT CAN TRANSFER A LOT BANDWIDTH IN LOW POWER THAN DDR 2, BUT ITS LATENCY IS HIGHER THAN DDR2, AND PRICEY TOO.I SUGGEST U STAY WITH DDR2 COZ MANY GAMES ARE NOT GET SOME BENEFIT FROM DDR3 YET UNTIL 2 YEARS AHEAD.I'M SURE DDR2 STILL A 'BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK' RIGHT NOW.

[fixed]GET A NEW KEYBOARD!!! OR GET THAT CAPS LOCK FIXED!!!![/fixed]

 

[ainarssems]

how much performace would i lose if i did upgrade graphics to a pcie 2.0?

NONE. Your mobo is still 1.0 and card will switch tofrom 2.0 to 1.0. And even if mb was 2.0 there would still be no difference anyway not more than 1% because cards are not even using full 1.0 bandwidth. Let me explain. If You have car with top speed 100mph(vid card) , it will do 100mph top on a 150mph(1.0) higway and it will still do 100mph on a 300mph (2.0)highway.

 

[Guest]

ddr 3 sucks so bad right now...

but as soon as nehalem comes out that should all change... then you'll have tril channel memory... and you'lll eliminate the FSB so the cpu should be able to use all of the rams speed instead of just like 800 mhz of the 1333 - 2000 mhz available

 

[dirtmountain]

I agree with jj46, unless you're running into problems right now in a specific game you want to play. Nothing is broken on your system, don't try to fix it. Save your money for a future system or until something crops up that you really need.

 

[aznguy0028]

i say you use your 200-300 bucks and go out to a massage parlor :O

haha jk.

ur system is fine. i agree w/dirt. (i always do for some reason) O_O

 

[mothergoose]

I think you are set for now. Ride out that hardware for anther year then upgrade would be my suggestion. Getting a good heatsink for your processor and overclocking the hell out of it (because you can... especially if you plan on replacing in the not so far off future), would be your best bet. If you really want something to upgrade then the 4850 with a good heatsink would give you a good performance increase without breaking the bank.

 

[legendsn3verdie]

i say you use your 200-300 bucks and go out to a massage parlor :O

haha jk.

ur system is fine. i agree w/dirt. (i always do for some reason) O_O

aitei guess i ll just w8 another year or so before i upgrade.. i ve pushed my cpu to 3ghz before and i hardly notice a difference in any game i played.. right now i think most my games are limitied by my gpu rather than cpu, but then again i can always be wrong.. anyways i guess i ll just w8 it out it bump my overclocks a tad with better cooling

 

[customisbetter]

^really? i pushed my e4400 from 2.2 to 2.6 and my frames increased by almost 50%! Actually, if you game at native res you prolly wouldn't notice. I play at 1280.1024 so the cpu is the bottleneck for me i guess.

 

[legendsn3verdie]

^really? i pushed my e4400 from 2.2 to 2.6 and my frames increased by almost 50%! Actually, if you game at native res you prolly wouldn't notice. I play at 1280.1024 so the cpu is the bottleneck for me i guess.

well from 2.33 ghz to 3.1ghz i noticed about 1 or 2 fps difference at 1920 x 1200 in crysis.. i guess its still cool for more free horsepower an what not.

 

[jimmysmitty]

^That res is mainly determined by the GPU not the CPU. So for that you would want to OC the GPU or add another.