is there anything wrong? +cpu upgrade

carpenter20m

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2008
140
0
18,690
Before I ask any questions, this is my rig

Core 2 Duo E6400
Ati HD 4850
2 GB RAM DDR2 (Transcend 1066 Mhz - I think)
Asus P5B mobo
Win XP Home
PSU 400W (unknown brand)
250 GB HDD (Western Digital, no idea what model)

I am thinking of getting a new processor, because I think my old one is bottlenecking the system. I am getting 17-35 fps in Crysis on all High (NOT very high => I have XP) and 1440x900 (no AA). Should I be getting more with this system? Is there anything wrong with it? Can it be the PSU, if anything?

I am between the Core 2 Duo 8600 and the Core 2 Quad 9550 which are about the same price in my country (Greece). I haven't flashed my BIOS since I bought it and to be honest, I am afraid to do it, since I know nothing of these things. Do I need to change anything in my system for it to accept one of these CPUs? Which one should I choose, if I am more interested in games? Also, do I have to upgrade the PSU as well? And if yes, to how many Watts? 500? 600?

Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you.
 

spuddyt

Distinguished
Jul 21, 2007
2,114
0
19,780
have you tried overclocking the one you already have? I would imagine at around 3-3.6 ghz you would cease seeing any major bottleneck...
 

carpenter20m

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2008
140
0
18,690
Somehow, when I go to the BIOS, I can't change the FSB value from 266...it's not greyed out (as with all unavailable properties), but when I press enter, nothing happens...still though, I know nothing about overclocking and the guide I read here is pretty confusing for a newbie like my...plus I only have stock cooling.

Thanks for the suggestion though.
 

johnyeah

Distinguished
Nov 12, 2007
562
0
18,980
I'm pretty sure you can overclock your CPU with that board.

With your system, I don't think the CPU is bottlenecking much if any.
 

carpenter20m

Distinguished
Sep 26, 2008
140
0
18,690
Small correction (which can turn out to be quite big)...My RAM is PC2-5300 @ 667 MHz. Can this be the bottleneck? What do I do to OC that?
 

Mondoman

Splendid
No, the RAM speed is fine; however, only 2GB is not so much -- you want to have at least 3 GB of RAM (either add 2x512MB to your current 2x1GB, or replace your current 2x1GB with 2x2GB).

After that, if you still want to upgrade the CPU, double-check the ASUS CPU support list for the P5B here: http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5B

Both the 8600 and 9550 are supported, but as also shown in the list, you will first need to update your BIOS to at least the version listed for that CPU (best to use the latest available). You will have to use your current CPU to do the BIOS updating.

Both CPUs you mention are good ones. The dual-core will be a bit faster now, but as games and other programs start using more cores, the quad-core may be faster a year or two from now.

 

TRENDING THREADS