What should i do?

[pleasehelp]

Hello
I am just wondering what i could do to get more performance out of my pc.
Intel Pentium D 3.00GHz
Nvidia Geforce 8800gt XXX
3 gigs of ram
X-fi Fitality
250 gb hd
Windows Xp

The main thing i am wondering is if upgrading to a core 2 duo is a lot better then what i have. They are in my price range i just dont know how much better that would be then what i have. When i check the benchmarks on games such as crysis i dont know what prossesor they are using and i never get what they have ith my 8800gt. They said they had 30 fps with 8800gt when i hardly ever get 20. Any ideas would be great thanks!

Another thing i should add is that my motherboard is not pci-e 2.0 Could that be part of the problem?

 

[br3nd064]

I'd consider getting a second 8800gt for sli (if your motherboard and ps supports it).

No, the pci-e not being 2.0 isn't the problem because the 8800gt can't use all the bandwidth.

 

[pleasehelp]

Well its either me getting a new motherboard or cpu. And i my 8800gt is 2.0 so wouldnt it use the bandwith?

 

[V3NOM]

is that a pentium dual core or single core?

 

[Zorg]

Pentium D is dual core, 8xx or 9xx.

 

[curnel_D]

Your processor needs replaced. 3Ghz of C2D is alot more than 3Ghz of Prescott speed. That's your HUGE limiting factor.

 

[Reynod]

What brand and model mobo - that might help.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Well its either me getting a new motherboard or cpu. And i my 8800gt is 2.0 so wouldnt it use the bandwith?

No. There is no GPU out currently that will utilize the full bandwidth of PCIe 2.0. In fact THG did a test between PCIe 2.0 and 1.1 at all different speeds. At full x16 speeds there is little to no difference. At x8 speeds the difference changes but not enough to be amazed at. At lower speeds such as x4 and x2 there is a big difference. But most people wont be running a 8800 or a 3870/4870 @ x2/x4 mode.

 

[rtfm]

Your processor needs replaced. 3Ghz of C2D is alot more than 3Ghz of Prescott speed. That's your HUGE limiting factor.

Agreed, time for a new cpu

 

[pleasehelp]

Hey guys and thank you for your posts. So if i got a intel core 2 duo 3.00ghz that is a lot better then my pentium D 3.00ghz? My motherboard is made by biostar and i have a sound problem that i have limited down to that motherboard. Check my other forum about that. So if i was to get a new mobo for chrsitmas then a intel core 2 duo would that make a huge difference?

 

[pleasehelp]

Also i did do research about the difference about quad core and core 2 duo and seems like for strictly games core 2 duo beats the quad. i can get a core 2 duo 3.00ghz for the same price as a quad core 2.66ghz. What do you recomend. This is strictly for gaming.

 

[pleasehelp]

Intel C2D E6850 3.0GHz w/Fan (Retail)

Intel C2D E8400 3.0GHz Retail

Intel C2D E8500 3.16GHz Retail

What one should i get?
They are all around the same price but some are different?

Also for a mobo what one should i get?

Asus P5N-D Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI
EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard - A1 Version, NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI
EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 750i

I dont know if i would ever get 3 graphics cards which the EVGA nforce 780i sli can hold but it is nforce 780i when the other ones are 750i. A have no idea what the difference is between all these except for price and number of slots.
Thank you for helping me!

 

[aeiouandxyz]

Intel C2D E6850 3.0GHz w/Fan (Retail)

Intel C2D E8400 3.0GHz Retail

Intel C2D E8500 3.16GHz Retail

What one should i get?
They are all around the same price but some are different?

Also for a mobo what one should i get?

Asus P5N-D Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI
EVGA nforce 780i SLI Motherboard - A1 Version, NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI
EVGA nForce 750i SLI FTW Motherboard - NVIDIA nForce 750i

I dont know if i would ever get 3 graphics cards which the EVGA nforce 780i sli can hold but it is nforce 780i when the other ones are 750i. A have no idea what the difference is between all these except for price and number of slots.
Thank you for helping me!

Avoid the the E6850 because it's a 65nm process. The difference between the E8400 and the E8500 is a .5 multiplier increase in the latter which gives it the 160 mhz boost. Unless you're going to SLI your 8800gt, avoid Nvidia chipsets. They don't overclock as good as Intel's chipsets and they have been known to have stability issues. Intel's new P45 chipsets are cheaper than Nvidia's offerings and OC better.

 

[pleasehelp]

I do plan on SLI my 8800gt later and i am not to fond of overclocking. So i shouldnt get the E6850 so would the E8400 be about the same as the E8500? Also what is the difference between the 750i and 780i?

 

[roofus]

750i allows 2 way SLI and 780i allows for 3 way SLI. They arent as dismal at overclocking as some make them out to be but an Intel chipset definitely does do it better. Research the boards before you purchase. Even though they are very similar, customer support varies greatly between the manufactures.
I am running an e8400 and am very happy with it. It is modestly overclocked to 3.82 and runs cool. Going up incrementally to an e8500 or an e8600 increases your headroom for overclocking.

 

[Zorg]

You had better really want to [strike]OC[/strike] SLI (OOPS), because the whole line of Nvidia 7XX is flaky IMO. Mainly the 680i, but don't get the 7XX mobos unless you are serious. An HD 48xx VGA would be a better idea than SLIing the 8800gt anyway.

Get the Q6600 G0 with the s1283 and backplate and a cheap P45. It will OC very very easily to 3G with no voltage increase and you will be ready for the quad optimized games.

They have been saying that the quad optimized games are coming for a while now, so it's going to happen sooner than later.

Or maybe later than sooner, at this point I'm not really sure. :lol:

 

[pleasehelp]

Ok now i get the 780 750 thing. Thank you. So if i was to get the E8400 with the EVGA Nforce 750i do you think that would be a good combination with my specs? As i said if dont care to much about overclocking i might later if i was to get it but its not my biggest concern.

 

[roofus]

That would be a sweet platform. Its a fairly easy platform to overclock on so you may find yourself interested sooner than you expected lol. The EVGA 750 FTW board is better thought out than the 780 in some respects.
Zorg, I was a late comer to the Intel/Nvidia boards so I missed out on the 680i. Either I am one lucky guy or I just managed to pick good hardware combination's with my AMD Nforce boards but I never had any problems except the one time I attempted an ATI 2900 card on one of them and it was a nice little taste of hell.

 

[Zorg]

It's all good, I would feel guilty if I didn't say something. If he wants an Nvidia, then more power to him.