CPU + GPU combinations

I'm from South Africa and am thinking of a seriously needed upgrade (With a limited budget).
Basic components include Intel Classic G31 Mobo, 2GB DDR2 800 Memory & 500GB HDD.
My two options concerning CPU & GPU which are the same price are:
C2D E7200 2.53GHz + 9800GT 512MB, or
C2D E6850 3.00GHz + 9600GT 512MB.

The system will be mainly used to play games at max resolution of 1440x900.
Although I'm certain that the first configuration will be more powerful, my question is how far the E7200 will be a bottleneck for the 9800GT, and if the second option will allow for future GPU upgrade whilst keeping the CPU.

PS: My supplier only stocks Intel & Nvidia products.
PSS: I am not looking at overclocking any component.
Any help will be appreciated, thx.

Well, good thing I reread the post.
I was going to recommend the first option as the E7200 can easily and safely overclock far past the E6850.
If you change your mind on overclocking, that would still be my recommendation.

As you are stating that you will upgrade the GPU at a later date and will not overclock the CPU, I would say go with the second option.
The 9600GT is still a strong card and does not lag to far behind a 9800GT and the extra CPU power will be nice to have when you have enough cash to upgrade the GPU again.

good combo I went with



Rather stable smooth combo of mb cpu ram videocard on small PS 400 that was thank fully replaced to much strong rails and watts.

MB give very litte overclocking stuff but I can run using soft FSB at 300mhz per core each just to test I did 2 month flawless.

6GB PC 6400 stock timing .

Nvidia oem 9800GT 1024 GB + Nvidia software fan adjustment which after past 3Dmark 06 Oway overclocked very high up
GPU 700/MEM1005x2/Shader 1700
From a stock card of GPU 600/ MEM 900 x 2/Shader 1.5

temps idle high 40s start gaming 54 max 67-69 very please. To be safe 675/975x2/1675 I run 13,200 in 06 3Dmark and stock does 12,500

Motherboard Properties

Motherboard ID 64-0525-000001-00101111-061608-Bearlake$HPBEN000_BIOS DATE: 06/16/08 11:02:10 VER: 5.25
Motherboard Name Asus IPIBL-LB (Benicia)

Front Side Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel AGTL+
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 333 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock 1333 MHz
Bandwidth 10664 MB/s

Memory Bus Properties
Bus Type Dual DDR2 SDRAM
Bus Width 128-bit
DRAM:FSB Ratio 12:10
Real Clock 400 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 800 MHz
Bandwidth [ TRIAL VERSION ] MB/s

Chipset Bus Properties
Bus Type Intel Direct Media Interface

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 LGA775
Expansion Slots [ TRIAL VERSION ]
RAM Slots 4 DDR2 DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Size 240 mm x 240 mm
Motherboard Chipset G33
Extra Features [ TRIAL VERSION ]

Motherboard Manufacturer
Company Name ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Product Information http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3
BIOS Download http://support.asus.com/download/d [...] uage=en-us

My HP M9300T came with these no sli I dont want ever but the mb-videocard cpu rock together on 64bit os

as for 9600 I would pass the 9800 GT oc's so well with 1GB of ram for 167$ on a HP-intel asus mb only 9800GX2 260 280 go higher than the 9800GT, in fact the 9800GX2 bets out the 280 in most games or whs it 260 ..
12by10 16by12 the 9800GT highes great to FPS of 260 when oced I have stock with fan stock fan and pulling off a master full sweet overclock