How should i upgrade?

[drkailinium]

I want to upgrade my system and thanks to advice i got from this forum ive decided on a 4870x2 but im not sure if ill encounter a bottle neck and if i would should i upgrade my CPU instead
current specs
Q6600 (2.8GHz)
4GB RAM
2x8800 GTS 512 sli
would i get a bottle neck with a 4870x2?

 

[witcherx]

It wont .. However you can OC your CPU... that should take care of your CPU.. 4870x2 is the one that should upgrade.

 

[daedalus685]

Nah, you wouldn't bottle neck it much. While I'm sure it will be faster than what you have I'm not sure it is exactly a worth while upgrade, but it is entirely your cash to spend. It will certainly perform well.

 

[coozie7]

Every system has parts that do not match exactly, for a gaming setup, yours is biased correctly: Slightly towards GPU rather than CPU.
A little more overclock on the Q6600 will not hurt, as long as the temperatures remain within reason.
I think any upgrade short of a full i7 rebuild will yeild small results, certainly not enough to justify the cost (my opinion, you may think otherwise of course).

 

[drkailinium]

i am unable to overclock anymore dont know if its a faulty chip or its my my mobo but it crashes (even though temps are fine) bearing that in mind how much of a performance boost should i expect?

 

[daedalus685]

i am unable to overclock anymore dont know if its a faulty chip or its my my mobo but it crashes (even though temps are fine) bearing that in mind how much of a performance boost should i expect?

Not all chips opverclock equally. There is always a wide spread, and lot of luck in what you get.

The performance increase would depend on what resolution you paly at. It would be a good bit of a difference at 24" or higher resolution. Probalby not worth the cost at lower res (IMO).

 

[drkailinium]

Not all chips opverclock equally. There is always a wide spread, and lot of luck in what you get.

The performance increase would depend on what resolution you paly at. It would be a good bit of a difference at 24" or higher resolution. Probalby not worth the cost at lower res (IMO).

At low res my system can already run any game on max so its for the higher res (for which it can play most games on already) and the most demanding games eg crysis and Company of Heroes. So no one think its worth up grading to a quad extreme then? (i have heard from a friend that graphics cards make the biggest difference with CPU taking more of a back seat)

 

[coozie7]

What motherboard do you have? You may end up having to change that as well, which is going to really push the price up.
I'd put the HD4870X2 in and see how it goes before thinking about further, possibly expensive upgrades to a platform that is rapidly reaching the end of its manufacturing life.

 

[drkailinium]

680i foxconn which is quite old but still is it worth it?

 

[coozie7]

You will need to check the Foxconn website for the CPUs your MB will support, I have had a look, but they seem to be on dial-up, and I'm not getting any younger
I still think your best course of action will be to install the 4870X2 and leave it.
I really do not think it would be cost effective to change the CPU (and possibly MB) for a fairly small increase in framerates.

 

[drkailinium]

You will need to check the Foxconn website for the CPUs your MB will support, I have had a look, but they seem to be on dial-up, and I'm not getting any younger
I still think your best course of action will be to install the 4870X2 and leave it.
I really do not think it would be cost effective to change the CPU (and possibly MB) for a fairly small increase in framerates.

thanks for your help ill be getting a 4870x2 then and upgrade to an i7 later