Decisions decisions..Please Help

heremy8

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Ok here is my setup:

Vista 64
Thermaltake 700watt Modular SLI PSU
EVGA GTX 260 192
Intel Q6600 @ 2.4
4gb ram
Gigabyte 650i SLI
Monitor Resolution 1680x1050 max

I'm stuck on which way to upgrage under 300 dollars.
Should I get another GTX 260 and SLI? Or will that not really help with being able to just go to 1680x1050?

Or should I buy a gtx 275 since it seems to be a noticeable upgrade.

Or should I buy a new processor, either a e8600 or a q9550? I'm just thinking that if I SLI that my 2.4ghz processor will be bottlenecking the system.

Thanks for your help guys!
 

heremy8

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I've tried overclocking it, even my friend with a degree in computers tried overclocking it, for some reason we can't really overclock it more than maybe up to 2.6 something. Could it be that it was the very first batch they made? I heard the newer q6600's could be overclocked easier. Yes I do have an aftermarket cooler on it. I might try to sell my q6600 and my gtx 260 to a friend of mine who has a computer store and that should get me close to enough to buy a gtx 275 and for my birthday coming up I could get a e8600??? Good idea?
 

bige420

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A gtx 275 wouldnt be much of an upgrade from your 260. It would probably do you better to upgrade to a Q9550 or add another 260. You would probably see a bottleneck if you added a 260 but you would also see a good performance gain also. Or you could upgrade your processor and maybe add another card down the line. Also, I dont see any reason to downgrade to a E8600. Many of the newer games coming out in the future are going to be quad core optimized so I wouldnt go with the dual core.
 

heremy8

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Ya, I didn't think of that. I could just sell my q6600 and buy the q9550 and get the second gtx 260 from the wifey for my birthday. And its just a bonus that if I get the second gtx 260 I get COD WAW for free.....that'll make me feel better! lol Thanks for your help
 

Amg

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so much for a degree, that don't cover overclcoking :p

anyways did you up the voltage,cpll and the FSB termination ? that will help

look up the terms of google if you wanna know what they do as home education I find is alot more effective than academic at such things
 

heremy8

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Well ya his degree isnt in making computers but something to do with them! lol i've tried looking it up on the internet on how to overclock it right but failed miserably, but that was probably almost 2 years ago. Maybe its time for another try! I guess the good thing is if I fry my computer then I'll be able to build a totally new one! The wife will freak out not having the internet for more than a day! Hmmmmm........decisions decisions:p
 

Amg

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its depends on the mobo I m not going to speck to higerly on a 650i going by the 780i lot lol

just have to look about to see if others which have a simplier mobo to you have got in terms of overclocking. you would notice my CPU is overclocked ;P its easy :p
 

ssguy24

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I've figured out a simple solution: Simply threaten the wife with your overclock intentions noting that they could end up frying the comp and ruining her e-shopping for weeks as you research and buy new parts for the new build...or she could just get you what you wanted so you didn't have to risk her beloved internet from temporary extinction.
Also let her know that even if you did fry ur comp and the internet was gone she could always go to a public library.
 

heremy8

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Ya it can be easy, my last computer was easy to oc, do you have yours on air? I've been looking at the case you have also, how are you liking it?
 

heremy8

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Lol I'll have to keep that in mind! She already goes to the library alot, she just gets on there for myspace and to look at the dumb entertainment news, if I can sell my computer to my computer store friend I'll only need about 300 dollars to build a pretty good new computer. Hopefully he'll take it.

My thinking on what I could get if I built a new one is this setup:

Vista 64
GTX 285
800 Watt PSU
Expensive ass mobo for LGA 1366
6gb triple channle ram
I7 920
640gb 7200rpm hdd
antec 1200 case
Noctua CPU fan
should all cost around 1100 dollars total.
 
Normally I would noy say this but I am going to this time: Wait until the end of the year, after the new DX11 cards are out and reconsider your position then.
Your system is no slouch as it stands and I suspect can play even the Deamon Games at good framerates, I do n't think it would be wise to build a new system just yet when yours is still more than viable.

But I would swap the GTX285 in the proposed new build for a GTX275; Similar performance, more than $100 less.
 

heremy8

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Thats another idea, I could just wait till then and get a new card for christmas and sell my card and processor and get a new processor then. Is windows 7 supposed to be out this year or early next?
 

ssguy24

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Win7 is suppose to be out oct/nov don't remember exactly its on this website tho
 
AFAIK Windows 7 is still scheduled for an October launch.
The Internet Rumor Mill has it that ATI will launch their DX11 cards about the same time, perhaps a little later and Nvidia later still, perhaps December, but those are still unconfirmed times.
 
@ heremy8: Me neither, and I'm not holding my breath either.
But I'm not going to upgrade until they are out, I see no need to buy into what is becoming old hardware when mine, like that of ssguy24 is still viable.
 

heremy8

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Ya, I just need to suck it up for a few more months I guess. So are there any rumors as to how good the new nvidia card is going to be?
 

Amg

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well if windows 7 lunches in Oct as I will buy it its such a nice OS has for direct 11 gpus than no...why should I? basicly