Upgrade to GTX 275 now, or wait till I can do new build?

[wathman]

My current desktop is just over 2 years old now, and I'm considering doing an upgrade to extend it's current life as a gaming/general computer, or should I save the money and build a new system. This is my current setup:

Thermaltake 700W PSU
SUPER TALENT 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Desktop Memory
XFX PVT80FSHE9 GeForce 8800GTX Extreme 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card -
ASUS P5K3 DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6850 - Retail

I'm just looking at doing a single card upgrade, and it seems the GTX 275 is a popular choice right now. My processor is pretty old and only a dual core too, but for gaming the 3.0GHz clock has held up pretty well.

I've been tweaking some builds for the past week, and a system I'd be happy with now prices out to around $1100 to get what I want out of an i7. If I just get the GTX 275 now, that's only $210 or so, a lot easier on the wallet, but with my system's age I don't know if I'll see too much improvement from the old 8800GTX?

It seems that new cards for ATI and NVIDIA are nearly here, but I probably would not benefit a whole lot with those unless I rebuild my system.

 

[knotknut]

If your E6850 is at 3.0GHz you could pick up your game with an easy OC to 3.6GHz

Depends on your HSF and Bios changes.

 

[wathman]

It has a Zalman HSF on it, probably good enough for overclocking, but I'm not sure how stable I can get it with my Thermaltake PSU. I got it up to 3.4Ghz when this system was new, but I was having config issues and went back to stock speeds.

 

[knotknut]

If you are iching for that i7 rig I would look for inexpensive ways to make do with what you have and save for what you really want. That is why I suggested the OC.

What were your settings when you went to 3.4GHz?

 

[wathman]

I don't really remember since it was a while back. I know I only bumped the voltages up slightly as I didn't want to risk what was pretty expensive hardware back then. This isn't so much of an issue now and I'm willing to be a bit more aggressive with it. I'll look for some specifics on getting an overclock on this 3.0 Conroe, might be able to find some hints. When I do get a stable overclock, would the upgrade to a GTX 275 be a good idea or should I stick with the 8800GTX?