Should I upgrade E6700 CPU?

[leichnitz]

built my pc about 2.5 years ago now, pretty quick for under $800. E6700 2.66g. Before I install Win 7, thinking about whether to upgrade CPU/mobo (cause I know it will be hassle later). Would do so if can get CPU/mobo for under $250, and significant performance upgrade. but looking thru this excellent site, the CPU benchmarks keep changing year to year, which makes it hard to figure whether, eg, $150 AMD 3 or 4 core CPU will result in REAL, noticeable performance boost. from what I can tell, E6700 dual core still measures up pretty well against brand new $100-150 AMD cards today.

Any thoughts?

 

[WR2]

Its not always a 'cut and dried' A is better than B situation. What programs/games do you run?
If you like gaming - what video card are you using?
And mention what motherboard you have that E6700 on.
Im guessing a quad core upgrade would be a marginal upgrade unless you're heavy into audio and video work.

 

[Bluescreendeath]

Overclock your CPU. The E6700 is still respectable and you can get more mileage out of it.

 

[leichnitz]

Its not always a 'cut and dried' A is better than B situation. What programs/games do you run?
If you like gaming - what video card are you using?
And mention what motherboard you have that E6700 on.
Im guessing a quad core upgrade would be a marginal upgrade unless you're heavy into audio and video work.

Good points. My vid is 8800 GTS 640 MB. Some gaming (Far Cry, etc), but vast majority of work is Powerpoint, iTunes, standard Microsoft Office worker bee stuff. I just really love having a quick response out of my computer. So, upgrade or stay put (or overclock)?

 

[someguy7]

Stay put. Maybe a little overclock. If you really want a quick response look into a SSD drive for your OS and apps. One that will do trim would be ideal for windows 7.

 

[pepperman]

If you want, you could upgrade your gpu; the 8800 GTS is a bit old, and you can match it with a current gen. ~$70 card. If you want to spend around $140, you could get an HD 4870, which would outperform your current card considerably (and of course, you can always go higher).