What should I do?

[Guest]

Hello,
I currently have a evga 775 socket mb nforce 7series sli running a single bfgtech 285gtx graphics card.

I have a dilemma, my cpu is a core2quad x6700 running stock speeds with ddr2 memory. My brother gets my hammy downs which he's currently running an amd 5600+ We've determined his cpu is his bottleneck for gaming(he has my old 8800gtx).

So my question is, do you think it's worth upgrading my cpu to a q9650 or q9550? Stay with ddr2 memory, have him buy a cheap 775 board and use my x6700? or I go buy an AMD phenom 965 setup?

I was thinking of picking up another 285gtx cheap on ebay(relatively speaking) which if i do that, my choices to go AMD would be kicked out the window. Also I have a 3d monitor(uses two dvi outs), a 1080p monitor, and a projector I hook up to my computer. I'm thinking SLI would probably be the best bet so I don't have to constantly unplug my monitors.

Which setup would give the most performance for the buck? Is DDR3 worth it?

This is primarily for gaming with some video editing on the side.

AMD setup will cost little less then $500 no sli but ddr3 usb3.0 etc etc (that includes 4gigs ram)
Intel cpu q9550$175 from microcenter or the q9650 for mid 200's on ebay $329 on newegg. I got my last 285gtx over the summer on ebay for 280.

I read one article showing no performance boost with ddr3 for gaming but it might have been the gpu(280gtx) was pinned.

I'm leaning towards upgrading just the cpu and attempting to get another gpu to run sli.

 

[jonpaul37]

what motherboard does your bro have? if it is an AM2+ motherboard, you can upgrade the CPU to a Phenom II x4...

 

[Pro Llama]

Personally I don’t think buying a q9550 and a cheap 775 board is a good idea. I would go with a PII 955 with either a new board or possibly your brother’s board if it can handle it. The 955 is the 965 with the multiplier set one lower, so just bump it up once and your set. Also if you go with the 955 or 965 be sure to get the c3 stepping.

 

[Guest]

He's got an old board (i think nforce 2) but not positive. I do know he couldn't upgrade any higher then a 6000+.

I was just screwing around with overclocking my cpu and I couldnt get anything higher then 3ghz out of it. http://service.futuremark.com/resultComparison.action?compareResultId=1092259&compareResultType=19

From looking at benchmarks with 3d vantage it looks like I'm pinned at this point unless I go sli. Anyone have any good comparisons to actual games?

 

[enzo matrix]

I would personally keep everything as is. If you want to go sli, it will be better than having a 295. At 3GHz, and with nvidia cards not scaling well your cpu will be your bottleneck, but you'll always have a bottleneck and there's no real point upgrading your cpu board and ram unless you go i7 or i5.

As for your brothers I would personally stay the same too. If the 5600+ is the bottleneck, it probably isn't much of a bottleneck and a cpu upgrade wont really be worth the cost. You might be able to overclock that CPU if you want.

If you want to upgrade, I would say give him your old system and get an i7 with a 5870 or 5970.