Upgrade or new build?

[st0mp121]

Hello,
I am currently running a asus p5n32-e sli plus e6600 2.4 gig cpu 4 gig of mem and a 8800GTS 640 mb card. my debate has been when i built this system 3 years ago i wanted room to upgrade. so at this point i was thinking of dropping in a e8500 cpu and 2 GTS 250's 1 gig cards btw monitor is a 25.5" native res is a pain atm in most games.. how much of a performance increase will i see if i do above? or is it time to build a new sys?

 

[hamiac]

Seems like its still not a too bad system. I guess it depends what you are doing with it. If you want to keep up with the latest games then I would rebuild, but for everything else, an upgrade would be fine.

Up to you

 

[saint19]

Hi newcomer and welcome to the Tom's hardware forum.

What is your budget for the upgrades or new build?

 

[st0mp121]

been always the type to try to keep up with most games but get the biggest bang for the buck.. if i would say build me a i7 system i am current prices looking at around 1400-1500 complete system build that's with a os and the hardware i got picked out. some extras on that system build. for me to upgrade to the e8500 and the duel 250's I'm looking at 400$ hoping to see the 250's drop a bit more with the 2 new cards that are coming out..

 

[batuchka]

Hmm IIRC 680i chipset is on PCIex16 generation 1.0 lanes so multi GPU on these isn't a good idea Maybe a single juicy HD 5850 for ya hehe

 

[st0mp121]

so go with a 5850 and the e8500 cpu?

 

[batuchka]

Perhaps a GO Q6600 or Q9550 on the cheap in the used hardware market ^^

 

[st0mp121]

hmm q6600 2.4gig mhz? i figured for games i would be better off going with overall mhz then more cores? looks like that cpu is priced about the same as the e8500 witch is a 3.16gig mhz almost thinking now maybe i would be better off just doing the video card tossing in 1 5850 in this system and wait till the i 930 and the motherboard that i want comes down in price from the marks i see from the 5850 looks like it should give my system a nice boost overall im sure it will walk all over this 8800gts 640/mb card.. just hope the cpu will be able to feed the gpu ok.

 

[tecmo34]

You will get the biggest FPS increase by a more powerful GPU. However, you can run into a bottleneck when you CPU can't power the GPU. I would recommend overclocking your GPU to 3.0 GHz (min or higher) and add the ATI 5850, which will provide a nice increase. This should hold you over until you can afford an Core i7 930 build, which the ATI 5850 can transfer over to.

 

[st0mp121]

thanks.. i think that's what I'm going to end up doing. from the sounds of it i would be better off just tossing in that e8500 and the 5850 to help prevent that bottle neck?. i don't have a high end cooling system on this p. much running stock coolers and fans atm. i know i got a good board for oc but with lack of a good cooling system i don't think oc would be a good option for me at this time. unless i upgraded my cooling system. tbh i think i would be better off tossing in the e8500 and not worry about adding a cooling system to this.. now i can stick in the quad cpu upto 2.8 i do belive if that would be a better option over the e8500? last time i checked i could not toss in the q cpu that does 3.0 was kinda thinking overall mhz would help my case over more cores?