Thinking about upgrading

[espguitarguy232]

Thinking about doing an upgrade of my CPU and mobo. Currently I have BFG nforce 650i ultra, Evga gtx 260, 4 gigs OCZ Reaper ddr2 800 (oc'd to 924), intel dual core e2160 1.8ghz (oc'd to 3.4ghz), 550w PSU. Looking to get

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131618

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103471


I feel like I am experiencing a CPU bottleneck in benchmarks and games. Will I see a worthwhile performance increase or no? Any suggestions welcome but keep in mind I am trying to keep things affordable.

Using Windows 7 64bit

 

[tecmo34]

Is there a specific game(s) you are having issues with? It might be more GPU related versus CPU limited.

With that said, your MOBO and CPU are good choices to stick with your current components.

 

[ryankn852]

I'm not nearly as pro as half the people on here. But my GTX 260 has worked fine since 2 Christmas ago. I feel like a GPU problem is less likely and it could be the CPU or something. But that's just me taking a guess in the dark. Maybe even the Ram as that's kind of old now.

 

[espguitarguy232]

World in conflict. Pretty cpu intensive and I hear the gtx260 needs cpu power. I just want to get everything out of this gpu before my next build that will be over a year from now, especially since I just got windows 7

 

[tecmo34]

You are making the right call with going with the X4 940 and motherboard and I agree the GTX 260 is still a great card (I'm running them in SLI )

 

[espguitarguy232]

I must admit I know little about amd and even less about what mobo's are good with them. I would like an sli mobo, so any ideas on what to buy that's inexpensive and supports ddr2? I just picked that one based on price and compatability

 

[espguitarguy232]

Also what kind of performance increase can I expect over my current setup?

 

[ryankn852]

Shouldn't he be stepping it up to DDR3 as thats the norm now? Or am I mixing something up?

 

[espguitarguy232]

I'm doing a budgeted update, so I want to keep all that I can

 

[tecmo34]

I would look at this ASUS motherboard, if you can find it in stock since Newegg is out

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131367

Here is a comparison... http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/69?vs=80

 

[espguitarguy232]

ye that board looks great....now just have to find it. SO itake it from that chart amd is good for gaming and intel is everything else?

 

[coldsleep]

AMD offers great value, and is generally preferred for most gaming builds under $1000.

Intel currently owns the high-end of the processor market, as their i7 series has hyperthreading, which lets each physical core appear as two, allowing more work to get done when the cores aren't maxxed out. Hyperthreading is useful for audio editing, 3D rendering, video editing, etc. (processor intensive tasks), but it isn't used in gaming.

My general recommendation for gaming builds is:
Under $1000 - AMD Athlon II X3 or Phenom II X4
$1000-1500 - AMD Phenom II X4 or Intel i5-750
$1500-2000 - same, plus start to consider Intel i7-930
$2000+ - whatever you want

For workstation builds that won't be gaming, you can consider the AMD 1090T in the $1000-1500 range, as well as start considering the i7 there, as there's usually no need for an expensive graphics card.

 

[tecmo34]

SO itake it from that chart amd is good for gaming and intel is everything else?

Your statement is true if comparing an X4 955 to an i5-750, for example. In your case, the X4 940 crushes your old E2160 in every benchmark.

 

[espguitarguy232]

Even if it is overclocked? Its actually running at 3.4 ghz, that's why I'm asking about the performance increaswe

 

[tecmo34]

Yes... specially if you have both equally overclocked. Also, the X4 940 will overclock higher, as well.

 

[espguitarguy232]

Any boards from microcenter you would suggest? I live in central ohio and was going to price match them to newegg anyways. I don't think they have the board you mentioned above and I am only familiar with nvidia nforce chipsets

 

[tecmo34]

I checked the Columbus' site and couldn't find an Nvidia 750a chipset for an AM2+ (Nothing at the Cincy store in my neck of the woods).

You will need to for go the option for SLI, if you want to buy from Microcenter.

 

[espguitarguy232]

Do any of those chipsets look good or is the 750 worth the wait. I have never sli'd and I'm not sure i will anytime soon

 

[espguitarguy232]

Well just an update. Got the Phenom II quad 3.4ghz model (step up from what i would have gotten) and world in conflict went up 20fps (37 to 57) with same settings. 3dmark06 scored 16503, which i assume is a good score with a gtx 260

 

[tecmo34]

Thanks for the update!!

It looks like you got nice improvements across the board. You are now in the playable frame rates in my opinion (40+).

 

[espguitarguy232]

So am I in the more normal operating ranges for that gpu? Thank you to everyone that helped me, major kudos to tecmo!

 

[ryankn852]

As for operating ranges I cannot say anything. But your 3dmark06 score kills my GTX 260. Although I have not OC'd. I never realised how big of a difference that would really make. My FPS is fine for me but from what your saying I'm gonna have to replace my stock cooler and give OCing a shot finally. Good choice with the Phenom also. Friend that has it says it's never gave him a problem.