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Upgrade to I7?

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Hello, to start my specs are
AMD phII 955 @3.2
Asus m3a78-t mobo
Ocz fatal1ty 8gb DDR2 mem
WD caviar black 1tb
Sapphire 5970 2gb
Eyefinity3 @ 5760x1080 resolution


I've been debating on switching from my amd 955 to an intel i7 930. My pc is strictly for gaming. I am only concerned about playing at max settings with the highest framerates possible (like most gamers). I play on an eyefinity setup so I understand that is a lot of resolution to push. My main game is WoW. In dal I am currently getting around 32 fps around alot of people which makes me think my CPU is bottlenecking everything else. I am NOT into overclocking AT ALL. I have googled benchmarks for both cpu's amd it seems the i7 takes the cake but how much will it actually improve my fps in a game. (most benches look good on paper but fair different in real world use). I'm hoping a person with some great expertise in these matters can point me in the right direction. Thanks alot.

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CPUs Authority

Youre 2 months away from SB and the 955 is a nice gaming CPU as-is, for non OC-ers the $650 jump to a i7 set-up will barely gain you 10fps in the best cases.

Why dont you OC though, since you're upgrading anyways, try pushing the 955 to 3.6Ghz with X18 multi and see. The worst thing that can happens is it fails to post and youll need to reast the BIOS.

I'm afraid of ocing tbh. I've spent alot of money on my system and I don't know enough about overclocking. I'm afraid of frying something. I don't know all the risks if you don't change voltages but I would hate to fry my$650 gpu.

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CPUs Authority

OCing your CPU will not damage your GPU, unless you really have a crap PSU and it fails because it overloads and takes everything with it. (Though even then it will most likely take out the Mobo first, shutting off before reaching the GPU)

Honestly the absolute worst that can happen even when you go crazy on voltages is frying the CPU and maybe damaging the Mobo. On stock voltages, the chances of anything breaking is close to 0. For extra security, you could even OC using the onboard and unplug the 5970. Having a BE processor and not OCing it is really a shame IMO, especially when you want to splurge a extra $650+ to upgrade.
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I have a corsair 850w psu so no worries there. I've thought about ocing but just not confident enough to do it. I thought to get a successful and more importantly a noticeable oc improvement you had to change fsb, northbridge,ram speeds etc. Again I know close to nothing about ocing. Please forgive my ignorance

Timop thanks for the advise I guess I'll do some heavy researching and try my hand at a small oc. I wouldn't think 400 MHz would require an aftermarket HSF although the v8's are pretty slick and cheap now. Hope I got a good chip that can oc easily without changing anything but the multiplier
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