Looking for a replacement CPU

[wis3boi]

Hello everyone

I'm looking to change my CPU this spring, and I'm eyeballing the AMD Phenom II x4 970 3.5ghz....$180 is a sweet price.
I currently use an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 2.4ghz, and it's really showing its age...games and other heavy programs push it to 90% or more in use. I'm sure my video card, 4870, is probably crying fr more power from a bottleneck, too. I might grab an AM3+ board when those release, so then I can have room for bulldozers later on if they are any good. Trying to stay away from Intel, their constant change of sockets and larger prices has me looking like

Do you think the X4 970 will be a night and day difference from a first gen C2D?

 

[rolli59]

Going to a fast Quad from a slow Dual is always a big improvement. Have you tried overclocking your E6600 you should be able to get around 3.0GHz (free performance)?

 

[wis3boi]

Going to a fast Quad from a slow Dual is always a big improvement. Have you tried overclocking your E6600 you should be able to get around 3.0GHz (free performance)?

this CPU/mobo won't OC no matter how I try to do it, even the video card. They just either BSOD or wont POST

 

[rolli59]

Are you following an overclocking guide? http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/259899-29-core-overclocking-guide

 

[minitron815]

If you can overclock that E6600 (magic?) then it should be able to hit some pretty impressive numbers and be capable of just about any game. It's actually a great chip to overclock.

If you're waiting until the spring to get a new system then go with Sandy Bridget or Bulldozer if it comes out. That 970 is only marginally faster than the E6600 after overclocks in games. If you want a new chip right now go with an i5 760.

 

[Onus]

Full specs of your system might help determine why it doesn't want to OC. Please include the brand and model of your PSU, not just the wattage.

They don't have the e6600, but on http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/60?vs=88 the Phenom II X4 955 tears the e6750 a new one, and so does the i5-650.

On the one hand, now is just not the time to buy, as anything you get will be dated within weeks or months, when the SB chipset gets fixed and/or Bulldozer releases.
On the other hand, you don't need the latest tech to play games, nor the most expensive. Your video card is still decent, and would be a separate issue anyway.
If you can, grit your teeth and lower a setting or two, probably until April when the SB chipset fix should be in, and hopefully we have some idea of Bulldozer availability. Perhaps by then there should be some AM3+ mobos on the market.
Otherwise, know that buying a new system now, whether Intel or AMD, will get you a machine that is perfectly capable of playing any current game, or those coming out in the foreseeable future; it just won't be the "latest and greatest."

 

[wis3boi]

I use an ATI 4870 1gb
4gb DDR2 667 Corsair
Corsair 620w PSU modular
Gigabyte 965P-S3 motherboard
Intel C2D E6600 Conroe 2.4ghz


The video card is very much being bottlenecked by this CPU, as the GPU barely ever breaks a sweat in games maxed at dx10/dx9, but the CPU cries. I'm most likely going to pick up an AM3+ board as soon as those hit the market.

 

[rolli59]

Your ram is slow and probably the limiting factor on your overclock, if you look in the guide the first thing you have to do is relax/ slow down the ram to have success with overclocking the CPU.

 

[Onus]

I'm leaning toward AM3+ myself right now, even if the strongest CPU I put in it is my current 740BE. Whether or not it gets a Bulldozer will depend on Bulldozer's benchmarks vs Sandy Bridge, including price and power usage.

Edit: that's an excellent point about the RAM. At this point, with DDR3 at less than $40 for 4GB, I doubt it's worth any further investment in faster DDR2.

 

[wis3boi]

yea, i have a wishlist already built on newegg, just thought I'd check with you guys to see how much faster today's CPUs are over my ancient chip. According to your link above, just about any newer chip takes a huge dump on mine, so anything I get should be a vast improvement. I dont know if I'll get a bulldozer, depends on price and performance, but even if i don't, I'll have an AM3+ board for the future