Would like to do inexpensive last upgrade to 3 yr old build.

[jegadeth]

Hey all! I was wondering if or what my bottleneck would be, and if it's worth it at all to do inexpensive upgrade with all the new stuff coming out. Here's my current system:

MSI P6N SLI Platinum
E6750 C2D 2.66
4 GB Corsair XMS PC 6400
1 TB HD
500 GB HD
WIN 7 64-bit
NVidia 9800GT

It's not a bad system at all. I just won't be making any jumps to a new socket until the Bulldozer comes out and is benchmarked against the new Sandy Bridge stuff.

So....when I watch system monitors, my gaming pretty much maxes out the CPU cores at 100%. So I was thinking of a C2Q. But my board only supports a max of the Q6700. So same clock, but Quad. Or the Wolfdale Duo's. THen I could run 3 Ghz or higher but still only Duo. My board does NOT support any Yorkfield Quads. I thought about upgrading my 9800GT but, I only game at 1600x900 on a 20" monitor. Any ideas? I won't be doing a complete new build until probably a year yet.

And I would ONLY try to find a used CPU. I sure as hell would pay new price for old technology.

 

[obsidian86]

amd 620 and cheap am2+/am3 board

 

[jegadeth]

Well, I was hoping just to upgrade a component. Not have to get a new mobo, CPU, RAM.

If I would upgrade entire thing, I would just wait a while yet.

 

[mdd1963]

dual core Intels still run reasonably well....; unless you can find a very good deal on a Q6700, I'd likely resist the temptation to throw more money into if possible...

You might be able to easily get another 400-500 Mhz OC out of your present dual core....

 

[g00fysmiley]

really if you're lookign for a upgrade and not wanting to throw money away possibly i'd imagine your core duo could push a faster video card than a 9800gt, maybe get a ncie graphics card now that can carry over to the new machine?

 

[jegadeth]

That was the direction i was leaning toward b4 i posted. I was looking at a new Nvidia card. Or I was thinking ATI. Not sure..never owned one. And I have put HOURS in to trying to OC this system when I first built it. Either I just got a CPU that has no "headroom" or my mobo is a POS. Cause I could not get a stable OC for nothing. I did all memtests, Prime, Orthos.

And I do like my C2D, just wondered if there was anything else to upgrade.

So I will just do my original plan, get a new vid card and then it can carry over to the new build. Thanks for the replies!!

 

[jegadeth]

Best answer selected by jegadeth.

 

[jegadeth]

I ended up purchasing an XFX 5770. I LOVE it!!! Very good upgrade from a 9600XT. Most all my games do 1600x900 at max settings. And i got a MIR and double lifetime warranty from XFX. Sweet deal.