Worth upgrading to Q9550?

[hyperreader]

Hello,this is my first time posting here ;

CPU - E8400@3.00ghz
RAM - 2*2GB@800mhz
MOTHERBOARD - intel DG31PR.
graphic card - 9500 GT ( slightly overclocked.)
stock cooling.
PSU - 450 watts.

i was content with my PC until a few days ago , but since i am a gamer i gotta keep upgrading and i dont have a big budget for that , around $200 dollars every couple of years.

i could'nt make up my mind whether to upgrade my CPU to Q9500 or get a new motherboard which supports DDR3 ram , two PCI-E ports and OC my existing E8400 as i cannot in my current motherboard.i know i am getting a palit sonic platinum GTX 460.

i am leaning slightly toward getting a new motherboard as i can use my existing graphic card as a dedicated physx processor and i've heard ddr3 offers a significant performance boost.

could anybody offer any advice or opinions?

 

[Toxxyc]

^ Correct. The G31 chipset is a little old though, and a new motherboard may make a small difference. Trying to get two PCI-E slots though is not recommended - it's going to cost you a lot more than you are going to gain. Aftermarket cooling (Cooler Master Hyper 212+ or something similar) may also help you to OC your CPU a little more, may reach 3.2 or 3.4GHz with simple FSB tweaking (given the RAM can handle the higher FSB speeds).

Overall, the rig is old, and it's not recommended to spend too much money on it anymore. Rather get a decent GPU (6870, not Nvidia, it's a little too expensive compared to ATI) for now and save up for a complete redo of your rig later on (end of the year Bulldozer or something similar).

 

[hyperreader]

thanks , i actually think i'll get the 6870 as the price difference is huge , the gtx 460 i had my eye on was factory oc'ed and cost about ( not sure what the exchange rate is but it is RS.12500. ) $250.

ive read that there isnt much of a difference between am2+ and am3.

i would prefer an intel board ( something with which i can overclock ) and nvidia graphic card ( die hard fan of both but these prices just might kill me. )

another reason for wanting the GTX 460 is the fact that my monitor has a VGA port and the 6870 does not , i thought i would get the nvidia card and replace my monitor.( not great resolution anyway 1440*900 ).but if i get the 6870 then i have to shell out for a new monitor , prefarably 1680 * 1050.

do you recommend using dual-link DVI or HDMI?

 

[hyperreader]

another thing is i cant oc with my motherboard as it is locked.

 

[Toxxyc]

DVI is better for display-only setups. HDMI is best used in TV's or displays with an audio output, IMO. With regards to the VGA/DVI ports, you get a DVI to VGA converter inside the graphics card box, so that's not an issue by a long shot.

AM2+ and AM3 are all backwards compatible, so there's no issues there.

Oh, and Intel motherboards suck, bad. Intel makes good CPU's, but their motherboards are BAD for overclocking. MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte are your best bets, they offer great quality and good overclocking (if the CPU, RAM and PSU can handle it, obviously).

Oh, last thing, fanboyism is a very stupid trait of us humans. ATI makes better graphics cards for the price than Intel, and that's why I'd recommend them.

 

[hyperreader]

@toxxyc thanks for the advice ,

the only real reason i like intel and nvidia is because i grew up using their parts.

another thing is nvidia's 3D vision( good , bad , ugly? ) and does ATI offer anything like that?

i actually dont think i will have enough money to upgrade my CPU until the end of thi year ( unless i win the lottery ). and by the time i get enough money , whatever i was planning to buy becomes outdated ( damned gordons law ) .

if i installed the 6870 on my system , how long do you think i could use it in the face of all the new games.

 

[Toxxyc]

ATI has EyeFinity (if it is what I'm thinking of). 3D Vision and EyeFinity is simply too expensive to be justified though, so I'm not even interested in it.

With the 6870 you'll be able to play all games on the market with DX9 at 1680x900 or lower for about two years before you will need to look at it again. Then you may feel a CrossFire setup is cheaper and it will help again for a while. Overall though, it'll be your CPU that's the bottleneck in the system. Not really worth upgrading (LGA775 is dead), but good enough for you to remain using while you save up for a Bulldozer rig at the end of the year. Do some extra chores or stuff and you're going to love your new rig.

 

[hyperreader]

Best answer selected by hyperreader.

 

[hyperreader]

thanks for the advice guys , i was almost going to spend $275 dollars on a factory oc'ed 460.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey