What's my bottleneck?

[circulate]

I'm not at home or on my computer so I can't link a dxdiag link or anything, but, I can post some general info about my computer.

I'd like to know what's bottle-necking my computer the most.

I play BF2 and WoW.

CPU: e6600 (I think) 2.4ghz quad core
GPU: gtx465
RAM: 4gigs ddr3 1333mhz
MOBO: ASUS p5qc
HDD: 1tb 7200rpm maxxtor

Is there anything I can upgrade for cheap or anything that NEEDS to be upgraded?

 

[cuecuemore]

Your system is pretty well balanced, though your CPU may not be able to keep up in some instances. This is more the games' fault in not being optimized, rather than the CPU not being powerful. Can you overclock? Also, I'm basing the above on you having a Q6600(quad-core), not an e6600(dual-core), though neither WoW nor BF2 would run that differently on the quad vs the duo. Can you find out for sure which one you have?

 

[circulate]

It's the Q I'm sorry. And I have 8 gigs ddr3 not 4. I don't know how to oc my CPU

 

[cuecuemore]

Do you have an aftermarket cooler? That's the big hurdle. If you have adequate cooling for it, then following a guide for a decent OC is easy.

 

[circulate]

Best answer selected by circulate.

 

[circulate]

Aftermarket cooler for the CPU? Or for the whole system?

I have an aftermarket heatsink/fan that's pretty nice, on the CPU. (How often should I replace that grey goo you spread on the top of the cpu?)

 

[circulate]

double post sorry

 

[cuecuemore]

You don't need to replace the thermal interface material (TIM) ever if you put it on right the first time. If you have a good HSF, then you should be able to start overclocking. Make sure you're monitoring your temps during stress tests and that you know for sure what the thermal junction max is for the Q6600. From what I've seen, you should be able to hit 3.0 GHz without too much problem.

 

[circulate]

Great, thanks Cuecuemore!
Is it possible to get a link to, or maybe you can describe how to OC this CPU.

I've read some guides but they were very long and I got lost.

 

[cuecuemore]

I have NO experience with the LGA 775 or P45 personally, but here's some reading for you:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17612922
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2008/05/12/will-you-overclock-intel-s-p45/1
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=11938277
http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=159146

Hopefully there's something there you can make sense of. The last thread there is your specific motherboard/cpu combo.

 

[cbrunnem]

both games he listed are quad core optimized so a little overclock will do a lot

 

[cuecuemore]

Ah yes, WoW is quad-core optimized now. It wasn't last time I checked, quite some time ago. And I was just guessing about BF2, since it was such an old game, but EA is good about those things. So I stand VERY corrected. But the principle is still there, an overclock will help you out a great deal.

 

[circulate]

Great thank you guys for the help

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey