Will my motherboard restrict a new CPU performance-wise?

[mspaintwizard1999]

I have a GIGABYTE GA-M68MT-S2P Motherboard.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3922#sp

I currently have an Athlon II X4 640 CPU and I'd like to upgrade to a Phenom II X4 965.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5692033&CatId=4431

My Motherboard says that the Hyper Transport Bus is 2000 MT/s, and the Phenom is 4000 MT/s bus speed.

Would I be better off just buying a new Motherboard or no?

I only ask this because I'd like to upgrade my PC for a little better gaming and what I've got now is definitely lacking.
I am also Upgrading to a XFX Double D Radeon HD 6870 sometime soon (As well as a new PSU).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521

Please Help! Thanks in advanced!

 

[rolli59]

It is a very small performance loss because of the HT nothing really to worry about and certainly nothing to buy a new motherboard for as a only reason.

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

Is the CPU upgrade worth it for only running a 6870?

 

[rolli59]

Barely the HD6870 is going to run fine with an Athlon II X4 @ 3GHz but if you want to overclock the 965BE is much easier to do.

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

I've thought about OC but I don't think I know enough about it to do it just yet. I want to build a new rig in the next year or two so I don't really want to go all out on this one but I'd just like to be able to play games like Skyrim on higher settings than Medium/Low at a decent frame-rate. Would you recommend going up to 8GB 1333Mhz memory? Would that make a noticeable difference? Thanks by the way for helping me out.

 

[rolli59]

I would rather upgrade the ram from 4GB to 8GB than upgrade the CPU, that along with the HD6870 and you will run Skyrim just fine. On my computer Skyrim defaulted to high settings @1080P with X3 and HD6850.

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

Actually, looking back at the rev 3.1, it says i can use up to 1600MHz, so 8GB 1600MHz

 

[rolli59]

Go for it the price is right!

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

Okay then, i'll probably just do that. Much cheaper! Thanks a ton!

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

Just for further clarification, this will work with my MOBO, right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233180

(MOBO)

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/p [...] id=3922#sp

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

In the Corsair Vengeance it mentions that it works for intel CPUs but it doesn't say anything about AMDs

 

[rolli59]

It will work fine but so will this and has the same specs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

Is that a better brand? Also, I'm going to need a new PSU and I'm not sure on how to tell how much of one I'm going to want. I read that too much Is a bad thing so I figured a 450W would be good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371045

Yes? No?

Sys. specs:
-Windows 7
-AMD Athlon II X4 640 ~3.0GHz
-ATI Radeon HD 5570(plan to upgrade to XFX Double D Radeon HD 6870 like I said)
-4 GB of RAM(going to 8 like I said)

 

[rolli59]

That is not their best PSU and this Corsair CX500 is a better buy, has stronger +12 volt rail. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 even its little sibling the CX430 will run your card fine but the price is to close after MIR and shipping to let the 500watt pass.
On the ram Gskill is a top tier manufacturer and just as good as Corsair.

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

According to this >>> http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx The Antec is a higher tier, or is that just a load?

 

[rolli59]

I could not find the CX on there but the 450VP (suspect it would be in the same tier) does not have active pfc so it still has the little voltage switch in the back it is not as efficient either.
Edit just found it under tier 3. I would still go with the CX500 because of efficiency and extra power.

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

CX is in tier 3

 

[mspaintwizard1999]

So maybe a small difference. I'll take your word for it though.