Is it worthwhile to upgrade just CPU?

[ehcarleton]

Back in Feb 2009 I built a Core i7 920 machine with the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 motherboard. I use it for development, not gaming, so the video isn't all that critical. Disk IO isn't critical, either. I just want more CPU power, more cores, more threads. The motherboard will support the i7‑970...

Will my current motherboard will make full use of the i7-970, or do I really need to get a new motherboard to really leverage the performance of the chip? My main concern is CPU to memory type of speed, will that be close to the same with my motherboard do I really need to upgrade the chipset, too?

 

[mi1ez]

I would either stick with the 920 or go all out and move to a newer LGA2011 machine.

 

[sam_p_lay]

I have that CPU too and remember in the benchmarks even the model costing 1000 wasn't significantly faster. I'd stick with what you have unless it's being really slow on something?

 

[noob2222]

overclock it, thats really all the new cpus have is faster base clock.

If you want more cores, the 980 is the option, find used ones for ~$600 on amazon.

 

[mcnumpty23]

got an i7-920 in my second pc at 4ghz

and its no slouch compared to my 2600k--its still a very capable cpu