Q6600 @2.4GHZ, Best ability to game with?

[GameWithVaux]

I used to do a bit of gaming ages ago and recently when cleaning all my stuff out i found my old computer which has:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8M Cache, 2.40 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
Graphics Card: Radeon 4870 video card
Ram: 4 gig Ram OCZ 800 MHz gaming cooled
Multi fan tower
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit installed

I wish to wonder before starting to get it all back up and running, what is the best ability of me being able to game at? For example; on average how many FPS would i manage to get on minecraft in a normal world on normal settings (not the best)

Also can i overclock it at all and if yes, how far can i go without having to spend more money?

 

[blackjackedy]

The q6600 was a beast at overclocking, from memory it would hit ~3.5Ghz with decent cooling (it's been a while and cant remeber how they did exactly). Honestly it's not that bad a system for gaming still, it's not going to max anything but I'd be surprised if there's a game you couldn't play, especially overclocked. The 4870 is also still ok, being roughly equivilent to a 5770/6770, though again it won't be setting any records.

You shouldn't have any trouble with minecraft. The only thing is if you can find some second hand or cheap ddr2 somewhere going to 8gb, though if it costs too much don't bother as it's easy to spend decent money to keep a legacy system "ok"

 

[megamanx00]

Your ability to overclock will depend on the motherboard, cooling, and to a lesser extent the stability of your PSU. Hopefully you have a decent one. Anyway if you have a stock cooler you may not get too far. Assuming you have an OC friendly motherboard and a decent cooler you could see 3.6GHz out of that chip. As for the 4870 you will have a bit better luck gaming if it's the 1GB version rather than the 512MB version. Finally if you have an X38 motherboard or P45 based board capable of 8x/8x CF and a decent PSU you could add a second 4870 from ebay to run in Cross Fire which would give you a nice boost.