Much of a difference between these?

[Juniper]

I've currently got an AMD Phenom II X3 720BE processor but I've been looking at the Phenom II X4 965's now they've come down in price. Only really playing Starcraft, WoW and Dawn of War 2 on my PC now days.

I've currently got:

Asus M3A78 Pro mobo
4GB DDR2 800MHZ RAM
Asus Radeon HD4850 512MB
Coolermaster 620w Modular PSU

Got a bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket, was looking for any opinions on whether upgrading the CPU would be better or replacing the graphics card? I know WoW is a bit hard on the CPU and I've noticed where there's smoke effects the framerate falls quite significantly..

Cheers guys!

 

[iamtheoneneo]

your be looking at a 3-10fps increase in games going from that. which will help smooth things out, but depends if you think the cost is worth it.
your gpu is fine for the games you play, so your right to be looking at the cpu side of things.

 

[DragonQ]

Could you not unlock your current CPU to an X4 and overclock it?

 

[Juniper]

Could you not unlock your current CPU to an X4 and overclock it?

I don't think I'm able to unlock cores with my Motherboard, but the overclocking is a potential option. During gaming, the CPU temperature doesn't rise above 28 degrees.

 

[OCDStevo]

I mainly play WAR, I've not long upgraded my 4850 to a 6870, massive difference for me (I play at 1600X1200)

I'd suggest overclocking that CPU and maybe considering a GPU upgrade to either a 460 or a 6850 depending on your preference

 

[Cookeh]

I don't think I'm able to unlock cores with my Motherboard, but the overclocking is a potential option. During gaming, the CPU temperature doesn't rise above 28 degrees.

Get a decent mobo, such as a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-UD2H, see if you can unlock it, and - regardless of unlock - overclock it to the 3.8GHz most seem to attain.

 

[Big.Wayne]

Got a bit of cash burning a hole in my pocket

Your AMD® Phenom™ II X3 720BE is a great processor . . . you will be just throwing your money away by replacing it with an X4?

Most games I've seen get good gains from three cores . . . I would suggest you clock your TripleCore up from 2.8GHz to 3.4/3.6GHz instead of spending £120!

 

[danceforfreedom]

You could spend less than a £100 picking up a very decent mobo with a good chance of unlocking the hidden core and then overclock. Although you will probably get a slightly less higher overclock

ASUS Crosshair III I bought very good gaming and overclokers board...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-339-AS

 

[Juniper]

Looks like my board is gonna be a dead weight, so I'm willing to upgrade that to something that'll let me oc (and hopefully unlock the fourth core) the cpu I've got at the moment.

Bit confused about DDR3 RAM, not really familiar with the different types and I don't want to buy something that's no good. What would be good memory to pair up with a good board? I can probably flog the DDR2 RAM I've got at the moment for about £50 which should help to offset the upgrades.