Upgrade.. worth it?

Solari

Solari

Solari

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Seeing as I've got a new GPU, RAM, screen and HDD, I'm wondering if I'll notice any difference if I upgrade to a new Mobo+CPU.

At the moment I've got an E6300 but will I really notice much difference if I upgrade to an i7? I'm under the impression that most games these days are pretty much performance bound by GPU rather than CPU?

Ta muchly for advice :)
 
What new components are they ? Games are not neccesarily GPU bound if your cpu has'nt got the juice to feed your GPU your performance will suffer
 
The fundamental components I've got:

CPU: Core2Duo E6300 with AF7 Pro cooler
Mobo: Gigabyte 965P-DS3 Mobo
RAM: Corsair XMS2 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C5 800MHz Dual Channel (not installed this yet)
GFX: Sapphire ATI HD4890 1024MB
HDD: Samsung Spinpoint F1 HDD
VDU: 4WMGX3 Monitor

I don't think many games support multi-core CPU natively anyhow so would a Quad be a waste of money? I should have about £500 to play with but I was sort of hoping I could get a case, Mobo and new CPU for a bit less if I will really see an improvement. If it's just going to get me a few extra FPS then spending that sort of money isn't justified :)
 
What clock speed are you getting from the E6300. If its worth upgradeing at all really depends on A) the game, B) how overclocked your E6300 is, and C) i7 will probably get faster if/when applications are optimized for it.

The 45nm core duo's are a little faster than the older 65nm parts, but in most cases its not that big a difference.

PS Some games are horribly CPU bottlenecked, especially World of Warcraft.
 
I did have a conservative overclock on it but it's at stock at the moment as I need to ensure stability on Windows 7 :p I think it's 1.8-ish GHz stock - I had it at about 2.2GHz IIRC without too much of a problem - load temps about 60-62*C I think. I'm a bit nervous about whacking it up any more without getting a better case and better airflow tbh.

I'm playing Left4Dead and Fallout 3 at the moment but give pretty much anything a go :)
 
At those clock speeds you are definitely bottlenecking your GPU. What resolution do you game at ? Unfortunately I dont think your motherboard supports 45nm processors so a core 2 duo is out for you BUT I'm sure it would run this :) http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-155-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=567 An i7 is probably ott really so the 6700 would suit your setup, and give you a big performance boost
So long as you have a recent bios revision
 
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Cheers for the suggestions... I game at 1920x1200 and it seems alright, doesn't skip a beat unless things start getting very, very busy (I assume that would be the CPU as the GPU is more than capable of the task - flipping to desktop I do note that the CPU is usually maxed out in most games).

I'll take a look at that chip and see if it's ok with my board - that might be a better alternative for the moment :)

I've been looking for an excuse to get a new, better, quieter case and the mobo+CPU upgrade is enough to justify it, but only at the right bang for buck ratio :D
 
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