Worth upgrading CPU at the moment?

[zootfloot]

Hi Guys,

My current spec can be seen below, i have the E2200 running at 3.01Ghz stable at the minute but my AF7 is making one hell of a racket.

I have a Tuniq tower and another 2gig of Geil Ram to go in but was just wondering if its worth upgrading the CPU at the minute?

I am going to be ordering a 4870 in Mid august and feel that the CPU is really the only thing after the above upgrades thats going to be letting my system down.

The concern i have is that if i upgrade to the CPU in the link below will it last me at least a year, or is there new CPU's on the horizon which i would want to upgrade to rather soonish ( I really hate wasting money)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...686&subcat=&name=Intel Core 2 Quad Pro Q6600 "Energy%20Efficient%20SLACR%2095W%20Edition"%202.40GHz%20(1066FSB)%20-%20Retail

What do you think and thanks for your time.

 

[DarkMatter]

see its a tough call, i personally don't feel my CPU is that strained in the games which i play. i think your dual core at 3ghz will perform similar to my quad at 3ghz (apart from some apps of course). i personally am trying to hold out for the next big CPU launch time such as nehalem. not worht using £100 + on a cpu now with that in 6months, when i dont see any big games coming out in the next 6months which will be more taxing than crysis.

But of course if you have upgrade fever the only cure is buying more

 

[WhoMe?]

Hi Zoot

I just upgraded to a 4870 myself and was wondering if it was time to overclock my Q6600 to give some additional horses. Unfortunately I discovered my P5N-E SLI is dog poop when it comes to overclocking quads. (I just knew there had to be a catch when it was so cheap)

I looked at the CPU/GPU charts on Toms which unfortunately has not been updated with the new cards yet but on there it hardly made any difference at the very high resolutions when clocking the quad above 3Ghz, judging from that I would guess that you are still safe.

I think I will just kick myself early next year when the new chips come out if I upgraded now..but then remember you will also need a new MB for those so it depends how much you are planning on spending.

Things to consider:
1) Your budget - as always it depends on how much you have and how you value money.
2) Can your current MB/CPU cooler overclock the Quad to decent speeds? (otherwise you are going to be very dissapointed compared to what you already have)
3) As you already waiting until August.....how about that extra cash on a 4870x2 but only do this if you game at high res. Not that I know when its actually being lanched but I know I want one LOL.

If it helps I am playing Crysis at 1920x1200 HIGH with my Q6600 at 2.7 (so slower than you) and I am very happy with the result and I am sure you will be too. Personally I am waiting for nehalem and secretly hoping AMD comes out with a CPU surprise to match what just happened with the GPU's

Cheers

 

[zootfloot]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The only games i play at the minute are WoW, Assassins Creed, Grid and Occasionally Sniper Elite so nothing too taxing for the system i have at the moment.

But i am keen on taking a look at Crysis etc, i was very much a console gamer up until a couple of years ago.

Money isnt a problem as such, i have an understanding wife and a good job so i'm all set in that respect.

I might just hold back until the new CPU's are available and go all out and build a new system, watercool it and go for the X2 type card that you mention.

I suppose my main problem is HARDWARE ADDICTION

 

[PhoenixUK]

I've got similar setup atm and waiting for the E8600 which should come soon .

Other than that keeping the rest of my budget for x58 setup in maybe half year.