CPU Upgrade for Gaming Rig

[Ed989]

Hey everyone, I am just looking for some advice. I am thinking about upgrading the processor in my gaming rig, which is the computer in my signature. I am looking at the Core 2 Quad Q6700 as the processor to go with, because it is the best CPU that my mobo will support other than the Core 2 Extreme line of CPUs, which I cannot afford. I am thinking of the Q6700 because it has the x10 multiplier, which will be better for overclocking than the x9 of the Q6600. Also, it seems that people who are buying the Q6700 right now from Newegg are getting the G0 stepping, which Toms Hardware says is the best one for overclocking. So, do you think I will see any impressive performance gains in gaming with this upgrade? My highly overclocked Core 2 Duo E6400 gets very respectable performance for being a lower end CPU, but it only has 2mb of total L2 cache, whereas the Q6700 has 8mb. Any thoughts?? Much appreciated.

-Ed

[pam123]

Hold up a minute.
620 watts is OK if you just want a basic boost with that cpu but if you're going to drop in another processor have you checked?

[Ed989]

My Corsair 620 watt PS should be more than enough to handle overclocking a Core 2 Quad. I have read reviews where this power supply has been able to handle 2 8800GTX cards in SLI, so I think a single 8800GTX plus a Core 2 Quad should be no problem. I am just wondering if it will be worth it to put the $270 or so into a Core 2 Quad with this board.

[David M]

Keep in mind that software has to be written for a Quad core in order to utilize it. Also, unless you have a number of programs running simultaneously, you wont notice going from a dual core to a quad core.

If you are really hot on getting something that might make a noticeable difference CPU wise, I would consider getting a 45nm dual core E8500 and clocking it over 4 Ghz. If you shop around you can pick one up for under $300. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...tel-_-19115036

If you want to spend even more money, I would consider the latest gen of nvidia cards which are faster than what you have now. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130338

For gaming, the rig you have now is bottle necking at the graphics card and not the CPU. For gaming, I think your money would be best spent upgrading the graphics cards. Your computer is not slow and trying to make it faster when it is already fast puts you into the realm of spending lots more money to make it go just a little bit faster. I would just wait a year for the next generation of motherboards, CPU's and GPU's to come out.

The difference in what a CPU draws will not require you upgrade your PSU. Actually the new 45nm CPU's draw less power at stock speeds than the last generation of CPU's The difference in what two graphics cards draw versus what one graphics card draws may require you to upgrade your PSU. If you want to overclock your RAM, overclock your CPU and install two latest generation graphics cards then it is pretty much guaranteed that you will need a higher power PSU.

[Alaron]

Games rely more and more on your video card these days than your CPU. Since you have one of the top end cards right now, I don't think that CPU upgrade would boost gaming performance by a big margin. However, having a quad core will give you a more noticeable boost for multitasking on the system in general. So that is an angle to consider.

[Ed989]

David M,

The thing about upgrading my graphics is this: I'm going to end up having to spend a lot of money to make my graphics better than they are now. An 8800 GTX is still a pretty good card (and mine is overclocked to near Ultra specs), so I'd have to spend 400+ dollars to get a card that is better than it is. And I doubt that the performance gain I would get from that would be worth 400 dollars. I would probably get the largest performance gain by getting a second 8800 GTX and running SLI (which I can get for about $320 after rebates), but to do this I would have to buy an SLI compatible motherboard, as well as upgrade my power supply. So, I'm kindof stuck.

[David M]

Yes, you are stuck in a sense. As I said, you already have a fast computer and to make it faster takes a disproportionately greater amount of money to make it even faster. So as I said, I would do nothing, enjoy your gaming, and just wait for the next generation of computer hardware to come out and then build an entirely new gaming computer from scratch. By then there will also be new games out that require a faster computer anyway...and so goes the gaming computer arms race.

I have learned that you just have live with the gaming computer that you built, watch it quickly become antiquated and then build another one from scratch in a couple years. Upgrading hardware between computer builds and computer generations is just wasteful. Its an expensive hobby and there is really no way around it if you are serious about playing the latest computer games.

[Masaki 7-11]

Most new RTS games can take advantage of quad cores, so if you play RTS games, a quad core isn't a bad idea. FPS and RPG games are beginning to take advantage of quad cores, but in a much slower fashion than RTS games. 620W should be enough for your system, even if you decide to get a quad core and overclock it. The Q6700 should be able to get to about 4.0GHz (10x multiplier and 400MHz FSB) and all of them come in G0 stepping since they were introduced after the B3 stepping came out.

[Ed989]

Yeah you're probably right....this is the third graphics card I've had in this machine already....I'm not too keen on upgrading again. I've gone from an X800 to an X1800XT and now an 8800GTX. I've also upgraded my RAM three times, and upgraded the power supply. I didn't really know what I was doing when I ordered the original parts list back a couple of years ago....I thought I would be able to play Oblivion with a 256 mb video card and 1 gig of GSkill RAM......yeah right.

[bd1886]

Just curious...What revision is your motherboard? (Rev.2 and above can go with the 45nm.processors I think?)
Gotta say too...you have a dang nice set-up. Enjoy it until it croaks!