Considering new CPU - lookin for advice

[Ribbet]

I'm not in the market for a whole new system, just the processor. Not sure how far off getting a new one is anyway, but it doesn't hurt to start looking early.

Right now I'm running a Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, GTX 285 2g and 4g RAM. I've noticed that people with lesser cpu and gpu are getting higher FPS than I am and it's been bugging me for a while.

Everything but the processor was upgraded not too long ago so I'm left to believe it needs to be replaced with something newer.

Any advice would be very welcome.

[nfmus]

I always go here and read the reviews when I'm looking to upgrade or build.

Tom's Hardware

and read articles like this one:

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2011

[Maverick494]

I'm not in the market for a whole new system, just the processor. Not sure how far off getting a new one is anyway, but it doesn't hurt to start looking early.

Right now I'm running a Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz, GTX 285 2g and 4g RAM. I've noticed that people with lesser cpu and gpu are getting higher FPS than I am and it's been bugging me for a while.

Everything but the processor was upgraded not too long ago so I'm left to believe it needs to be replaced with something newer.

Any advice would be very welcome.

Have you considered overclocking your Q6600 until you do a complete system upgrade?

because otherwise you are going to end up spending like 200 bucks on an End of Life CPU for your board

Like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115036

[nfmus]

Depends on if his board is oc friendly or not, you may just want to get a new board and cpu - something with a little more longevity.

[Maverick494]

Depends on if his board is oc friendly or not, you may just want to get a new board and cpu - something with a little more longevity.

yea but to what, atm sandy bridge is out and that is the longer life platform for intel and AMD hasn't release bulldozer yet so no idea if AM3 is end of life either yet. Its kind of a holding pattern until like March/April right now on longer life upgrades.

[Ribbet]

I looked into overclocking when I first redid my rig. It confused me and I felt it safer to leave that alone. Went to a lot of the overclocking sites but always left with a headache cuz I just didn't understand most of what was said. Made me feel dumb and I know I'm not. hehe

I skimmed some articles on various sites like Tom's about the i7's, but there was too much technical talk for me to really understand what was being said.

To be fair, I'm not that customer that walks into Best Buy complaining that I have a virus while talking about all the cool wallpaper sites I found. I'm sorta SMRT about computer stuff, but it's hard to find articles that don't throw tons of technical terms in and that's what leaves me confused.

[Ribbet]

yea but to what, atm sandy bridge is out and that is the longer life platform for intel and AMD hasn't release bulldozer yet so no idea if AM3 is end of life either yet. Its kind of a holding pattern until like March/April right now on longer life upgrades.

MOBO: P5N-D ASUS

According to the research I was doing at the time, it's set up for OC. But like I said, too much technical talk left me confused. Not that I didn't try to understand, of course.

[Maverick494]

I looked into overclocking when I first redid my rig. It confused me and I felt it safer to leave that alone. Went to a lot of the overclocking sites but always left with a headache cuz I just didn't understand most of what was said. Made me feel dumb and I know I'm not. hehe

I skimmed some articles on various sites like Tom's about the i7's, but there was too much technical talk for me to really understand what was being said.

To be fair, I'm not that customer that walks into Best Buy complaining that I have a virus while talking about all the cool wallpaper sites I found. I'm sorta SMRT about computer stuff, but it's hard to find articles that don't throw tons of technical terms in and that's what leaves me confused.

its easier than a lot of sites make it sound, but if you are comfortable with it you should just leave it be. That said games are still about clock speed over cores so even a dual core with almost a full 1GHZ clock speed advantage is going to open up your GPU more than a quad core that is slower. So you could always hunt for a deal on an E8500 on ebay or something if you don't want to pay retail for it. Or you can switch your motherboard and RAM and CPU for something like

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.548058

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.548074

That or hold off until March and scope the situation with sandy bridge from intel it should be very much back on for ordering then. Plus AMD might be pushing bulldozer out the door around then too making for an interesting upgrade spring/summer season.

[Ribbet]

Would the i7 2600k work with the P5N-D? I'm trying to find the answer through google, but I'm not having much luck.

And if all else fails, I've got this thread bookmarked so I can come back to it when money isn't so tight.

I really appreciate the help, too.

[Maverick494]

Would the i7 2600k work with the P5N-D? I'm trying to find the answer through google, but I'm not having much luck.

And if all else fails, I've got this thread bookmarked so I can come back to it when money isn't so tight.

I really appreciate the help, too.

no the i7 is not compatible with socket 775.

[Ribbet]

no the i7 is not compatible with socket 775.

Cool. That's mainly what I was looking to find out.

Thank you again for the help.

[rabb1t]

There really isn't an upgrade if you insist on remaining on socket 775. From what I recall the Q6600 was about as good as it got for quad core. There certainly won't be something new to buy, you'd have to get used.

[Ribbet]

There really isn't an upgrade if you insist on remaining on socket 775. From what I recall the Q6600 was about as good as it got for quad core. There certainly won't be something new to buy, you'd have to get used.

Was afraid of that. I vaguely recall my computer tech mentioning that I had a great processor and wouldn't need to upgrade for a while unless I just really wanted to. Well, I'm starting to really want to. lol

Yall have been very helpful and given me enough info that I can do some more informed research. Thank you very much!

[rabb1t]

My site, it has words of suggestion and links to other wyrdz.

[C-BuZz]

There really isn't an upgrade if you insist on remaining on socket 775. From what I recall the Q6600 was about as good as it got for quad core. There certainly won't be something new to buy, you'd have to get used.

You forgetting about the QX9650/9770? The Q6600 is far from the best 775 processor. His motherboard supports 45nm so I'd be looking at the Q9550 2.83Ghz 12M cache if you want a reasonable upgrade.

Personally if I were in your shoes I'd first buy an aftermarket heatsink, then grow some balls & overclock the crap out of your Q6600. It's pretty hard to screw anything up by overclocking. That's what clear cmos is for...