Bottleneck Question.

[DarkStorm524]

I'm currently looking to upgrade my machine a bit and trying to figure out where I'll get the most performance upgrade for my money. Be it RAM, Video Card, processor (which might require a new MOBO so not sure I want to go that route.) I game mostly and while most things run fine, there are games I have to turn setting down on to run smoothly. Witcher 2 for example. I'm afraid I'll see similar situations arise with Skyrim and Arkham City as well. I run 2 dell monitors at 1900 X 1200 but one is just for web surfing and such.


My current system is as follows:


Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor BX80562Q6600

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK


I was thinking of jumping up to a Nvidia 560 but was unsure what kind of performance difference I would see between it and what I already have. I know a lot of sites are giving out a free copy of Arkham City with purchase of a new card which makes things more tempting. However, if simply getting more ram would help, it would be a cheaper option.

What do you guys think.

PS - Most of you here helped me build this PC and it's ran great so far. Thanks for everything you do here.

 

[Deleted member 88227]

Can you please answer these questions? Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST

 

[engiNURD]

Generally speaking, the biggest gaming improvement will come from a GPU upgrade, assuming those games are more GPU limited than CPU limited. Though, I haven't kept up on the GPU scene, so I'll leave that suggestion to someone else. If you do have a nice budget for a new CPU/Mobo/RAM/GPU, then sell your old stuff and build anew!

 

[Dangman]

Is that Q6600 OC'd?
What PSU do you have?

 

[DarkStorm524]

Can you please answer these questions? Asking for Build Help?: ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$250
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.

North Carolina, Winston-Salem
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Trying to figure out what small upgrade will help the most.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Not looking for a new build. Trying to find my weakest link
6) Will you be overclocking?
I don't have the proper cooling to do much OCing atm.
7) 7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1900 X 1200
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Not looking for a new build

 

[DarkStorm524]

Is that Q6600 OC'd?
What PSU do you have?

Still stock Danny. As for the PSU, I'm using:
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

 

[Dangman]

Still stock Danny. As for the PSU, I'm using:
OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

Can you OC that Q6600? An OC to about 3.2Ghz should help mitigate some of the bottlneck you'll see with a newer card. As for the PSU, not exactly a good choice but it's usable.

As far as new GPU goes, assuming no bottleneck, if you go with the GTX 560 TI, you're looking at 30% performance increase. So up to you if the 30% performance increase is worth the GTX 560 TI's cost.