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E6600 --> i7 upgrade worth it?

S

suqmaster

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 21, 2004
Messages
156
This is my current system:
E6600@3ghz
9800gt x2
4gb ocz ddr2 memory
MSI p6n-sli fi

I want to be able to play every game for the next 2 years on high graphics settings. My monitor is 1680x1050. I am budget minded. After doing some research, I conclude that I have two options:

1. upgrade processor to Q9300, Q9400, or Q8300 from Micro-center. upgrade graphics card to 460GTX (maybe sli later). ~$280

2. upgrade processor to i7-870, motherboard like p55-cd53, 4g ddr3 G.Skill ripjaw. 460 GTX. ~$545

Does everyone agree that those are the two best options? If so, what would be better for a price-performance ratio in terms of gaming?
Is going to i7 a dramatic improvement over something like Q9300, or even E6600?

Thanks for helping
 
Save your money until Sandy Bridge is out. Going Core 2 Quad is a dead-end, but going Core i7 at this point would also be a bad move.

I figure you can handle a little wait, as your system can handle any game you throw at it.
 
The reason I was thinking about the core 2 quad series is because it could prolong my system for maybe 2 more years before I really need to upgrade. It would save me the hassle of selling stuff. Is the Q9300 and a 460GTX a good balance for each other?

I haven't caught up on the latest cpu stuff, but is the sandybridge expected to greatly outperform i7?
 
suqmaster said:
The reason I was thinking about the core 2 quad series is because it could prolong my system for maybe 2 more years before I really need to upgrade. It would save me the hassle of selling stuff. Is the Q9300 and a 460GTX a good balance for each other?
Click to expand...
Depends on the following:
- How much will the Q9300/Q9400 will be?
- Will you be keeping the Q9300/9400 at stock?
suqmaster said:
I haven't caught up on the latest cpu stuff, but is the sandybridge expected to greatly outperform i7?
Click to expand...

Suppose to yes. At the very least, the SB CPUs are significantly easier to OC (some of them can hit 5Ghz on air).
 
The reason I am hesitant about sandy bridge is I hate being the lab rat for new tech. I did that before and I got screwed.
 
suqmaster said:
The reason I was thinking about the core 2 quad series is because it could prolong my system for maybe 2 more years before I really need to upgrade. It would save me the hassle of selling stuff. Is the Q9300 and a 460GTX a good balance for each other?
Click to expand...

You would need to overclock. 2.5 GHz is just not fast enough for current games, and most of them only use 2 cores so your "upgrade" would be more of a downgrade without an overclock. I'd say about 3.5 GHz Core2 Quad or more will give you enough for 2 more years.

You are also nuts if you think you're going to get 2 more years out of 2GB of ram. Right now you can get by, but over the course of two years you will hit a memory wall. You will be able to play games, but the ram will be holding your performance back.

You also might want to invest in Windows 7 64 if you don't have it already. Over the course of the next two years, 32-bit support is going to drop like a rock.
 
suqmaster said:
This is my current system:
E6600@3ghz
9800gt x2
4gb ocz ddr2 memory
MSI p6n-sli fi

I want to be able to play every game for the next 2 years on high graphics settings. My monitor is 1680x1050. I am budget minded. After doing some research, I conclude that I have two options:

1. upgrade processor to Q9300, Q9400, or Q8300 from Micro-center. upgrade graphics card to 460GTX (maybe sli later). ~$280

2. upgrade processor to i7-870, motherboard like p55-cd53, 4g ddr3 G.Skill ripjaw. 460 GTX. ~$545

Does everyone agree that those are the two best options? If so, what would be better for a price-performance ratio in terms of gaming?
Is going to i7 a dramatic improvement over something like Q9300, or even E6600?

Thanks for helping
Click to expand...

If you are budget minded, Sandy Bridge is likely going to be out of the question unless you are willing to pay the premium for new tech. Nothing wrong with upgrading to an i7 setup (skip Core2Quad) as it will be a great improvement over the E6600. If you wanted to wait a bit and aren't opposed to buying used, you could score a nice i7 setup for a great price when i7 owners start dumping their gear to upgrade to SB.

Plus, at the resolution you're using, an i7 and a decent graphics card like the GTX 460 will have absolutely no trouble powering most games for the next 2+ years. And you could always add a second GTX 460 for SLI when they drop further in price for a great improvement.
 
What games are you playing now? Which games do you want to play in the near future?

Are there any other resource-intensive programs or tasks that you plan on using your computer for?

If you find something you like, are you willing to keep it for the next two or three years? Do you see yourself possibly going Sandy Bridge (or AMD's Bulldozer) within a year or two?
 
Well, for now, I just want to be able to play Crysis 2 on very high settings with 2x AA, 1680x1050.
 
Just saw that you already have 4GB of RAM. I don't know, I might have to rescind my earlier recommendation. Perhaps a Qxxxx chip and a newer graphics card would be better than investing in an i7 setup, and certainly cheaper. Quad cores are starting to be very beneficial in games. This route would probably get you by and allow you to freshen up the rig until you can do a more substantial upgrade later.
 
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