Gaming rig: what components to upgrade?

[SpecialForces]

My rig is only about a year and a half old. I haven't dabbled into overclocking yet, either. I haven't kept up on the latest gear advancements, but I'm tempted into getting a newer processor. Don't know if that's a bit premature since my e6600 isn't sluggish at all really....

Based on my specs what would you suggest? save my money and wait? overclock my system? upgrade my processor or graphics card?

ASUS P5B-DELUXE with XP OEM
INTEL C2D E6600 2.4G
CORSAIR DDR2-800 TWIN DDR2
ASUS EN8800GTS 320M
COOLERMASTER RS-600 600W PSU
LITEON 20X DVDRW
2x SAMSUNG 19" 931BW 16:9 LCD

Cheers for the advice!

 

[silent-circuit]

Newegg has the ZeroTherm Nirvana NV120 HSF for $40 AR ($10 MIR, $50 shipped). Pick one of those up -- near Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme performance for $25 or so less AR. That should get you in to the 3.6+Ghz range.

If you're wanting more GPU power sell the 8800 GTS 320MB while it's still worth something (be ready to take $150 or so -- they've fallen out of favor in a big way since the 8800GT came around) and pick up an 8800 GT 512MB for around $230, 8800 GTS 512MB for around $280 (the newer G92 based cards), or a used 8800 GTX 768MB.

Other than that, you're still looking good. If you're still doing good GPU-wise, just pick up the HSF and have fun.

 

[Dangman]

Well what's prompting this upgrade? Slow game performance for you?

As it stands, your system is fine and doesn't need an upgrade unless you want better gaming performance. Then all you really need is a new video card.

Other than that, wait and save up your money. In the meantime, do a little overclocking with that E6600. Hit up the overclocking and cooling subforum we have here

 

[SpecialForces]

Newegg has the ZeroTherm Nirvana NV120 HSF for $40 AR ($10 MIR, $50 shipped). Pick one of those up -- near Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme performance for $25 or so less AR. That should get you in to the 3.6+Ghz range.

If you're wanting more GPU power sell the 8800 GTS 320MB while it's still worth something (be ready to take $150 or so -- they've fallen out of favor in a big way since the 8800GT came around) and pick up an 8800 GT 512MB for around $230, 8800 GTS 512MB for around $280 (the newer G92 based cards), or a used 8800 GTX 768MB.

Other than that, you're still looking good. If you're still doing good GPU-wise, just pick up the HSF and have fun.

i already have a thermalright 120. i got it when i first started building my rig. only installed it much later! yep I really oughta read up about overclocking.

 

[Outrigger]

There's no point in upgrading your video card to the 8800gtx since you're only using 19" LCDs and the GTX will only benefit if you're running 1920 x 1200 or higher. If you want to upgrade for gaming purposes only, I can tell you that the only thing I would do is MAYBE changing my video card to a 8800gt/gts (G92) and even then, at that resolution you're running, you're going to see little gain.