help me decide cpu? qaud core or wait

[NeonGuy]

balistix 2 gig ram dual ch case 4 4 4 -12@ 906 fsb
have core 2d 8600 @ 4.3
tuniq tower cooler
maximus formula @ 453 fsb x38
2 x4870 x fire
seagate sata 120 gig druive
20x dvd burner
19 " lcd hpw1907
650 antec true wats
antec 900

where would i see a better performance .
my question is it worth upgrade to quad 6600 or 9xxx quad ? or should i get one of those new 100 gig ssd drives[ way faster than normal hdrives]

I run mostly movies and internet with some video editing. was playing ut3 then crisis now only playing l4d. but might play crisis again if it uses from 4 cores.
now i really dont want 64 bit os . so if i got new ram it would be 4 gig but would only use 3 gig right on 32 bit?
wants best upgrade option ?
oh and i dont have the money to go core i7 thats a major upgrade.

randy

 

[vsboxerboy]

With the last round of q9550's sold on the dell deal you should be able to find some on ebay for cheap and then get cashback. It's a great CPU but I don't know if it would help you much in gaming as you have a nicely clocked chip already. I'd probably keep your CPU unless you can get a good price for it and go ssd instead as you have a nice rig already. Just my .02 I'm sure others won't agree...
Posted via [H] Mobile Device

 

[jason str]

Keep the dual. Get the ssd drive(s).

 

[Biskquik]

I think you are fine with your set up. Even as games get more multithreaded, you're running a chip that will still match with stock clocked and slightly overclocked Quads.

The SSD option is probably a better choice.

Edit: I think the only game where cores actually matter would be GTA IV (crysis's multithreading support isn't much). However, since you're running your E8600 above 4Ghz, I still don't think moving to a quad would be ideal unless you can catch a surperb deal.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

Well, SSD's are still very high in price, if you have the money sure, go for it, but I would hold off for a bit on the SSD. Quad? Well, you already have a nice chip with a good OC, I doubt you will see much in games going with the quad, but you did not say where you were looking for performance gains. Why not a 64bit OS? What OS are you even running?

And last but not least, crossfire 4870's on a 1440x900 monitor? My suggestion, get a higher res monitor and make use of the cards.

 

[Nenu]

I'm running an E8400 @ 4.1GHz and havent found anything that taxes it yet.
However, if you can get a quad that clocks near 4GHz, it will be worth having as games are starting to use more threads and Windows is a little bit snappier.
How soon a high clocked dual core will become too slow for top performance in games is difficult to determine, maybe 1 year?

So a high clocked dual core is great and should be able to get the max out of most/all games for the next year+.
If buying now though I recommend going quad clocked near 4GHz.

SSDs, if chosen and set up well, are where you will see a big performance difference now, Windows will feel really snappy.
Its a contentious area for me though as the price is too high for the disk sizes and they are sure to be eclipsed very soon in reliability, speed and cost by newer models.

The current performance SSDs have wear levelling algorithms that cause fragmentation which slows the drives down by simply using them.
Hopefully this will be sorted out too.

 

[NeonGuy]

thanks for all this input guys.
I saw a ocz vertex ssd 60 gig drive for 129 $ at newegg . the reviews show it a top performer.
i wouldnt want more than a 60 gig drive for my os primary any ways. all my ripped/dloaded movies and apps would go to a diff drive..but yeah waiting for a faster model and prices seems logical right now.w was also thinking 4 gigs of ram maybe..oh i am running vista sp1 32 bit.
slow as hell comppared to my labtop with win 7 or compared to xp.. just cant stand xp anymore.. for all you vista peeps. you wont be all that amazed with windows 7 looks since its still vista .. but win 7 runns faster.
Thanks,

again,

better monitor seems nice, adding extra 4870 to this 19 " only gave me 10 fps more in left 4 dead..sucks.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

better monitor seems nice, adding extra 4870 to this 19 " only gave me 10 fps more in left 4 dead..sucks.

That's because it is a 19", you would see larger gains on a higher resolution monitor, as you are more CPU bound now. Which is why I suggested a better monitor. If you can pick up the 64-bit Vista, go for it, its great, and Vista really shines with 4GB+.

 

[PC_User]

Your setup seems fine, especially if the 8600 is going at 4.3 GHz. You should definitely upgrade to 4GB of RAM.

 

[drescherjm]

thanks for all this input guys.
I saw a ocz vertex ssd 60 gig drive for 129 $ at newegg . the reviews show it a top performer.

It was the 30GB version at that price. I am waiting patiently till the 60GB version gets to $129 USA and I will buy 2. It will probably be 2011 then and SATA III SSDs netting > 300 MB/s reads will command the higher prices..

 

[Flexion]

Wait. It's not like your rig is slow now. The bump from the E8600 to Q9550 isn't all that great. I'm running an E8400 at 4Ghz and a X3350 at 3.6Ghz. IMO, they're both powerful in their own way, but I didn't get double the performance from the quad, and didn't expect it. It's better at multithreaded apps and multitasking, but I run similar stuff on my dual and it's not laggy either.

I'd wait to see what the Core i5 oc's are like. By then Core i7 chips and mobos can only get cheaper and the great D0 steppings will be readily available. We're talking about the end of this year when all of this happens.

That upgrade itch is hard to resist huh?

 

[Crotan]

Am I missing something you have two 4870s for a 19in monitor, stop spending money on the machine and put some toward a 24in monitor