CPU Upgrade?

[kinetix2005]

I currently have a:

P4 478 Prescott @ 3.2Ghz
1 Gig DDR 400
6600GT

I am about to upgrade to 2 gig of ram and a card in the range of the x1800xt or 7800gtx and was told that the CPU would be the bottleneck of the system. If I were to upgrade the CPU I'd definately be going AMD but just wondered whether I need to upgrade the CPU and which would be a good AMD CPU to go for. I don't want to spend too much on the CPU, not more than £150 really around $300 (dont forget though that stuff that costs $200 in the US probably costs closer to $300 in the UK).

 

[rodney_ws]

Are you sure your motherboard has a PCI-e slot? Based on your processor's age I would guess you only have an AGP slot.

 

[luminaris]

I wouldn't worry about it. If your into gaming, the graphics card will do most of the gruntwork anyway. Your processor is fine and I wouldn't change it. As long as the temps are good and its stable, you won't have to worry about it throttling.

 

[kinetix2005]

Thanks for the response Luminaris, didn't really want to have to upgrade my CPU and Mobo ATM.

Rodney: i have PCI-E, so that's not a problem just wanted to know whether my CPU will limit the grafx card and really looking through some other topics it's worth upgrading to the 3200+ or the x2 3800+

 

[kemosabe79]

The only way you'll really notice the CPU limiting the GFX card is in benchmarks. In your case, it wouldnt be that bad. In fact, I doubt you would even notice it at all.

The 3200+ wouldnt be much of an upgrade. The X2 would be a noticeable upgrade...especially for multitasking.

Personally, Id stick with the CPU you have and get a new graphics card. Save yourself some dough.

 

[Caboose-1]

I second that, the processor should be fine, invest in a new GFX solution and more ram, don't need more than 2GB of ram IMHO though.

 

[Rustol3um]

Thanks for the response Luminaris, didn't really want to have to upgrade my CPU and Mobo ATM.

Rodney: i have PCI-E, so that's not a problem just wanted to know whether my CPU will limit the grafx card and really looking through some other topics it's worth upgrading to the 3200+ or the x2 3800+

I would stay with your current CPU its a pretty descent chip....and save the money towards a really good gfx card...