Shall I upgrade my Mobo now that I have 8800GT?

[imnotageek]

Hi guys,

I have upgraded my rather ancient set up of Asus A8N SLi, AMD x2 4200+, and 2 x 6800GS recently by replacing the two graphic cards with a single 8800GT. I have run the Mark3D test and have a modest increase of a score from 4000-ish to 8000-ish. It seems to me that my motherboard or chip could be the bottleneck.

Though I am tempted to upgrade the rest of the components, games like Bioshock seems to run well so far (I only need 1680x1050 resolution). I am wondering how much potential gain I can unlock from my 8800GT if I am to upgrade the chip to something more recent (I don't plan to get a high end quad core either)?

Cheers.

 

[jjblanche]

My brother had an almost identical setup, but instead of the 4200+ he had a 4600+, and a single 7900 GT OC. He bought the 8800GT, and was originally going to just upgrade that. After a time, though, he figured that if he was going to drop $300 on a card, he should make sure his other components aren't bottlenecking.

He ended up with a really sweet Gigabyte G33 mobo, with an Intel Q6600. OCed to 2.7 GHz (this is micro ATX, so temps are the limiting factor). Absolutely flies compared to the AMD setup. Even a decent Intel dual core will blow the old AMD out of the water.

Which 3dMark are you running? The latest, or older versions? It's hard to say whether or not the AMD is bottlenecking without knowing which particular suite you're running.

Overall, my opinion is this: my brother's 4600+ may have had another year in it...maybe. The 4200 you're running is in the same class. If all you do is game casually, then it should suit you for maybe another year before it really starts to bog the system. Again, though, this may be an optimistic assessment. I was never running an AMD 4000 series CPU, so I really don't know how they stand up in the world of today's games, but I'll bet they are on their last legs. Hell, really any CPU from 1.5 to 2 years ago is on its way out, as far as games are concerned.

In short, if you are an enthusiast, which you seem to be, then upgrade...if you have the money, upgrade. At this point, you'll still be able to pawn the 4200+ and the mobo on ebay and make a few bucks. A year from now, even a couple months from now, I doubt anyone would want them.

 

[imnotageek]

My brother had an almost identical setup, but instead of the 4200+ he had a 4600+, and a single 7900 GT OC. He bought the 8800GT, and was originally going to just upgrade that. After a time, though, he figured that if he was going to drop $300 on a card, he should make sure his other components aren't bottlenecking.

He ended up with a really sweet Gigabyte G33 mobo, with an Intel Q6600. OCed to 2.7 GHz (this is micro ATX, so temps are the limiting factor). Absolutely flies compared to the AMD setup. Even a decent Intel dual core will blow the old AMD out of the water.

Which 3dMark are you running? The latest, or older versions? It's hard to say whether or not the AMD is bottlenecking without knowing which particular suite you're running.

Overall, my opinion is this: my brother's 4600+ may have had another year in it...maybe. The 4200 you're running is in the same class. If all you do is game casually, then it should suit you for maybe another year before it really starts to bog the system. Again, though, this may be an optimistic assessment. I was never running an AMD 4000 series CPU, so I really don't know how they stand up in the world of today's games, but I'll bet they are on their last legs. Hell, really any CPU from 1.5 to 2 years ago is on its way out, as far as games are concerned.

In short, if you are an enthusiast, which you seem to be, then upgrade...if you have the money, upgrade. At this point, you'll still be able to pawn the 4200+ and the mobo on ebay and make a few bucks. A year from now, even a couple months from now, I doubt anyone would want them.

I am running the free 3dMark that post the results through the Internet - not the full suite. The thing is, if I start to upgrade the chip and Mobo, then I will continue with the memory and perhaps the hard disk, and perhaps Vista for dx10 gaming. Seems like quite an expensive journey ...

Thanks for your comment. Sounds like it is worthwhile to consider the option after all!

 

[rolli59]

X2 dual cores are not bad processor and there is no performance difference between 939 and am2 based systems except they make higher clocked cpu for am2. Have you considered overclocking yours for more performance.

 

[meadowlands]

Don't forget that the new quad core 45 nm CPU's from intel will be here late 1st Q. If you are upgrading you may wait until they hit the market and get one of those or wait till the Q6600 drops.

 

[imnotageek]

X2 dual cores are not bad processor and there is no performance difference between 939 and am2 based systems except they make higher clocked cpu for am2. Have you considered overclocking yours for more performance.

You've got a point. Perhaps I shall consider OC'ing my processor. Now, time to take out the manual and read how to do it!

 

[imnotageek]

Don't forget that the new quad core 45 nm CPU's from intel will be here late 1st Q. If you are upgrading you may wait until they hit the market and get one of those or wait till the Q6600 drops.

Are you refering to the QX9650? It is already selling here with more than double the price of a Q6600! The Q6600+Mobo bundle is selling at about USD 420 to 700 from where I live.

 

[jjblanche]

All things considered, modern games really don't tax CPUs all that much. Your AMD should suit you for another year, maybe longer, as I mentioned. Hell, a lot of games still aren't optimized for dual cores yet. Just grab a better video card for the time being. If you want to squeek as much performance out of it as you can, buy a decent CPU cooler and OC as far as it will go stable. At this point, you really don't have to worry about longevity. Although my brother's Q6600 system obviously smokes the AMD, there really wasn't a pressing need for him to upgrade the CPU. He just had the desire.

I think the gaming world has gotten beyond the point where the CPU needs to be upgraded every two years. It seems like more recent CPUs can go a good four years before needing replacement. Maybe the latest ones will be able to go 5 years (wishful thinking?). For the foreseeable future, GPUs will probably need to be upgraded every two years to remain at high performance levels. CPUs, though, seem to be chugging along for longer.

 

[night_wolf_in]

keep ur reg as it is for now. in 6 month time. if u want to upgrade ur reg, then do it. right now. just wait for the new processors to come out.