Time for an upgrade!

[bcomputinyo]

Hello all!

I'll be doing an upgrade to my computer come quick and would like to hear anyone's thoughts on this. I'll list my parts and what I think should be updated. Let me know if I'm on track or not. Budget at this point would be about $1000.

My current rig:
Case: XClio Windtunnel - I'll need a new case even though this one is currently fine and keeping things cool. Just a change of landscape I guess, like buying a new car. Thinking about a Mid-Tower this time around.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35 - Obviously has to go, not really sold on AMD yet, always have used Intel boards. Kind of stuck here though, seems like AMD3 boards are pretty solid from what I've read.

CPU: Intel Q6600 G0 - No longer be needing an LGA775 chip. Looking into Intel i series or the phenom II, not sure yet. Will be overclocking the CPU however.

CPU Cooler: AC7 Pro - Seems to work alright. Will probably upgrade, as it seems there are some nice ones out there currently.

RAM: Corsair XMS DDR2 800 4gigs - New ram of course. Thinking about going for 6-8gigs this time around. Figuring DDR3 1600. Of course would have to fit MOBO.

GFX Card: Sapphire Toxic Edition 4870 1gig - Been a great card and still running strong. Will probably hang onto this card until the AMD 6xxx series come out.

Power Supply: OCZ Stealth 600 watt - Have had this for about 3 yrs. Still running good from what it seems.

5.25 Drive: LG DVD RW 22x - Will keep this around

Hard Drives: 1x320GB WD and 1x1TB Seagate - Both at 7200 and 32mb cache, seem fine for storage but may look into an SSD for OS

OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit - Not sure if it would be worth it to upgrade to Windows 7. Thoughts?

So with what I have and my thoughts, what parts would you choose to upgrade and with what within my budget? The only thing I use the computer for that is taxing is Gaming. I enjoy playing with settings on High.

Thanks in advance and feel free to ask any more questions of me.

 

[batuchka]

Seeing majority of games not quad optimised as yet if i were you i'd hang on to that rig and hit an after market cooler and clock that Q6600 away

 

[spentshells]

+1

overclocking the 6600 to the roof would make the upgrade to Phenom2
redundant. seriously there will be no advantage clock for clock C2D is still a touch faster than P2

 

[calguyhunk]

Hi bcomputinyo, You Really, Really don't need a new system right now, IMO.

Use the Q6600 for 'bout a year, and then maybe upgrade to the sandy/bulldozer. By then, prices will come down too. Till such time, just OC you CPU, & get a new GPU (GTX 4xx/HD 58xx) if you really insist on doin' something 'bout your old PC but the specs really look plenty good to me. The 4870 is better than most of the similarly priced DX 11 cards - Keep the OS for now too.

 

[bcomputinyo]

Hey thanks for the input you guys. Never did really think about OC'in the q6600. I know right now at the stock 2.4ghz per core with the AC7 pro it runs 45 degrees (C)on the cpu and about 60 on each core (C), and that is after 4 hours running Prime95 64bit.

I was going to practice OC'in on my current rig, but heck I might as well see what I can do.

Any advice on the OC, as it will be my first one, or what are the right questions to ask?

Thanks!

 

[spentshells]

get a better cooler
AC7 is for dual cores