Upgrade from 9800gtx, worth it without a new board? HALP

[htskinn]

Quick rundown on my specs from a 2-3 year old build
32bit xp
2g DDR2 Tracer Ballistix
650w Corsair
Q6600 @ 3.2~4
MSI P35 neo2
EVGA 9800 gtx.


First things first this upgrades main purpose is BF3, this is the leg where I push this system to its max to get the most out of it before it goes to the farm. The playtime of this game will probably be my last on this system before a new build in a year or two.
I would honestly like to just upgrade my card but I'm not really sure thats going to be possible or realistic. SLI is out of the question since my board's 2nd PCIE is 4x. Is it going to be worth it to drop $200 bucks on a new card? I know the 9800gtx is far behind but at the bang per buck level am i going to double my FPS? I want to play bf3 at near max resolution with mid-high settings. Feel free to call me an idiot if this isn't possible, a guy can dream! =). The one thing i'm really wondering is about directx. I believe my board goes to directx 10. How far would that bring a dx11 card down? Or is there really a point in going to a dx11 card, will it just bottleneck?
I'd really like to spend less than 200 on the card.
I've been looking at the GTX 560 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130661
and the 6870 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102925
Do both of these out reach my system?

At the least i'm going to throw a few more sticks of RAM in and bring it up to 4gig. If that's not suitable I'd have to upgrade to 7 and max out my boards potential of 8g of DDR2. Anything past that i'd rather ditch the build and start fresh. The combo i have right now is silky smooth, and want to keep it that way

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!!!

 

[Unolocogringo]

No reason not to upgrade ,everything looks fine for gaming if you add the extra ram.
Although you will still be at DX9 with XP to get DX10 or DX11 you will need win7

 

[purple stain]

The 9800GTX isn't a bad card.It still equals performance to a 5770 which is an entry level card and pulls decent FPS in most games.Although it is a little outdated yes.

BF3 seems very CPU taxing.My Phenom ii x4 965 @3.8ghz was at 90% useage while playing in the Alpha.Dropping in a new $200 GPU would definitly get bottlenecked by your Q6600 unless you can O.C. a lot higher.More RAM will help but the limiting factor is still the CPU.But as long as you can achieve a high O.C. then you can get a GTX560 now and then use it towards your next build.

I'm guessing just like BFBC2,in BF3 you will be able to select which DX version you want to use.Of course because you have XP you are forced to DX10.

 

[Supernova1138]

Battlefield 3 will not support Windows XP, it will only run on Windows Vista and higher, there will be no DirectX 9 support so it will not run on XP. You're going to have to upgrade your operating system if you want to play the game.

 

[htskinn]

First thanks for the replies. Especially the catch about xp! Windows 7 will come first and foremost.
Here's what i'm thinking in my head...
Windows 7 (~$100), the gtx 560(~$200), and stepping up in ram to 4 or 6 gigs (~$100). Honestly I'll probably just pick up another 2g of the same ram for the time being so that'd bring the total cost down to around $350.

If i'm not satisfied, in a year i'll be able to take the OS, and video card, drop them into a new board (that will sli 2 560's at x16), new cpu, and new ram. At least with the first purchase this year i'll be slightly future proofing my rig. It won't be a front runner but it will hopefully be steady.
As far as the OC on the q6600, i'll have to do some more research. I know it's currently stable at 3.2, and I pushed it up to 3.4 but I just didn't have good conditions to keep it cool, this time around i'll be able to cool it alot easier. With the ram update i'll probably put it at 3.6 and see what happens.
Thanks for the info again!!

 

[purple stain]

That sounds good.

Here's an O.C.ing guide to assist you.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/259899-29-core-overclocking-guide

Getting another GTX560 later for SLI sounds really good and i'm sure they will be cheaper then.

 

[nforce4max]

The 9800GTX isn't a bad card.It still equals performance to a 5770 which is an entry level card and pulls decent FPS in most games.Although it is a little outdated yes.

BF3 seems very CPU taxing.My Phenom ii x4 965 @3.8ghz was at 90% useage while playing in the Alpha.Dropping in a new $200 GPU would definitly get bottlenecked by your Q6600 unless you can O.C. a lot higher.More RAM will help but the limiting factor is still the CPU.But as long as you can achieve a high O.C. then you can get a GTX560 now and then use it towards your next build.

I'm guessing just like BFBC2,in BF3 you will be able to select which DX version you want to use.Of course because you have XP you are forced to DX10.

Cool I picked a nearly new condition 9800gtx 55nm off a local thrift store for $45 :lol:

 

[purple stain]

Thrift store?

 

[htskinn]

I'll make you a similiar deal in a few weeks, you can SLI! 😉
Thanks for the link purple!

 

[nforce4max]

Thrift store?

Yea thrift store, in the US we got stores that people donate junk to that the stores sell off to donate funds to help the poor well only some of them any way. Think of it as discount stores.

 

[purple stain]

Lol.I know what a Thrift Store is i'm just surprised you found it there.

 

[nforce4max]

Yea lol, nice and shiny to. 😉

I get 849mhz on the core and 2.1ghz on the shader.