Upgrade to replace 8600GT, $150 budget

[Dragnerok X]

Reporting in: side-less the temperature situation is a little better, but not by much. It seems to top off at 79 Celsius after about five minutes of stress-testing. At the moment, I'd say the ambient temperature of my room is around 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[jyjjy]

You may want to try reseating the cooler. It may not quite be attached as firmly as possible. Better yet replacing it would be a good idea. You can get a decent one for like $20.

 

[Dragnerok X]

Better yet replacing it would be a good idea. You can get a decent one for like $20.

Probably not an option for me. Not, at least, until I can get a graphics card picked out, and that will be a function of how fast I can get my CPU clocked. See the problem, here? XD

 

[jyjjy]

Well even 3ghz should be alright. A bit higher would be optimal though.

 

[Dragnerok X]

I guess as a kind of temporary solution, I could always throw in a tube of AS5 with my order, as the CPU is still running off of the stock thermal pad.

 

[jyjjy]

Yeah, replacing the thermal paste is a good idea.

 

[markusaurileus]

Just in case you're still a little unsure about which gfx card to get, 5770 is the way to go and will not be bottlenecked by your 2.6GHz dual-core, unless you're playing GTAIV or BC2 or any other cpu intensive games.