You should see a nice boost in gaming with upgrade to 260/4870.



Superfast multicore CPU will not increase gaming performance if combined with obsolete 8800GT etc, although a fast processor is also critical, but if you're worried about which one you should get first and gaming will be your decider, then buy 260/4870 minimum then processor upgrade.



Balance your rig, upgrade PSU too.

yeah PSU is crap..it was an emergency buy..right now i wana upgrade the cpu because with new i7 in stores there is a chance quad n due might not b available..

IMO u should go for core2 duo E8400 @ 3.0Ghz which is around 8k.Quad won't make much of a difference with u r gfx card also in most of the games E8400 at its stock speed easily beats most of the quad core processors and gives a good performance see anandtech for more info ,also E8400 is a great overclocker and can easily reach 4.3Ghz,AnandTech Bench (beta): Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 vs Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600

and if i buy a new gfx card..i think the procy will bottleneck it..

Upgrade your graphics card to a 4870, oc your proc 3.0 Ghz. You'll see quite an FPS increase.

Wait for Nvidia GT300.



8800gt will be able to hold off till then .



Don't hurry , try to go for DX11 rather DX10 cards now especially since you own a 8800gt.



Save the money , wait till i3 , i5 comes in January 3 triggering the bomb of mainstreaming DDR3 Rams



Just hold off till GT300 arrives. I know what everyone will say wait now and you'll keep waiting forever , but beleive me you will reap the benefit if you wait till January 26 / February 26 / April 26 ( Launch dates of FERMI GT 300 )

Originally Posted by Anubis

Wait for Nvidia GT300.



8800gt will be able to hold off till then .



Don't hurry , try to go for DX11 rather DX10 cards now especially since you own a 8800gt.



Save the money , wait till i3 , i5 comes in January 3 triggering the bomb of mainstreaming DDR3 Rams



Just hold off till GT300 arrives. I know what everyone will say wait now and you'll keep waiting forever , but beleive me you will reap the benefit if you wait till January 26 / February 26 / April 26 ( Launch dates of FERMI GT 300 )

Wait and u will get benefit bcoz after releasing of fermi GT300 all ati directx11 and other cards price will be reduced.Till then u r 8800Gt will Do fine...

Yup, for Gaming i dont think investing 10k on Processor aint a good go, so hold ur horses wait till the GT300s & not to mention the i5, i3 !

more and more games are now going to take advantage of quad core

one e.g.

DICE recommends beefy hardware for new Battlefield games - The Tech Report

i invested 8k this year on the mobo n max it can support is quad 9550 so i was planning to get quad..i think with quad i can make thru 2011-12..8800Gt is a pretty decent card..it gives avg 60 fps on high settings at 1600X900 on almost all games..

i dont see any need to upgrade the gpu..i will gain max increment of 10fps if i get gt250..if i go for i7 or i3 i will have to buy a new mobo again...my proccy is the bottleneck in my config..

i was confused between a high end core 2 duo or a quad..if core 2 duo is sufficient then i can save some cash n get a new psu also..



guys help me choose between core 2 duo e8400 or core 2 quad 9400..?

Originally Posted by shanil

i invested 8k this year on the mobo n max it can support is quad 9550 so i was planning to get quad..i think with quad i can make thru 2011-12..8800Gt is a pretty decent card..it gives avg 60 fps on high settings at 1600X900 on almost all games..

i dont see any need to upgrade the gpu..i will gain max increment of 10fps if i get gt250..if i go for i7 or i3 i will have to buy a new mobo again...my proccy is the bottleneck in my config..

i was confused between a high end core 2 duo or a quad..if core 2 duo is sufficient then i can save some cash n get a new psu also..



guys help me choose between core 2 duo e8400 or core 2 quad 9400..?

That's why it wise never to spend more than 5k on mobo unless Crossfiring or SLI

Originally Posted by shanil

i invested 8k this year on the mobo n max it can support is quad 9550 so i was planning to get quad..i think with quad i can make thru 2011-12..8800Gt is a pretty decent card..it gives avg 60 fps on high settings at 1600X900 on almost all games..

i dont see any need to upgrade the gpu..i will gain max increment of 10fps if i get gt250..if i go for i7 or i3 i will have to buy a new mobo again...my proccy is the bottleneck in my config..

i was confused between a high end core 2 duo or a quad..if core 2 duo is sufficient then i can save some cash n get a new psu also..



guys help me choose between core 2 duo e8400 or core 2 quad 9400..?

I would suggest neither because it won't help you to get through 2011-12

You will notice quite a bit of performance difference in some games and a marginal increase in performance in many others.

Originally Posted by Anubis

That's why it wise never to spend more than 5k on mobo unless Crossfiring or SLI







I would suggest neither because it won't help you to get through 2011-12

why dude...?

Originally Posted by shanil

why dude...?

LGA 775 is dead.



DDR2 is going to be pretty soon . Already DDR3 has penetrated the market and from January 3 Intel Core i3, core i5 is going to trigger the bomb for mainstreaming DDR3



No more Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quads are made now and will never be made.



Existing stocks are now only cleared out.



I would advise you to sell your mobo and go the AMD AM3 way.



Its futureproof for 2011 and offers better price/performance and budget (quad cores) energy saving cpu's than LGA 775

i wont say LGA775 is dead....no sir!



Just get a 2nd hand quad if u can, else a Q9550.

yes, getting a second hand quad makes sense...

i want to utilize my board to the fullest..thats y i wanted to get quad..

i7 might be the best but then again i will have to spend helluva cash on new mobo n procy..

n quad is not so inferior that should wait i3,i5 launch..

i want to upgrade my proccy because its the minimum recommended cpu for gaming..

if i get quad i can easily make through 2011..n if i want i think even with OCing my cpu..lol

AnandTech Bench (beta): Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 vs Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400



Except for video compression, duo beats quad. For games, performance is almost same.

if you are hell bent on one of the two, benchmarking shows duo as your best bet.

i also use CAD programs...will quad help??

or should i be content with e8400??