New CPU?

[AnthonyBugg]

Hello everyone, today i realised that it would be a good time to upgrade my custom build PC. Specifically the CPU.

My current specs:

CPU: Intel Core q6600

GPU: GTX 660

RAM: 8 GB

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

So i was wondering what would be a good CPU to buy that won't hold back my system, my max is around like 230, i will also need a new motherboard so what would be a good one to get? Thanks!

 

[Geoff]

You aren't going to find anything worthy of a replacement if you only have $230 to replace the motherboard and CPU.

 

[johnb35]

Yeah, you will need more money then that. Here is a sample of mobo and cpu.

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128710 --- $150.00

Cpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899 --- $240

So you are looking at about $400 for an Intel build. The following will be an AMD build.

Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514 --- $124

Cpu - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113285 --- $159

So thats almost $285. But the intel build would be somewhat better.

 

[Okedokey]

Before buying anything new, please overclock the CPU (they overclock like all hell) and see if it results in performance improvements (e.g. FPS increase in games). If it does you know the CPU is bottlenecking, if it isn't then you're wasting your money tbh.

The Q6600 is still pretty competitive gaming wise, and you're only running GTX660 which is the same as GTX580 essentially, which shouldn't bottle that CPU. Also the higher the resolution, the less the CPU matters, meaning if you're running at 1080p or higher, your GPU is where you should be spending your money.

Test by overclocking and reviewing CPU utlisation first. You're looking for any core at 100% during gaming, not total utilisation as not all games use all 4 cores. Test on different games and 3Dmark11. Bump the voltage and core clock to 3.0, 3.2, 3.4G and 3.6hz if possible, testing at each frequency. If there is a difference then yes, time for new Cpu and movo, if not, or it flattens out at a lower frequency, or no core ever hits 100% then spend your money on a 770 instead.