[BadappleOC]

Based on info in my sig, whadda ya think?

And let's put a $250 cap on it (but staying as close to or even under $200).

 

[nckid4u]

What do you want to do with it? Gamer? What games? I would say CPU with no info. You could pop a dual or even quad in there for <$250...
With that monitor, your card should do the job just fine.

 

[BadappleOC]

Gaming. Cpu upgrade would be to a quad (q6600 or similar). The xeon is dual (e6600 equivalant).

 

[aliadn]

Definately get a CPU upgrade, like the poster above me said, at the resolutions you are playing at, a better card wont offer as much improvement.

 

[Biatch]

Absolutely get an CPU upgrade for now.

 

[dralb]

I would buy a new monitor. If not, then a quad. (either a used Q6600/Q6700 or a Q9550)

edit: You card is more than enough for that monitor, so until you upgrade that display, a CPU would help you the most.

 

[catmmm]

yeah cpu

perhaps a q9400?

 

[Biatch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catmmm yeah cpu perhaps a q9400?

Q9550 rather than a Q9400. But the best suggestion would be the Q6600.

 

[TheSandman]

CPU, your GPU is fine

 

[stevenma188]

I would OC your CPU, than spend that money on a new monitor.

 

[DuRoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadappleOC Based on info in my sig, whadda ya think? And let's put a $250 cap on it (but staying as close to or even under $200).

Buy a good cpu cooler and OC to say 3ghz, or a little more, and then a GTX 260.

 

[BadappleOC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuRoc Buy a good cpu cooler and OC to say 3ghz, or a little more, and then a GTX 260.

Yeah, I had it at 2.9 for a little while but I was a little uncomfortable with the temp (I don't remember what they were anymore). I then backed it off to 2.6 but then I wasn't gaming at the time so I put it back at stock. I've been thinking of bumping it back up for Crysis.

 

[BigJeebz]

I vote for something along the lines of the q9550 as was mentioned before, and yeah that card should be fine for that res, go for the chip first.

 

[Dark Volker]

Unless you have plans to build a Core i7 system in the near future, I think that you should get the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P MB so that you can run RAID in the future when you have cash for another 150GB Raptor. The UD3P has the Intel ICH10R vs. your GA-P35-DS3L only having the Intel ICH9 southbridge chipset.

If you get a good aftermarket CPU cooler along with the UD3P, you should have no problem pushing that chip to 3GHz+ considering the UD3P is, IMO, the best LGA775 MB for overclocking. The Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V , Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme RT, and Thermalright TRUE Ultra-120 HSFs are all good. You might also want to pick up the FrozenCPU Lapping Kit to lap the HSF and/or CPU IHS.

Then you could either wait for 45nm C2Qs to go down in price or stick with the overclocked 3060 until you decide to build an i7 system. Either way, you'll have a better motherboard with lots of support for future upgrades. You will have the option to run RAID(0, 1, 5, 10 up to 6x HDDs). Your PCIe 2.0 card will be fully utilized. You'll have support for XFire, faster RAM speeds(DDR2 1366+ OC, up to 16GB/4x4GB), and higher FSB speeds(1600MHz+).

 

[dralb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Volker Unless you have plans to build a Core i7 system in the near future, I think that you should get the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P MB so that you can run RAID in the future when you have cash for another 150GB Raptor. The UD3P has the Intel ICH10R vs. your GA-P35-DS3L only having the Intel ICH9 southbridge chipset. If you get a good aftermarket CPU cooler along with the UD3P, you should have no problem pushing that chip to 3GHz+ considering the UD3P is, IMO, the best LGA775 MB for overclocking. The Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V , Tuniq Tower 120, Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme RT, and Thermalright TRUE Ultra-120 HSFs are all good. You might also want to pick up the FrozenCPU Lapping Kit to lap the HSF and/or CPU IHS. Then you could either wait for 45nm C2Qs to go down in price or stick with the overclocked 3060 until you decide to build an i7 system. Either way, you'll have a better motherboard with lots of support for future upgrades. You will have the option to run RAID(0, 1, 5, 10 up to 6x HDDs). Your PCIe 2.0 card will be fully utilized. You'll have support for XFire, faster RAM speeds(DDR2 1366+ OC, up to 16GB/4x4GB), and higher FSB speeds(1600MHz+).

The DS3L has no RAID. You are thinking of the DS3R. The UD3P is a great mobo, btw.

 

[Dark Volker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dralb The DS3L has no RAID. You are thinking of the DS3R. The UD3P is a great mobo, btw.

One of my many reasons for recommending the UD3P was because it supports RAID and BadappleOC's DS3L doesn't. The Intel I/O Controller Hubs(southbridge chipsets) ending with an 'R'(ICH10R, ICH9R) support RAID and the ones without the 'R'(ICH10, ICH9) don't.

 

[dralb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark Volker One of my many reasons for recommending the UD3P was because it supports RAID and BadappleOC's DS3L doesn't. The Intel I/O Controller Hubs(southbridge chipsets) ending with an 'R'(ICH10R, ICH9R) support RAID and the ones without the 'R'(ICH10, ICH9) don't.

I'm sorry. I missed the lack of R in the southbridge you listed. What I get for trying to surf OCN at work when the boss is around, lol. Helps to read the entire post.

 

[TheSandman]

but raid only matters if you intend to do it, I dont even look for raid support, as its a waste of time and the risk of 1 drive failing increases with 2 or more drives. Yes it can be argued it may be years off, but it could also fail in a week causing data loss, the I/O preformance boost does not justify the risk, at least not to me.