Gaming HARDWARE question

[Keeper]

And it involves multiple parts so I didn’t post in "Memory" or "CPU" section of this forum.
I am playing Witcher 2. Loving it. Game play was VERY smooth with some toned downed tweaks. I can live with that. I don’t have to watch a pristine image to enjoy the game. NO AA and no bloom? Fine for me if the game runs smooth.

I am running an old LGA 775 mobo and proc. A single core 3200.

Background. My son came over one night last week and I loaded up the game as he wanted to see it and he went NUTS over the load times and the stuttering of the cut scenes.
I had blown it off as long as the game play was fine.
HE STRONGLY suggested I go out and get a new HD as mine was dying.
Nonsense I said. S.M.A.R.T. is fine. CHKDSK comes back with no errors. You're nuts.
I get a circular from Mirco Center.
A WD Black... SATA 1 TB with 3G transfer.75 bucks.

OK, I go out, get it... Swap out... and EVERYTHING in TW2 RUNS LIKE BUTTAH. I can even upgrade some effects. I am very impressed.

I give props to my son... And start thinking... (This is dangerous)
Should I go to 4 megs. (My system runs DDR 2)
Yes, I am still running XP and I know it will only see 3 plus max.
Micro Center has a set of 1MB chips that match my existing OCZ chips number for number. ~$45.

OR

Do I get a new Dual Core Proc? The E7500 Dual core Proc is on sale at Mirco Center. About 75 bucks. I have NOT kept up on techie things as till this game, everything I play has run fine.
So I don’t know is it better to lose 300 MGHZ but go dual core with a buttload more chip cache.

I really look forward to your replies.



Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[Ultralight]

XP will at the most utilize 3.25 gigs of RAM because it is a 32-bit OS. To utilize 4 or more gigs of RAM takes a 64-bit OS. XP runs games fine with 2 gigs.

Games are more GPU demanding than CPU demanding. Between the two conventional wisdom is go with a new GPU.

* However, instead of upgrading this system any further since it appears it is doing what you need it to do, save up your cash and build a new system.

 

[DaveSimmons]

"General Hardware" is the forum you were looking for, dozens of game system threads are posted there each week.

But anyway:

4 GB (3.x visible) will help in many games.

A fast dual core will help in almost all games. A quad core will only help in a very few, and 775 quads are slower than the duals at the same price.

For $120, dual core + another 2 GB RAM would be a decent upgrade, though nothing like a $350 upgrade to Sandy Bridge quad-core i5 with 8 GB RAM. (... $450 to pay the Windows tax and move to W7.)

You might check the FS/FT forum here, you might find a deal on a faster 775 dual-core and cheaper 4 GB RAM.

 

[Barfo]

Don't buy new 775 CPUs, you should find plenty of second hand deals which will be cheaper and allow you to get 4 GB of RAM as well.

You can also consider a full mobo/cpu/memory upgrade. DDR2 is more expensive than DDR3.

 

[Keeper]

Don't buy new 775 CPUs, you should find plenty of second hand deals which will be cheaper and allow you to get 4 GB of RAM as well.

You can also consider a full mobo/cpu/memory upgrade. DDR2 is more expensive than DDR3.

I KNOW!!! That was the shocker!!! (Cost)

 

[Texashiker]

Do I get a new Dual Core Proc?

When it comes to upgrades like from a 3200, I like to look at the Steam Hardware survey, and go from there.

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

1 and 2 core cpus are decreasing, 4 core cpus are on the increase. But you still have a LONG way to go before dual cores are out of date.

The average gamer runs:
windows 7 - 64 bit
4 gigs of memory
2.3 Ghz to 2.69 Ghz CPU speed

About a year and a half ago I upgraded from an AMD 3200+ to a quad core AMD althon II 620, and I could tell a massive amount of difference. A lot of new games are coded to used more then 1 core.

If I was going to upgrade my system, I would go with a quad core, and something in the 3 ghz range.

 

[Ken g6]

I am running an old LGA 775 mobo and proc. A single core 3200.

This has me confused. I can't find any Intel processors named "3200" that are also single-core. As Texashiker mentioned, there's the AMD 3200+, but it's not on LGA 775. And there were single-core Intel LGA 775 processors at 3200MHz, but it looks like most of them were Pentium 4's, possibly named "Celeron D" or the like.

So what is it you have again?

 

[aphelion02]

Hey, OP, I'm looking to offload a Q6600 (quad core), gigabyte LGA775 mobo and 4GB DDR2 for a relatively low price. PM if interested.

 

[DaveSimmons]

^ note though at stock speed a Q6600 is just a 2.4 GHz CPU, much slower in most games than a dual-core 3+ GHz like an E8400 / 8500 / 8600.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/53?vs=56

 

[aphelion02]

Yea, thats true, but I don't think its much slower, especially in newer games which are optimized for multiple cores (ie, Witcher 2) You can OC to 3ghz + though (or get your son to do it). Of course, you can do it for the dual core too. Personally I prefer a quad, and the Q6600 is an extremely capable chip.

 

[mfenn]

Hey, OP, I'm looking to offload a Q6600 (quad core), gigabyte LGA775 mobo and 4GB DDR2 for a relatively low price. PM if interested.

This is exactly what I was thinking. OP, we need some more info. What is your:

- CPU model number
- Mobo model number
- GPU model number
- PSU model number
- Overall budget