Which part should I upgrade???

[LunaticGTX460]

hi

i wanted to know which part you think I should upgrade

and I'm not interested in a new socket and chipset

specs

OS Win 7 64 bit

intel core 2 quad q9550 2.83ghz 12mb cache

asus gtx 460 768mb 700mhz

hdd hitachi IDE 7200

seasonic 500 active pfc

kingston 6gb 800mhz

asus p5ql/epu 775 socket

asus xonar dg

dell u2312hm at 1920x1080

also does the 1ms polling rate on my blackwidow and on my corsair m60, could it interfere with my gaming?

oh and by the way is SATA2 better for gaming than IDE?

THANX

[TechFan@ic]

You need a GPU upgrade , but if you upgrade your GPU you will run into a bottleneck by the CPU, your system is at a point where if you decide to upgrade something a lot of other parts will have to go.

But if you hold a gun to my head and ask for a single upgrade, It'd definitely be the GPU .

[Dim]

Upgrade your GPU to something like a GTX 660Ti.

That CPU is fine and will not bottleneck a mid-level GPU.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/50?vs=288

[Dim]

There will be a slight improvement with Sata II, but I doubt it will be noticeable for gaming.

[Kruziik_Kel]

Originally posted by Dim

Upgrade your GPU to something like a GTX 660Ti. That CPU is fine and will not bottleneck a mid-level GPU. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/50?vs=288

He is better off with a 7950 costs about the same but performs far better (also comes with free copys of FarCry 3, Hitman Absolution and sleeping dogs)

id suggest the Gigabyte, Sapphire or MSI coolers

[Dim]

Originally posted by Dim Upgrade your GPU to something like a GTX 660Ti. That CPU is fine and will not bottleneck a mid-level GPU. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/50?vs=288 He is better off with a 7950 costs about the same but performs far better (also comes with free copys of FarCry 3' date=' Hitman Absolution and sleeping dogs) id suggest the Gigabyte, Sapphire or MSI coolers[/quote']

Yeah, I would have to agree with that.

Personally, I have the Gigabyte 7950, but the Sapphire is better in my opinion.

[MrWatch]

Sata2 is much better than IDE for access times. Another upgrade, like said before, would be a better GPU. A great one would be either a 660ti or 7870/7950. Good luck!

[LunaticGTX460]

would it be a major fps gain to get 660ti or 7950 or should i go for socket 1155 and stay with my current gpu

[27-bit]

why not get an SSD fot boot

[A/C]

I agree with the guys who say buy an SSD, I was recently in a same position like you. First I had an e8400 @ stock 3Ghz ona a p45 chipset, with 4gigs of corsair dominator 1066MHz, and a 9800GTX+ with a few 7200rpm 16mb sata 2 disks. FIrst I bought a q9550 with an aftermarket cooler, and OC'd it the same day to 4GHz, then I went and bought an MSI 560-ti HAWK, then a Kingston HyperX 3k SSD, and lastly, another 4gigs of kingston HyperX DDR2 @ 1066, and I gotta say the best upgrade for me was the SSD, the speed was imense, even though my chipset is only SATA II capable it still hauls ass.

That said the OC on the q9550 is a MUST else it would be a huge bottleneck, and it's really a shame to see a chip with such potential run at 2.8GHz so I suggest you do the same, at least to 3.6GHz, after all mine does 4GHz on a crappy Thermaltake Contac 39 cooler, and it runs surprisingly cool and quiet.

I guess you could find the point of this story to be once you start upgrading your old system you stop when you've upgraded everything on your mobo only to see that you need a completely new system :D

But I've sidetracked here, the answer to YOUR question (gun to the head) is: if you use it strictly for games get an 660-ti and OC your q9550 as high as it will go because it will bottleneck the 660, still, an SSD today is a must for every enthusiast build, you'll understand why when you get one.