upgrade to quad core or win7: which first?

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DHotdog

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Hey everyone. I currently have a PC running Vista Ultimate (64-bit on one drive, 32-bit on another). I'm heavily considering purchasing Windows 7, once it's released (in about a week). But, I've also been considering getting a new processor for several months. I don't have enough cash at the moment to do both at the same time. So, I'm wondering which would be the better decision to go with first? Or rather, which one would I notice the better performance increase from, independently?

Current PC specs:
- mobo: Asus M4N72-E AM2+ (w/ AM3-support)
- CPU: AMD Ahtlon x2 7750 Black Editon
- RAM: 8GB (2GB x 4) Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800
- GPU: XFX Radeon 4870 1GB/256bit
- PSU: Corsair TX750W
- Western Digital and Seagate SATA hard drives

My debate is between a PhenomII x4 955 and Windows 7 Professional (64-bit). As far as computer usage, I play a lot of games (i.e. Crysis, GTA IV, Fallout 3, Unreal Tournament, Half-Life, etc.), use video editing as well as audio editing programs, and the typical music, streaming movies, etc. Many of the programs already have support for 64-bit and/or multi-CPUs (GTA IV, Adobe Premier, Cubase (64-bit patch) for example).
I have used the Win7 beta and RC (both 32 and 64 bit versions of each) and definitely noticed smoother performance from nearly all the apps I run. I'm definitely excited about 7's release. But, at the same time, I'm willing to hang on to Vista for a while longer (or 7 RC, for that matter) if I'd get higher gains from going with a dual core to quad core jump, instead of a Vista to 7 jump.
I think the biggest reason for my dilemma is that I have 7 Pro on pre-order, from when Microsoft did the 50% off pre-order promo. So, $100 for 7, or $195 for the cpu...?
Sorry for the excessive rambling. But, any thoughts/suggestions are much appreciated.
 
Welcome to Tech-Forums, DHotdog!!!

I think you'd see a more overall performance boost by going for the quad core. Since you have the RC, that can wait 'til next year, and it'll expire June 1, 2010. Well basically March 1, because that's when your system starts shutting down every 2 hours. By then, you should have enough money to get Windows 7.
 
win 7 Ferst then cuz ther is a huge difference between Vista and 7
i waz have Phenom II 550 on vista &I took The full mark for the CPU 5.9 and 550 it's just a normal cpu
(( 3.1 Gz X2 Cashe 7M))
 
Wow, I wasn't expecting any responses for at least a day, lol. Seeing this, and reading a few reviews on a bunch of sites (Newegg being one of them), I'm gonna go ahead and get a quad core. It looks like I'd see a fair enough increase with it, on either OS, to justify it being the first move. Especially seeing as I technically have 7 already (till March/June). Thanks for the responses guys, it definitely helped a lot.
Now I just need to decide whether I want to go all out on a high end one. Or, get a mid-range one, and a new game to try it out with, lol.
 
Wow, I wasn't expecting any responses for at least a day, lol. Seeing this, and reading a few reviews on a bunch of sites (Newegg being one of them), I'm gonna go ahead and get a quad core. It looks like I'd see a fair enough increase with it, on either OS, to justify it being the first move. Especially seeing as I technically have 7 already (till March/June). Thanks for the responses guys, it definitely helped a lot.
Now I just need to decide whether I want to go all out on a high end one. Or, get a mid-range one, and a new game to try it out with, lol.

what's your budget? trotter listed pretty much one for every price point.
 
Realistically around $100- $150. But if it means enough of a gain, I can wait a few weeks or so to try and stretch it to $150 -$200. I drooled a little over the 965, but I don't plan on going quite that high right now. Seeing that the 955 is about $200 since the 965 came out is doing a pretty good job of teasing me though...
 
Realistically around $100- $150. But if it means enough of a gain, I can wait a few weeks or so to try and stretch it to $150 -$200. I drooled a little over the 965, but I don't plan on going quite that high right now. Seeing that the 955 is about $200 since the 965 came out is doing a pretty good job of teasing me though...

the 940 then definantely. the 965 is not really worth it, when you can get a 940 and overclock it to the 965 speeds.
 
You can get the Phenom II X4 940 like Trotter suggested and overclock. Save yourself the extra $50-70. The 940 can easily overclock to match the 965's 3.4GHz, beyond.

*phillbar beat me to it.*
 
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