Is this system upgradable, or a new PC better?

[Skorpian]

Hello everyone how r u doing?
Ok, here are my system specs :
E8400 Dual core CPU @ 2.4 GHz ( should be 3.00 GHz, forcely underclocked due to motherboard limitations )
GA-945PL-S3P motherboard
2x2GB DDR2 Ram @ 667 MHz ( should be 800 MHz, again forced to underclock due to the motherboard )
ATI Radeon x1550 series
So, I want a new motherboard to go with my system. I also want a new power supply, a good CPU cooler and a good GPU.
So, will such upgrades be beneficial? Or the performance will still be bottlenecked due to CPU and/or RAM?
Thanks and any help is appreciated.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Why are you upgradinng? Do some games not work well? Why the motherboard upgrade? Unless you are missing a feature you want, there is really no need. What is your Current PSU? What is your budget?

 

[Skorpian]

The motherboard upgrade is because my CPU and RAM have more FSB than supported by motherboard, so they run underclocked.
I've got some upgrades in mind which will I think fit into my budget.
I need a good CPU cooler as mine doesn't cool my CPU any good, my CPU reaches like 60C on idle.
The games don't work well, like the games I wanna play such as BF3, COD MW3, crysis etc. In fact, even lower games barely run on low settings, thanks to the GPU.
So, I'd like to know if the following system ( i.e the system I wish to upgrade to ) will be good enough for the modern games and run them on high/ultra settings :
E8400@ 3.00 GHz ( hopefully overclocked to 3.60 GHz too if possible )
A good motherboard here that has LGA 775 socket and DDR2
2x2GB DDR2 @ 800 MHz
A nice PSU which supports the system ( the best brand I could find )
Will the above system be good enough for gaming?

 

[MindoverMaster]

What is your budget?

You won't play the latest games on high/ultra.

The most important factor, in gaming, is your graphic card, RAM, and then you CPU.

For a new motherboard, I'd choose this: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-G41MT-S2PT LGA 775 Intel G41 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

But, 775 is being phased out, so if you can afford it, get a new 1155 system.

 

[PP Mguire]

Your biggest issue is your GPU. Depending on budget if you added a 560ti you would see a huge performance increase in games, but then your CPU would still slightly bottleneck you.

The problem with what you want is the only new boards you can buy now are DD3 and are pretty crap in terms of features. You will probably have to get a good P45 DDR3 board and upgrade your RAM to use the FSB you want.

The thing to remember, is the FSB rated on the chip means total bandwidth. Q6600 says 1066 and it can officially support 1066 DDR2, as the 45nm Wolfdale and Yorkfield (quad) chips can support DDR3. Your board FSB wont reflect this though. It should be somewhere around 200 or so for DDR2. 200 FSB would equate to 800mhz DDR2 depending on the DDR2 multiplier.

As for the CPU speed itself, if you are idling at 60c then you got some serious problems and probably need to reseat your heatsink, clean it, and apply new thermal paste. Your CPU is probably throttling meaning you aren't getting the full speed even with your board because it is getting too hot.

 

[Skorpian]

Thanks for all the replies.
So, if I get the Radeon HD 7770 with the E8400, will it still be a huge difference apart from HD 7770 with an i5? Like a difference of 10 or 20 FPS for example?

 

[PP Mguire]

It really all depends on the game in question. 7770 would be a huge upgrade compared to what you currently have, but in terms of modern graphics cards it isn't very good. I think if you are doing all this upgrading it would be better just to simply update it all. Even an i3 would be great.

 

[Skorpian]

Are you sure? Mine is an ATI Radeon series x1550, that's one of the worst graphics cards nowadays, while 7770 runs BattleField 3 on ultra on 50 FPS.
I'd like you to keep in mind that I'll be using a montior which has a max resolution of 1280x1024, so I wouldn't need a powerhouse GPU, as I think the 7770 will run almost everything on max graphics with such a resolution.

 

[patonb]

Big thing though, is you are upgrading to a crappy standard.

Yes you are right about the 7770, but upgrade your monitor, and youre back to having issues. You need to upgrade beyond your current level, for future upgrades.

So you should upgrade to a card that'll run on higher resolution, like a 560, and now you have a system that will still be great, despite other upgrades.

 

[PP Mguire]

Are you sure? Mine is an ATI Radeon series x1550, that's one of the worst graphics cards nowadays, while 7770 runs BattleField 3 on ultra on 50 FPS.
I'd like you to keep in mind that I'll be using a montior which has a max resolution of 1280x1024, so I wouldn't need a powerhouse GPU, as I think the 7770 will run almost everything on max graphics with such a resolution.

A 7770 wont run BF3 maxed at 50fps, unless of course at your particular resolution. But then I have to say, at that resolution your performance is more CPU bound anyways.