Pentium D 960 and new mobo?

[Timaphillips]

I'm running 2 Gigs of DDR2-RAM (3200 2x 512, and 5200 1 x 1G) on a Pentium D 820 HP on an Intel Asustek 945G motherboard. I've had no great luck with high FPS on F.E.A.R. specifically and am looking into upgrading. Also in the set-up is an overclocked HIS ATI X800XL. I'm reading that the pentium D 960 will be priced around $530 come April 23-30th, which is a great deal. My question is if this is a good processor to hold out for? I'm not going to bother saving for the Core Duo. I'm planning on waiting for the price cuts to get a **** of a deal. Will I need a new motherboard to run the Pentium D 9xx? My current motherboard is a intel Asustek 945G (won't overclock). I also would like to overclock, so the best recommended overlcockable mobo would be appreciated.

My other option was to look into the AMD X2's, but that's gonna entail new RAM ($$) and DEFINATELY a new motherboard.

 

[idiotec]

Are they making a 960?

Anyways, yes, a 9xx series will work on your board, but this would be my suggestion. If your dead set on getting a 9xx series, I would look and find a new Rev 975 chipset that will work with Conroe. I would also just save some money and get like a 930 and OC it if you get a new board with OC options. Then upgrade to Conroe when it comes out.

Another route to take is just upgrade your gfx card at this point, which would be a bigger impact in FEAR anyways. Then upgrade the CPU and mobo later.

 

[Timaphillips]

Are they making a 960?

Anyways, yes, a 9xx series will work on your board, but this would be my suggestion. If your dead set on getting a 9xx series, I would look and find a new Rev 975 chipset that will work with Conroe. I would also just save some money and get like a 930 and OC it if you get a new board with OC options. Then upgrade to Conroe when it comes out.

Another route to take is just upgrade your gfx card at this point, which would be a bigger impact in FEAR anyways. Then upgrade the CPU and mobo later.

You really think it'll be better to OC a 930 instead of getting the 960 ( Google it, it's frequency will be 3.6 GHz)? I also have read a ton of reviews on the X800XL, especially with the HIS IceQII cooler OC'd. They all seem to LOVE it. It seems like the thing that's really holding down my gaming is the processor at the moment. 2.8 GHz from an Intel chip just doesn't cut it these days. I like your idea to upgrade to the new chipset. That would def. save me some future hassle and cash.

 

[idiotec]

Well, a 930 should be able to hit 3.6 no problem even on stock vcore. The 9xx series just OC's much better than the 8xx series.

That is just my opinion since it would be hard for me to spend too much money on netburst chips at this point considering Conroe will be here this summer.

If you do try to find a mobo that will support Conroe, make sure to do your research. Not all 975 chipsets will.

 

[Timaphillips]

Just thought I'd share this little nugget real quick:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2631&p=5

Presler CPU overclocked to 4.5 GHz! That's on a ASUS P5WDG2-WS Motherboard you recommended. with the 975 chipset. I guess you get your $350 out of it for sure...