Need advice before I purchase

I am planning on doing my yearly computer upgrade sometime this summer and am about half way between going all out and doing my usual complete upgrade, or just upgrade my graphics and see if I can squeeze anymore out of my current system.

At 3.3GHz, I am having a hard time deciding if its worth upgrading to an A64, since at this speed, my CPU more than meets even the recommended requirements of even the most demanding games. My question is, if I end up just upgrading my graphics card, do you guys think that I can squeeze anymore out of my current CPU/motherboard with a pelt system? What if I got a new motherboard? Don't want to spend the money on a pelt system if there is not chance of getting anymore.

System specs in sig. Thanks.

I'd stick with what you have for a while longer

I know I'll sound like a broekn record, but Socket 939 and the 6800ultra/X800XT would be a worthy upgrade I think.

Thank's for the advice. Right now I am really considering with sticking with what I have, and just upgrade my 9800Pro to either an x800 or 6800.

What I really want to know, if I go this route, is if buying a pelt system will get me more MHz out of my chip with my current configuration? or if I purchase a new motherboard? Don't want to spend the money on the pelt system if it's not going to get me anymore than I have now.

EDIT: My computer is actually running at 3.3GHz at default voltage. I need to update my sig DoH!

yeah..stick with wat u have until the 939 come out and the 6800ultra

A pelt will get you cooler temps, but won't necicarily get you a better overclock. What is your current load temp?

matttheniceguy said:

A pelt will get you cooler temps, but won't necicarily get you a better overclock. What is your current load temp?

Click to expand...

Need to get the dust out of my rad, but my load temps usually range from 44C to 50C depending on how hot it gets in my house. When I first built the computer it never got hotter than 45C even on the hottest days, but like I said I need to get the dust out of my rad.

Run F@H so my proc is usually at 100%. Right now at 44C with an internal case temp of ~20C.

I have a feeling that I could get more out of this proc, but my Granite Bay chipset/mobo might be holding me back. When I overclocked this system last year I seemed to hit a brick wall at 183MHz FSB where no matter what voltage I put the system was not stable, but below 183MHz the system was stable at default voltage.

I don't really know about intels, but I think most amd's need to stay below 50 to keep things stable. If they get any hotter than that things start to go south. Not being able to change your multiplier deffinatly makes it harder to figure out what is holding you back. You might want to consider putting a better heatsink, or even a pelt on the NB to get it going faster as well.

Granite bay wasnt a very good chipset. If you get a cheap 865pe or pt880 motherboard, you might be able to OC higher.