8800GTS.640 upgrade?

[Cant.Touch.This]

I was wondering if upgrading from my current graphics card would see some significant performance gain? I don't have a board that can take advntage of PCI-E x16 2.0 but someone told me they're backwards compatibile, are any of the 9 or 4xxx series cards worth a look or should I just stick with my current hardware until next build? Thanks for your suggestions and advice.

The reason I asked is cause this happened to catch my eye:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3094314&Sku=P450-8800

[White_Pawn]

Are there any games you can't play at?

If you want better rez and AA, then sure go grab a better graphics card, but if it is just for the sake of upgrading, i'd say hold off.

You would prolly see a performance increase from OCing your E6420 past the 3ghz mark.

[Cant.Touch.This]

Well, I was going to upgrade my monitor from my current 19'' (5:4) to a new 24''+ widescreen monitor. As with games, I've been able to play most recent games with MED-HIGH settings. I just stutter from time to time in Warhead and Oblivion. I'll take your advice and hold off for the next few years.

And also to your second comment, I haven't been able to clock my E6420 past 3ghz (not that I probably can't, just not knowing how to). Maybe you can PM me or I'll open another thread in the CPU section.

[White_Pawn]

If you leave your ram dividers on stock settings, that will hold you back, as you are running your ram out of spec. However, if you run a 1:1 ratio you will be able to find out your highest cpu clock. THEN start playing with the ratio again, to run your ram at its highest frequency, prolly around the 450mhz (DDR2-900) range with T1 enabled.

You should be able to get the E6420 to 3ghz w/o much issue and voltage.

[Special7]

8800 Ultra is not much of an upgrade over a 640MB, you could grab a 4870 for a bit of an upgrade but I would just wait.

[Cant.Touch.This]

Thanks for the advice again, I'll test it in an hour or so. And I'll post back in the CPU section for further help.

[SkiBum1207]

jeez a ultra for 199....gosh i remember when they were 3x the price and the ULTIMATE card...*sigh* why cant the pace of technology slow to the pace of my income?! haha jk

[SniperXX]

jeez a ultra for 199....gosh i remember when they were 3x the price and the ULTIMATE card...*sigh* why cant the pace of technology slow to the pace of my income?! haha jk

2 weeks ago I got a 8800GTX for that price. Even now tho, using a card that came out an generation or 2 ago are still good to game. Not a bad deal when yrs ago there was much bigger performance jumps between generations.

[gigabit]

The Microcenter still has the E8400's for $159.99 and they are all retail E0's.The C0's cost $179.00 for some reason and are OEM at the microcetner in my area.