Undecided on upgrade path.
 

Hello,

Need some feedback. I have this sickness that makes me upgrade my PC every year. :ws: It's about that time again.

I'm torn, my current rig is a Q6600 overclocked to 3.6 GHZ. Gigabyte GA P35 DS3R mobo GeForce GTX 280 and 4 GB of DDR2 800 ram. I know, I have a very nice computer and don't really need to upgrade, however, that bug is biting so.....

I have it narrowed down to upgrading to a Q9650 with the price drops and a GA EP45 UD3R motherboard, will run me about 4 and a half. My second option and the one I'm leaning towards is an i7 920, GA-EX58-UD3R with 6 GB of DDR3 1600 ram. This will run me right at around 6 bills.

Suggestions? input ? tell me I'm crazy, but I can't friggin decide....

the Q9650 with the UD3 board will give you 4ghz for sure which is already an amasing power package... the I920 will top around 3.8-4Ghz giving you even more brute power...

I have the same symptoms as you mate but coming from a QX9650@4ghz and the current I920 I must admit that for gaming the difference is negligable... for other apps ( folding, 3d stuff etc) the I7 is the way to go... the system is also more responsive then the s775...

If it is for gaming purposes only keep ya current rig...( I know it's hard) if not upgrade to the I7 and sell ya current hardware to get a nice cashback ( Q6600 that do 3.6 are still going strong on Ebay and co)

I'd just say go Core i7. I'd spend that difference just to keep a current socket with better performance, as LGA775 is done with.

I'm holding out on my upgrade from a Q6600 until this fall though... 32nm Westmere, Windows 7, DX11, and new GPUs. :)