Finally got my C2D upgrade done...

[aop]

So my previous setup had these parts:
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ @ 2.7GHz
Asus A8N SLI
Kingston ValueRam 2*1GB 400MHz DDR

I replaced them with these:
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 @ 3.0GHz
MSI P6N SLI-FI
Kingston ValueRam 2*1GB 667MHz DDR2

The difference is freaking huge. I thought my GF7900GTO was limiting my rig in games like Oblivion and Gothic 3 but after upgrading my CPU they both run like a dream. I couldn't believe Gothic 3 would run so smooth on any rig. Test Drive Unlimited got a lot smoother (from ~35 fps to ~50+ fps).

I'm going to do some testing with S.T.A.L.K.E.R and CoH soon and see how they run with my new CPU.

What can I say? Video cards are overhyped. If your CPU doesn't have enough power no matter what kind of video card you pair with it games won't run as well as you would expect. I hear people saying "video card is far more important than CPU in PC gaming" but that isn't entirely true.

Everyone still stuck with their S939 single core CPUs: run to the shop and pick up a Core 2 Duo, you wont be disappointed!

[CR2500]

Well from 3700+ to E6300 is a bigger difference than something like X1650XT to X1900XT.

[mdrnhl]

Everyone still stuck with their S939 single core CPUs: run to the shop and pick up a Core 2 Duo, you wont be disappointed!

Got my CPU & RAM yesterday (e6420 & 2gb of Corsair), mobo today (DS3), and expecting my cooler (Scythe Ninja) on Monday for my new, quiet C2D system
Carrying over most of the rest of the stuff from my S939 single core system listed in my System Specs...that one will replace my wife's aging Athlon XP 2100+. I can't wait to build!!


(edit: but I gotta add, my 3500+ w/8800GTS does run the games I currently play pretty darn well)