New GPU / New CPU?

[Goran]

so i've just finished my first year of uni and am looking to get my old gaming rig going again. before i left for uni my 5770 broke so i just have a really crap like GT240 or something in right now to keep it usable so i'm definitely in need of a new graphics card.

however, another thing is i'm still on a core 2 quad Q6600 in a P35 board (although it is a relatively new gigabyte board with USB 3 and ddr 3) and i'm wondering whether this will bottleneck when gaming (Portal 2, Arkham Asylum, Farcry 2 and all the other games i bought on the steam xmas sale)

I'm currently looking at the 560-Ti MSI Twin Frozr II (~£175) OR a 6950 which costs slightly more but i can flash to the 6970 bios. the mobo only has 1 pci-e x16 slot so multiple cards are out of the question

which would you recommend? and do you think the cpu/mobo needs upgrading?

not posted on these forums in a while, looking forward to hearing from you lot again

 

[SieB]

You could do with upgrading your CPU and mobo but I don't think you will get any bottleneck from a Q6600, especially if you overclock it.

Personally I would go with the Twin Frozer II 560ti because it's quieter, cooler and uses less power than the 6950 plus there is no guarantee you will be able to flash the 6950 and if you can it still might cause probs.

 

[yggdrasil]

Yeah its up to you if you want to upgrade the CPU but I would wait for the new AMD CPU's to come out, Intel's 1155's should drop in price and got the choice of AMD if you wish.

I would try avoid flashing the GPU as you'll have no warranty and I am forever hearing of video card issues from both amd and nvidia chips.

I would get the 560yi or 6950 2GB if I could or try get the money for a 6970.

 

[Goran]

cheers guys, think i'm gunna go for the 560-Ti purely for the price and power consumption. I'll probably go for a twin frozr III as well. I'm gunna be paying my own power bills when i go back to uni in september so less power consumption is always good.

Ta!