Is my CPU bottlenecking my PC?

My system:

6600gt (PCI-E)

1gb RAM

350W PSU

It runs most games pretty smoothly, but when playing the WiC demo it constantly freezes. Im guessing its because of the crappy CPU. Is there any upgrades I can do w/o replacing the motherboard?

Well this is my motherboard I guess

And as for the CPU, would this be a good upgrade?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103584

Well this is my motherboard I guess

And as for the CPU, would this be a good upgrade?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103584

lilbust14

The Good news in youre motherboard supports PCI-Express the bad news is that opterion youre looking at is probbly a little slower than that CPU dur to the fact it uses a slowe HT Speed. Just go into youre Bios and find the FSB and take it up some

EDIT:: Get this!!! Link

EDIT 2:: Or if you have $90 GET THIS DUAL CORE!! Link

Would OEM be a bad buy? I mean like, would it last just as long as the normal retail version? Also, by looking at the picture, it doesnt come with the fan and stuff. So would I have to buy a new one? Or could I just reuse my current fan?lilbust14

All OEM really means is that it is missing the original packaging. I have bought OEM form Newegg before, and I freakin' excitited about it everytime. Just amke sure that if you are gonna overclock ANYTHING in your PC, that you cool it well.

As for a rec. upgrade, go Graphics Card. there are alot of good, mid-range PCI-E cards out there. See what you can find.

Your old heatsink and fan should be ok (providing you are not going to be doing any overclocking) for an athlon 64 single core, yes you will need to get some thermal interface material like arctic silver thermal grease and something to remove the old interface material completely.

Besides you can get some relatively cheap heatsink and fans anyway, the ones provided in the full retail packages are fine provided you don't try to put them through too much ie overclocking.

Arctic silver http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=AC-000-AC

Thermal grease remover http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=OA-001-AK&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=27

Good for beginners http://www.hardwarezone.com/guides/amd-socket939/index.php?pg=1

Hmm...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yn14oA6Db4k

Judging by this video all you do is wipe the grease off with a cloth, and not use chemicals?

Oh, screw it. Ill just buy a cheap heatsink on newegg. BTW, that +4200 is at $72 now. Is that a good deal for what its worth?

Hmm...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yn14oA6Db4k

Judging by this video all you do is wipe the grease off with a cloth, and not use chemicals?

Oh, screw it. Ill just buy a cheap heatsink on newegg. BTW, that +4200 is at $72 now. Is that a good deal for what its worth?

lilbust14

It says you shouldn't use alcohol or acetone, the one I showed you is citrus based and safe. The reason why you should use it is if you have the old grease still on there at all it impairs the ability of the new grease to do it's job.

My system:

6600gt (PCI-E)

1gb RAM

350W PSU

It runs most games pretty smoothly, but when playing the WiC demo it constantly freezes. Im guessing its because of the crappy CPU. Is there any upgrades I can do w/o replacing the motherboard?

lilbust14

Your CPU is severely UNDER clocked. The HT on a socket 939 is 1 ghz (standard) and not 795 mhz. Even the socket 754's support 800 mhz HT. You can easily clock your processor a couple hundred mhz higher than it is right now, as well without worrying about stability problems. My Athlon 64 3200+ which is Socket 754 clocks higher than your 3400+ socket 939 and my chip is running at factory settings.