Should I Upgrade my PC?

Hey,

My Specs are:

Dell XPS 630i

Intel Core2Duo E8500 @ 3.16 Ghz, 500Gb HardDrive

Nvidia 8800GT 512MB PCI:E

4 GB Corsair Dominator RAM

No Physics Card

Integrated Sound Card

Windows Vista, 32 bit edition

Should I be looking to upgrade my CPU for 2009 PC games? My worry is that the 8800GT won't be up to snuff, so I should probably be looking toward the Nvidia 200(?) series. Is that out yet?

Is your CPU a Pentium Dual Core or is it the newer Core 2 Duo? If so, then going from P4D to C2D will give you a good performance boost. But you would probably have to change your mobo as well as the CPU. On the other hand, if you have a C2D already, then a good upgrade would be to get a X2 type card, that has two graphics chips on the one card.

Good luck

Is your CPU a Pentium Dual Core or is it the newer Core 2 Duo? If so, then going from P4D to C2D will give you a good performance boost. But you would probably have to change your mobo as well as the CPU. On the other hand, if you have a C2D already, then a good upgrade would be to get a X2 type card, that has two graphics chips on the one card.

Good luck

Neme2010

Core2Duo. Would you recommend getting another 512MB 8800GT, or would it be better suited to wait for a price drop in the Nvidia 200 series and go for that?

You probably got an E8400 or Q9450 or sumthin, which is fine for just now. Graphics wise .. hmmm... Certainly another 8800GT will give you 20% to 60% higher framerates, depending on game. That is probably going to be your cheapest option. Have a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp3voWEyHxE

Is your CPU a Pentium Dual Core or is it the newer Core 2 Duo? If so, then going from P4D to C2D will give you a good performance boost. But you would probably have to change your mobo as well as the CPU. On the other hand, if you have a C2D already, then a good upgrade would be to get a X2 type card, that has two graphics chips on the one card.

Good luck

Neme2010

You are confused, or just miss-wrote. But to clarify, Pentium Dual-Cores are basically the same as C2D's, just with less cache. Pentium D is completely different from Pentium Dual-Core.

The Pentium D is just just 2 P4's put together.

Pentium Dual-Core are entirely different, they are almost as good as the C2D's.

Do you know the exact model of your CPU?netjive8

Dell XPS 630i, E8500 Processor (forgot to say that above).

Everything is stock; no additions, OC'ing, or anything like that. Not too sure about the powersupply.

I have Core2Duo. Sorry for the confusion there. First post will be edited w/ more info.

If you're wondering about the processor, the model is Intel Core2Duo E8500 @ 3.16 Ghz.

Upgrading for the future is usually not a good idea. There will always be something bigger and better around the corner. I would suggest only upgrading when you need to, and to me your specs look very good for today's games. Wait for the 2009 games to come out, and if they don't run as well as you like then upgrade instead of trying to guess what they will require.WC1

Thanks a bunch for the advice. That does seem like the more reasonable, and cheapest option.