How limited am I by the E6600?

[zarlaan]

I'm thinking of possibly going from my 8800GTS 640MB to the GTX 460 1GB OC.

What I'm curious about is how limited I am by my CPU which is an E6600 overclocked to 3.2GHz

[Viral]

My friend has an E6600 at 3.2GHz with a 5850 and has found it depends on the game. Metro 2033 has been the worst so far, but still playable with high settings, just not PhysX up high.

I'd say give it a go, you'll still see a big improvement and be able to turn up the eye candy. If it doesn't give you what you want then look for a well priced C2Q second hand.

[Madpistol]

More and more games are coming out that utilize a Quad Core CPU. As that trend continues, you will become increasingly limited by your CPU.

I also had an E6600 overclocked to 3.2Ghz coupled to an 8800 GTX (died, RMA'd, got a 9800 GTX+) and it was a fantastic system. However, my current setup with a PII Quad Core and a 5870 is far superior. It's ridiculously apparent in games like BC2 and Metro 2033 that use a Quad core CPU extensively. For games that just use a Dual Core or single core CPU, you will see a definite improvement.

I say go for it. The GTX 460 will be a significant upgrade from your current GPU, and you will see a difference in games that aren't heavily CPU limited.

[Raiasokura]

Originally Posted by Madpistol

More and more games are coming out that utilize a Quad Core CPU. As that trend continues, you will become increasingly limited by your CPU.

I also had an E6600 overclocked to 3.2Ghz coupled to an 8800 GTX (died, RMA'd, got a 9800 GTX+) and it was a fantastic system. However, my current setup with a PII Quad Core and a 5870 is far superior. It's ridiculously apparent in games like BC2 and Metro 2033 that use a Quad core CPU extensively. For games that just use a Dual Core or single core CPU, you will see a definite improvement.

I say go for it. The GTX 460 will be a significant upgrade from your current GPU, and you will see a difference in games that aren't heavily CPU limited.

Contrary to what your saying apparently Metro wasn't that taxing on the 'CPU' although I beg to differ, goes to show dont believe everything you read.

as for the op I have an E6850, Its a decent chip but to be honest I haven't turned the system on in a while (with it in) other than that its not bad I have it running at 3.8Ghz usally. Its hard to get it to run stable when running above 4Ghz.