Seeking Upgrade Advice

[Vanzagar]

So I'm looking at buying maybe the HD6990, GTX 570 SLI or the GTX590 (or what ever it will be called when it comes out)... but my mobo is this:

EVGA nForce 750i FTW SLI Mobo (Model#123-YW-E175-A1)

and my current CPU is this

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA775

So what I'm trying to figure out is:

1. What is the best CPU I can install in my mobo, that's under $300? I know little to nothing about CPU's
2. Will the CPU in #1 bottleneck my PC give the GPU's I'm looking at or can I but a CPU in my current mobo that will be a decent match for one of the above GPU's mentioned?

So in other words, I'd like to get either the HD6990, , GTX 570 SLI or the GTX590, but should I upgrade my mobo and CPU?? I'd really hate to have to upgrade them again, but at the same time I don't want to shell out the cash on a nice GPU only to have my CPU chocking it...

I sorted all the LGA 775 socket CPU's at Newegg, if that helps...
LGA 775 socket CPU's

Will be wanting to play games like Crysis 2 and Skyrim...

Any advice would be appreciated... thanks.

Vanz

-------- CURRENT SYSTEM --------
2x EVGA GTX260's, SLI
Intel Quad Q9550 2.83GHz
EVGA 750i FTW SLI Mobo
CORSAIR HX1000W 1000W Modular Power Supply
NZXT TEMPEST ATX Mid Tower Case
4GB G.SKILL SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000)
Tuniq Tower 120 CPU Cooler

300GB Western Digital VelociRaptor Hard Drive
2X 640GB Western Digital Hard Drives
Pioneer 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer 7.1

[Roadhog]

What screen resolution?

[Redeemed]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

What screen resolution?

I think 320x240 is a safe bet.

[crainger]

:: ::

[Intel17]

Upgrading your LGA 775 CPU makes little sense given how expensive they'd be.

Get an i5-2500K + ASRock/Asus P67 mobo, and enjoy

[Vanzagar]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

What screen resolution?

1920x1200

[Vanzagar]

Originally Posted by Intel17

Upgrading your LGA 775 CPU makes little sense given how expensive they'd be.

Get an i5-2500K + ASRock/Asus P67 mobo, and enjoy

will look into... thanks Intel17...

[Roadhog]

Originally Posted by Vanzagar

1920x1200

You'd be fine with a single 6970 or 580 at that res.

[Vanzagar]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

You'd be fine with a single 6970 or 580 at that res.

you think? I want to play Skyrim and Crysis 2 at a smooth 60+ fps... obviously it's hard to be sure with neither game available but I would suspect they are going to be the new standards pushing the hardware... would a straight GPU upgrade get me a huge boost in fps (in any modern game) or do I need a CPU upgrade as well?

[Roadhog]

your cpu should be fast enough for a single GPU.

[Intel17]

Actually, you know what? The most cost effective method would be to buy a card or two, and if you run into bottlenecks, upgrade the platform. The Yorkfields are pretty potent chips.

A pair of 560 Ti's in SLI would be a ridiculously fast graphics setup (I'm running dual 470s, just a notch down from the 560s, and let me tell you -- I do NOT run into framerate problems at 1080p with everything maxed + gobs of AA + AF).

Also, OC'ing that Yorkfield might be fruitful.

[Vanzagar]

Originally Posted by Roadhog

your cpu should be fast enough for a single GPU.

Just to clarify, does SLI tax a system more than a single card solution of similar horse power... for example would my system run near the same with 2x HD6970 vs. HD6990 or would my system perform better with the single card solution or the HD6990?

If so why is that?