Grab a faster LGA775 CPU or wait and upgrade platform?

[Arris]

Hi all,

Thinking about spending money on an upgrade(always seem to be doing this...).

Currently running the system in my "System" details:
CPU: Intel Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz(333 FSB)
Mobo: Shuttle P35
Mem: 4Gb OCZ DDR2 PC6400
Video: XFX Radeon HD 5850 Black Edition (850Mhz Core/1200Mhz Mem)
HDD: 500GB Samsung Spinpoint
Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC888 7.1 channel High Definition Audio

I just don't know if I can upgrade ram and cpu to gain much more performance from this system? I might just be better of getting a new barebones (I like my shuttles) - Shuttle SX58H7(LGA1366. System is mostly for gaming.

I could probably spend about £300-400 and get a Q9450 and some more/better ram, but then I could spend another £500 and get a new Shuttle+Processor+ram. Probably best with the later rather than spending money on the old 775 platform.

Any input? Or should I just stick with the Q6600 for a while longer (3.5+years old now). Just worried about possibility of the CPU being a bottleneck for the new gfx card...

 

[Punkid]

i think you should wait for a complete upgrade...new processor and RAM wont help u so much with performance...and the q6600 is good enough to keep up with the 5850 u have

 

[Ritwik7]

I feel that your system is fine for now.

The Q6600 is showing it's age but should be good enough still. Go ahead with an upgrade once you start having issues in games. The i5 750 or the i7 930 would be a good upgrade path along with DDR3.

 

[Arris]

Thanks, confirming what I thought but good to hear it from another source.
Will wait it out until I feel the need for a new platform

 

[Archean]

Wait for few more months as sandy bridge is around the corner now; if I have to choose about upgrading my system today; I'd rather wait till Q4 2010/or Q1 2011 and jump ship for new processor family altogether.