Upgrade or not? From Prescott 3.6 to Core 2 Duo E6600

[rmd2001]

Hi there. My current system is:
Asus P5AD2-E with Prescott 3.6
Memory: 4 X 512 Mb (2Gb) Corsair XMS2 Pro - TWIN2X 5400
ATI x850XT
2 Raptors + 2 SATA drives

I was thinking about upgrading to Asus P5W-DH and Core 2 Duo E66600.
Do I need new memory or TWIN2X 5400 is fast enough?
Should I get new Video Card? Let's say ATI x1950?

Usage is 30% games, 30% Photoshop, 20% Video/Audio, 20% other.

Most important question: Will I see real increase in speed encoding video and processing photos?
I'm not going to upgrade if real life encrease is only 10-20%. It's not worth it for me.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Duvie]

I would think about another board.....a bit spendy IMO....but it will work....

Do you plan on ocing? That memory should give you 333fsb at least so you should be able to get to 3ghz.

At 3ghz it will be amazingly faster in photoshop and video encoding...Most of that will be due to dual cores though....


check these out....

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=187 = 47% faster
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=182 = 98% faster
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=177 = 86% faster
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=185 = 99% faster

games if you kept same vid card
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=170 = 21% faster
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=169 = 43% faster
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=432&model2=454&chart=166 = 66% faster


If you get an X1950XT then it will just be more....

 

[AstroGuardian]

You will gain considerably better performance with any other than games.
I think that all games are content with the 3.6 prescott. For that you should go for a better VGA card.

 

[stevty2889]

Yeah, photoshop and video encoding will definatly get drastic improvements, and games will actualy get some, but not as much as they would with a newer video card. The P5W DH also has a mem divider of less that 1:1, so if your ram was holding back your OC, you would get a little head room. Running 1:1 is still best, and more than likely you can overclock your ram with a little extra voltage, or looser timings.