or I might just go ahead and grab the bundle which isn't much more and includes an EVGA nForce 650i Ultra Motherboard.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3329227&CatId=1599

Right now I'm looking at getting a Core2 Duo E4500 2.20GHz. It has a 800MHz FSB so it should work with my current motherboard aswell. Any thoughts?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3274224&sku=CP2-DUO-E4500

Damn, I was hoping that wasn't the case. I would rather not take the risk on it if that's true.

Anybody know of any decently priced motherboard/processor combos that would work well with Crysis and other such games. I would like to pick up something that will last me a year or so while at the same time it doesn't need to be top of the line. I just want to be able to take advantage of my 8800GT to it's fullest without sacrificing any performance due to other component bottlenecks.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Make sure your motherboard supports socket 775 agallo

According to Intel's documentation about my D945GPm board, it supports a LGA 775 socket. As long as the board has that I should be ok, right? It doen't mention the Q6600 being supported. Maybe the documentation is just old, I don't know. It's all here:

http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d945gpm/sb/CS-026536.htm

Well, not exactly. The only thing I've ever actually overclocked was an ATI card with ATI Over-drive. It's something I could look into though if it was beneficial.

Thanks guys! Damn that was quick. Anyway, I didn't realize Pentium D's were such garbage. :?

I'm looking at a Q6600 on Newegg right now and it's taking everything in my power not to order the dang thing. I really should wait a little while before I plop down more money on this PC. :cry:

Here are my 3dMark06 scrores if it will help:

Main Test Results

3DMark Score 6607 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 2692 Marks
SM 3.0 Score 3491 Marks
CPU Score 1450 Marks

Detailed Test Results

Graphics Tests
1 - Return to Proxycon 22.408 FPS
2 - Firefly Forest 22.467 FPS

CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.482 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.699 FPS

HDR Tests
1 - Canyon Flight (SM 3.0) 41.793 FPS
2 - Deep Freeze (SM 3.0) 28.018 FPS

A couple days ago I finally got my hands on a new 8800GT 512MB gpu for my PC. So far, I've been unsatisfied with the all-around performance of my PC with any of my games, especially Crysis. My specs are as follows:

• Intel Pentium D 840 (3200 MHz x 2)
• 2048 MB RAM (1024 MB DDR2 x 2)
• NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB DDR3
• WDC WD2500KS-00MJB0 250GB HD
• Intel D945GPM Motherboard

In Crysis, the FPS literally gets so bad at times that I simply can not push myself to play the game beyond the first couple areas. The frames seem to hover around 20-30 FPS in small enclosed areas, but once I get into any kind of combat, or walk into a wide open area, my FPS plummet. It usually drops in to the lower 10's and things begin to look like a slide show. I've been attempting to play in 1280x960 with everything on HIGH. I even tried lowering the settings to medium which had little tono effect on my performance. Same goes with lowering the resolution.

From my understanding, Crysis should be playable on an 8800GT with decent framerates with everything on high in 12800x960 resolution. Is it not? Same deal is happening with World of Warcraft. I have noticed a slight increase in FPS, but it still dips down in the mid 20's to 30's in wide open areas. Pretty much the same way my ATI x1600PRO 512MB gpu did actually... a 8800GT should not do that, am I right?

So my question to you all is, what do you think is bottlenecking my system? Is it my CPU?