I have a tech question. I plan on upgrading either my CPU or my GPUs. here's what I have:
CPU: AMD 5600 X2 (2.8GHz overclocked to 2.25GHz, dual core)
GPU: 2 GeForce 7900 GS in SLI

I was considering getting a single GeForce 8800 GT or some quad core processor. I know that UT3 maxes all my processing power, so would that indicate that my CPU is a weak link? Since I have an AM2 CPU interface (which has no quad cores) on my motherboard, would I want to go with the intel core duo quad with a new motherboard to support it, or would I want a new GPU? Would my 3D Mark score shed any light on this? Thanks.
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*edit*
Nevermind, I think I answered my own question. I messed with the riva tuner to overclock my GPUs and noticed no framerate difference . However, when I bumped up my CPU speed a bit, there was a big difference... from 39 FPS to 42 FPS. I wonder if I can get up to 3.5 GHz. Might be able to ward off my new hardware for a while.

Correction: 3 FPS is not a big difference.

Your CPU is fine, and so are the video cards. But if you really want to upgrade, then I'd go with the CPU first. If you had a single-GPU system, then matters would be different.

You already have a good system CPU and GPU.

I agree with Bjossi, 2 GeForce 7900 GT is already quite powerful and you've got a really nice score on 3D Mark which shoul allow big performance in game but your processor maybe cannot manage quite well shadows, physics, or so.

Oh, I thought a "good" score had 5 digits. Although, I have been able to bump my CPU speed up a hair and now get decent fps with lower texture resolution.

With 5 digit it's not a good score, it's among extremely high score !

If I remember well, poeple with 5 digits have at least a 8800 GT (coupling with another) and a quad core CPU, water coolant system (you need it when you see those configs).

Well, those poeple have extremely expensive configuration

Nearly 8300 is a good score for anyone with a, let's say, "normal configuration"

You don't need liquid cooling to get that kind of score. A friend of mine gets a score of 10k and has his case fans running at 50%

Yeah, using extreme cooling measures is just a precaution. It has little effect on performance, if any at all, especially when the hardware doesn't run very hot in the first place.

Hopefully, though, AMD will come out with some quads with an AM2 interface in the next year or so.

I doubt it, their plan is to go AM3. Or maybe it has already happened? Haven't been following the news lately.

Better cooling would be useful if you want to overclock.

Speaking of which...

Forget water-cooling! Try immersing the whole mess in mineral oil. That looks hella cool.

I actually did some experimenting with that. I used my brother's old computer (with his permission. It had an opteron 525, I think. Anyways, I immersed the board in 3 gallons of cooking oil, with the power supply , hard drive, and dvd drive above the oil. I ran Prime95 for three days in the case with fans on and then three days in a tub of oil. I used Motherboard Monitor to check the CPU temperature. The surprising result is that the CPU was hotter when immersed in the oil than in the case with the fans on. However, I did use only 3 gallons of cooking oil. I bet miniral oil would disperse the heat more quickly. I half-expected the CPU to fail when I tried to boot up the computer in the oil bath becasue I forgot to seal the area of the mobo around the CPU from the oil, as specified by Tom's Hardware site. Hoever, the system ran fine. I guess that is because the clock was too slow to cause problems.

Some improvements can be made, aside from bubbles. I've considered a design to implement at some time in my life that consists of the PC in a tub of oil with tube coming out the top and bottom. These tubes would connect to the ends of vertical aluminum pipes. Convection would push the oil out the top of the tank, into the pipes where it cools, and back into the bottom of the tank - or a pump could be added.

Also, I tested some motor oil for conductivity in case I ever get a lot of money to throw away (no more throwing money off bridges since I got UT3). I used a DMM to measure resistance with the probes at a very close distance (less than 1/64"") and I measured currnet with the probes hooked up to the terminals of 9V battery. I measured infinite resistance and 0A current, so I think motor oil might work. Also, it specifically designed to dissipate heat, right?

While I'm typing, I wonder if transmission oil might do the trick. I work as an engineering intern at an automotive transmission valve manufacturing plant and might be able to work out a deal to get some of that oil. Some testing stands dip into big barrels of oil...

This idea is actually really cool! I imagine motor oil could look really cool with that amber colour. I bet someone could do some really interesting things with this concept, though in reality, I don't know if it'd be worth the trouble of getting a tank that doesn't leak, then filling it with oil, etc.

But if you do something with this concept, Tyster, by all means, put up some pics when you're done!

I'd love to see more of this concept.

I'd love to see how effectively it cools the computer, not really interested in any exterior looks.

If I do, I will definately post pics, but don't excepct to see anything for several months. For the container, I was considering using an acquarium and standing up my mobo in it. As for the liquid, yeah, motor oil sounds like a good choice, but it can get expensive (around $5 per quart, so $20 per gallon). Either way, I'm still a little too nervous about it to submerge my $1200 rig at this point.

Oh, and a word of caution to anyone else treading down this path: Clean the electric contacts on your cards if you remove your mobo from the oil. I know from experience that the cooking oil dried on the card interfaces. Theoretically, if you keep yourself grounded, wiping the card interface with a cloth shouldn't produce any static discharge, right?

Hmm, I don't know about discharge, if the cloth is dry, then yes, you get a 100% chance of static discharge but since it's oiled up... I wonder ?

With a better cooling system, you can get much better performance, well, it depends of the basic heat your CPU does but if you have a CPU heating really quickly, it can alter the performance of your computer.

I've seen those oiled pc (with a special oil made for that), the temperature is totaly awesome, almost no eating (cooking oil wasn't the best choice I guess, lol ) but the drawbacks are :

- Your computer becomes damn heavy, forget the table (or a very solid one), put it on the ground !

- If you want to change some part of the computer (e.g. graphic card), it's gonna be a mess...
You will put oil every where, then it's not nice to have those on your hands, you have remove the entire computer from oil to change a single element

I'm not in a hurry to have those... But hey, it's really fun ! LOL

The ultimate cooling solution would be liquid nitrogen. But the costs of buying motoroil pales in comparison.

I think Helium would be even more extreme. In any case, I've fiddled around with ordinary air ventilation, and it can serve it's purpose much like water cooling, but it produces more noise. I saw a computer rigged up in a wooden case with noise isolation, and it's completely shut, there's no airflow in or out of the case, it just circulates on the inside. There is also almost no noise, but it is quite big and would take time and planning to construct.

Helium ? That would be a pain, each time you would breath it... Well, you know what happens lol
But it's another fun idea, might be effective though but the isolation of noise is quite a problem right

How can you isolate your computer from noise and cool it with helium ?
You have to renew the Helium right ? If it's stay for a long time in it, I guess it will warm up ?

I'm really interested to see how this system would work

Yeah, cooking oil wouldn't be the best choice. Stuff gets rancid.

With the mineral oil PC, you could hook it up to a radiator as the site suggested, to better circulate heat.

But there we go with the noise again, which is 80% of the reason for dunking a PC, right? Ok, so very long cables and put your computer in a different room.
Ok, back to reality... would miniral oil or motor oil have to be changed regularly if they are in a sealed environment?

I guess you have to change after a while.

Aquarium