Overclocking an X2 4400+ (939) further?

[shakey_shane]

Hi All,
I have recently dabbled in overclocking my PC and i'm seeing if there is any point in going further.
I have the following components and their overclocks.

CPU: X2 4400+ Skt 939 [@ 2.750 MHz / 1.44 Vcore] (=25% OC)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright SI-120 + 120mm generic fan
RAM: 2GB DDR [1T 3-3-3-8 @ 196 MHz] (Closest i can get the CPU: RAM divider without OCing the RAM)
GPU: ATi 4870 [CCC overclocked] (fan set to 34% - tradeoff for noise and cooling)
MOBO: Asus A8N32Sli Deluxe
PSU: 580W Hiper Type-R
CASE: Antec P180

Currently i dont have any problems with Overheating.
My ambient (mobo) temperature can be as high as 44C and the CPU will reach around 55 (i think)
With some extra intake fans i can improve airflow but everything is going well now.

tl;dr

I have a new screen and i'm now running at 1680x1050 and i can't run Crysis warhead on 'Enthusiast'.
Should i be so concerned? I feel that I should be able to and if i can't i'm not sure how future proof my PC is.
Maybe a good test might be GTA4?

Can i overclock it any further, or should i just drop £300 and get a Q6600 and DDR2 RAM and a new Mobo.
Ideally i want this PC to last until next summer (Summer '09)

ANY FEEDBACK WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED
Also if i should have posted this in another area please let me know.

TIA

[IceRaptor]

I dont think the upgrade is needed. GTA will prove to be a good test because its a very heavy game but i have a feeling your CPU will let you down.

I would try to OC that cpu more and buy some ram... its fairly cheap to upgrade to 4Gb. GTA 4 recommends 2.5Gb.

In summer you can build a new system with the i7 cpu

[dabaerman]

Originally Posted by shakey_shane

Hi All,
I have recently dabbled in overclocking my PC and i'm seeing if there is any point in going further.
I have the following components and their overclocks.

CPU: X2 4400+ Skt 939 [@ 2.750 MHz / 1.44 Vcore] (=25% OC)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright SI-120 + 120mm generic fan
RAM: 2GB DDR [1T 3-3-3-8 @ 196 MHz] (Closest i can get the CPU: RAM divider without OCing the RAM)
GPU: ATi 4870 [CCC overclocked] (fan set to 34% - tradeoff for noise and cooling)
MOBO: Asus A8N32Sli Deluxe
PSU: 580W Hiper Type-R
CASE: Antec P180

Currently i dont have any problems with Overheating.
My ambient (mobo) temperature can be as high as 44C and the CPU will reach around 55 (i think)
With some extra intake fans i can improve airflow but everything is going well now.

tl;dr

I have a new screen and i'm now running at 1680x1050 and i can't run Crysis warhead on 'Enthusiast'.
Should i be so concerned? I feel that I should be able to and if i can't i'm not sure how future proof my PC is.
Maybe a good test might be GTA4?

Can i overclock it any further, or should i just drop £300 and get a Q6600 and DDR2 RAM and a new Mobo.
Ideally i want this PC to last until next summer (Summer '09)

ANY FEEDBACK WILL BE MUCH APPRECIATED
Also if i should have posted this in another area please let me know.

TIA

hi shakey_shane,
as good as the 4870 is, I think a pair of nVidia cards in SLI would get you where you want. a pair 6600GT's may not work (I have a pair for flight sims) so anything 7300 and up should run Crysis for you. if you plan on a Crossfire board, then another 4870, or new cards. not a cheap as memory but another idea.

Ron

[Samuknow]

SLI is a good bang for the buck. Many of the newer games are being optimized for it and see a substantial increase in performance. Do the poor mans approach and buy one card now and upgrade later when the price drops or you find a steal on a used card.

[Pitch]

Originally Posted by dabaerman

hi shakey_shane,
as good as the 4870 is, I think a pair of nVidia cards in SLI would get you where you want. a pair 6600GT's may not work (I have a pair for flight sims) so anything 7300 and up should run Crysis for you. if you plan on a Crossfire board, then another 4870, or new cards. not a cheap as memory but another idea.

Ron

I can't see a pair of 7300s running Crysis

With regards to your system, your CPU and RAM are going to be the bottleneck. Crysis is very heavy on your CPU, and if you have a quad, it'll use all 4 cores. The X2's were never very good overclockers and I doubt there's much left in the chip.

DDR2's hella cheap at the moment. I really think a 6600, a nice Mobo and 2GB's of DDR2 will do wonders for you. The 6600 is a great overclocker, often hitting low to mid 3's on Air cooling. Make sure to pick up a Crossfire Mobo to give yourself a nice upgrade path when the time comes.