Suggestion regarding upgrade from DDR2 to DDR3 RAM, and overclocking Q9550.

Bluthunder

Broken In
Hello guys. I have a 3 year old PC, with following config:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550@ 2.83GHz stock
2X2GB DDR2 Corsair XMS2 @800MHz
ASUS p5Q Pro mobo
Seagate 500GB 7200rpm HDD
Palit Ge Force GTX 560 1GB
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 600W
Cooler Master Elite 310 cabinet.

I am thinking of upgrading and overclocking the system, but I need serious help:

1.Will it make any difference in the gaming performance of my PC if I upgrade my memory from DDR2@800Mhz to DDR3@1600Mhz?

2. If yes, please suggest a motherboard with LGA775 and DDR3 RAM support and atleast 1 PCIe x16 slot.
(I have searched the net and all I found was X48 and G41 chipset based motherboards, all of which are Micro ATX)

3. Please let me know how to overclock my CPU, if it would help me to play games at higher frame rates. Any specific links to overclock Intel Q9550 are welcome.

I have decided to purchase the following this new year:

1. 120GB SSD.
2. Corsair H40 Cooler.
 

Cilus

laborare est orare
The only DDR3 based LGA775 based motherboard available now a days is G41 based one and they can use 1333 MHz maximum. Also they are not that good for overclocking, specially a quad core processor like yours. Also gaming performance difference won't be much. On the other hand, your current motherboard is a very good one, ideal for overclocking. Add another 2GB or two 2 GB DDR2 module to your existing system and get a good cooler like Hyper 212 Evo.

If you overclock your CPU, you'll get good performance but in gaming that is not very big when compared to CPU intensive tasks liek Audio/Video Editing. Overclock your CPU to 3.2 to 3.3 GHz and you are done.
 

Naxal

Little Kid
I second to the suggestion.

G41 wont allow stable system over 1333 MHz RAM speed infact your board is a far better overclocker.

A simple Cooler Master Evo 212 cooler would be fine enough to let your Q9550 clock 3.6 GHz with XMS2 you have.

I think its better to invest money in better PSU since for gaming 4GB RAM is i think more than enough but when doing OC, this mentioned PSU may fall short.
 
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