wisdom needed for my upgrade

Hello to everyone...my current system:
Asus P5Q E motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad Core Processor LGA775 Kentsfield 2.40GHZ
Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C4DHX 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 Corsair HX620W CMPSU-620HX ATX Triple 12V 50A 24PIN ATX Modular Power Supply 2X PCI-E
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS (320 MB?)
Antec 1200, Xigmatek cooler
Windows xp pro

I just dropped 1400 bucks cdn on my kids new computer, went with same case, tasty power etc etc and a Phenom II 965 Black edition
and a Radeon hd 5770. Now I am jealous. It kicks my computers virtual *** at the games I like to play such as Cod World at War,
Battlefield 2 and soon Battlefield Bad Company. I would like a new video card (hd 5770 ? ) but the more I look into it, the more
I get confused. Here is a list of stupid questions:

Can I just throw a new video card in it and thats it?....and which one Radeon or Nvidia?
Is my cpu too weak?...should I get a new one or god forbid try to overclock it ?
Is my RAM acceptable or should I upgrade...stay with ddr2 or go to to ddr3? (can I on this board?)
I would really like Windows 7 like my sons new comp has as well, should I get 64 bit?

Its all just too much for my brain...Im old and my brain is tired, any guidance would be hugely appreciated. I dont need an absolutely
killer system but with say 400 to 500 cdn what would be my options for owning poning pwning or whatever when I play other old farts?
Should I go downstairs and pull dirty socks from under his bed, shake my head and say ''Im sorry son but I warned you about this sort
of thing'' and then switch computers?

 

That would probably be the cheapest solution, as long as you don't mind him hating your guts and not speaking to you for about a year or so...

Let's try to clarify things a little bit. First off, you are limited by what your motherboard can do, so if it takes quad-core CPU and DDR2, that's kind of what you're stuck with. You can increase the amount of RAM, but it probably won't make a very big difference in game performance. If you've never over-clocked before, I'd think carefully before you start experimenting with it. Mistakes are easy to make, and over-clocking voids warranties.

My desktop gaming system is actually very similar to yours, I have a 3GHz dual-core instead of quad, and two 8800GT in SLI instead of one GTS but other than that they're pretty much the same. Mine improved in performance when I installed 64-bit 7 Ultimate, that's worth a try if you can get your hands on a reasonably priced copy.

My own next upgrade is going to be a new CPU... you may want to look into that first.

 

Well, I think getting that Radeon 5770 would be your best bang for the buck as opposed to nVidia. A doubt a faster CPU, like a Q9650 for $370 will help much for the price or even a Q8400 for $200, I never buy marginally faster CPU's as you're only going up maybe %30 or %40, and like Mimsy said you don't need any more RAM either. As to the OS, do you really want to pay $220 for a W7 Ultimate OEM? I don't think it would be that big of a change. Save your money for an i7 machine when you can kick your son's butt!:-D

I say grab the 5770, it's easy to switch out. Heck there's probably how-to videos on youtube.

BTW, welcome aboard fellow Canuck.

 

Good points augie. Thanks for bringing up the cost-benefit side of things, I forgot about that part... if you get a 5% performance increase for your $400, it's usually not worth it. Save the money for a total system upgrade in that case.

 

If you only want to spend $4-500 then I would suggest just a new Graphics Card.
To upgrade anything else is , like Mimsy said, basically a new Motherboard, CPU, RAM AND Graphics Card. Thats a fair bit more than $500.

The 5770's are great for the price, but if you're willing to spend a bit more then you will not only get performance but future proof yourself too.
And one thing I will say is if you go for ATI then try to get the Vapor X version of whatever you decide, this cooling system is second to none, so quiet too and it has a cool blue "S" led to match your Case :-D

Personally I like ATI. But it's personal preference.

And I'd be looking at something along these lines..

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102856

Or an HD4870 X2.

Or if you want to push that $500 a little higher then you could think about a 5970.... :drool ... but thats pushing another $150 -$200 on top of your range.

I've got the HD4890 Vapor X 2GB and with my Dual core AMD 3.1 I blow almost any game out of the water, it laughs at COD MW2, havn't tried BF2.
Just finished Mass Effect 2 and was a steady 60 Frames per Second all the way through, Resident Evil 5 was an unflinching 60FPS.
I have everything in settings maxed out, AA x8, AS Filter X16, full res on an HDMI 24" monitor.

I found my Card on Ebay and had it imported from Honk Kong for a total of $350 CAD, it runs cool and quiet and so far has met any games needs, only Crysis has given me minor problems and I'm pretty sure most of that is my CPU.
My son has the same CPU and RAM as you and although I havn't put it through it's paces I would think it can handle most games well as long as it's backed up by some heavy Graphics Card.

You're not going to match your sons PC unless you .......well...... match it lol

But if you're looking to spend upto $500 then you are going to get the most bang for your buck from a good Graphics Card.

My opinion anyway :-D

 

I lol'd, my son's not old enough yet to have moved on past his Spongebob laptop but I can imagine the glare if I were to snatch it from him and start playing with it! :-D

The most you can get out of your motherboard, not taking video into account yet, is a cpu like the one augiedoggie just linked and slightly faster ddr2 1200 ram.

If you go ahead and upgrade your motherboard to something like this Asus board, you can get a very significant performance boost out of this 3.4ghz quad AMD cpu and this ddr3 1600 ram. That's $400US there, and then you could add a second nvidia 8800 gts to run together with your current card in SLI for another $100US for a grand total of $500US.

Just my 2 cents

 

Thanks for all the advice.....looks like Im going to get Windows 7 in there as well as an hd 5770, I wont try to overclock it unless it will make my helicopter or bullets go faster in Battlefield 2.