I am considering upgrading my CPU from am AMD Athlon 64 3000+. I'm imagining that this will be a relatively cheap ($100 or less), short-term upgrade. I'll be doing a "start fresh" upgrade probably late in 2007. My card (6800GT) seems to be out-pacing my CPU, since I am able to ramp up to the highest resolutions without helping my frame rate.Anyone have any sense if this will net me any worthwhile improvement?How can I determine what processors my motherboard (AOpen AK86-L Socket 754) supports?

>I am considering upgrading my CPU from am AMD Athlon 64>3000+. I'm imagining that this will be a relatively cheap>($100 or less), short-term upgrade. I'll be doing a "start>fresh" upgrade probably late in 2007. My card (6800GT) seems>to be out-pacing my CPU, since I am able to ramp up to the>highest resolutions without helping my frame rate.>>Anyone have any sense if this will net me any worthwhile>improvement?>Hmm my sense is that you will not be blown away by any cpu upgrade you could do. I personally like to "fall out of my chair" when I do a cpu upgrade because it's a fun thing to do every once in a while. The 3000+ is pretty solid cpu in its time, and is still ok for FS9 if you ask me.>How can I determine what processors my motherboard (AOpen>AK86-L Socket 754) supports?I'd go to newegg.com and select "cpu/processors" and then select Socket 754 in the drill down box, and that will give you all of the Socket 754-compatible cpu's.I think they still sell a 4000+ that is a Socket 754 version. But it will not make you fall out of your chair, compared to what you have. :)RhettAMD 3700+ (@2.5 ghz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (94.47), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

I'm afraid that you're pretty limited with a 754 pin socket. Both the AMD and AOpen sites have processor/mobo combo recommendations. I believe the highest you can go is the 3700+ and as allready pointed out - that probably isn't going to give you a huge performance boost. Bad news is that you probably can't do a whole lot with your current mobo. Good news is that you can start saving for your new system and see how the new technology shakes out before you plunk down your hard earned cash!