Upgrading System for increased ISboxer performance

Firstly, here's what I'm using currently -

680i LT SLI Nvidia Model C55L55XEP15

Memory 3x - Corsair CM2X1024-6400C5DHX Power Supply 550w

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6550 2.33GHz Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

NVidia Geforce 9600 GT Cards X2. Not currently set to SLI. Using it all on a 52" Plasma TV, however also have a 23" monitor I might set up secondary at some point in the future.

I'm looking to upgrade the Motherboard and/or processor for somewhere in the range of $100-250, using everything else as the same. Currently using ISBoxer for Everquest 1 with 3 accounts. As far as I know, ISboxer utilizes multi-CPUs for better performance with EQ1 multi-boxing.

Been a long time since I've upgraded my MB(like 3 years) so not even sure where to begin, and there are so many different MBs out there now.

Any advice appreciated. Mostly doing this because I'm iffy about my current motherboard, seems to like to crash a lot. I once dropped my wireless keyboard on the ground and got a blue screen from it. No idea how that works. Also just bumping the system blue screens it a lot. Started happening a lot after I accidently dropped a USB flash drive on the MB once while it was running and it blue-screened.

[MiRai]

It's very difficult to upgrade such old equipment at an efficient cost. Intel CPUs haven't been dropping in price since they've been
holding the CPU crown for years now.

Here's a list of quad core CPUs that would fit your board.

Those would be a substantial upgrade to what you're currently running but, they eat up your entire budget when it sounds like you need
a motherboard as well. Currently, the top-of-the-line Intel CPU is just as expensive or cheaper than those quad cores I listed above and
it would blow all of those out of the water.

This, or this, would also be two alternatives to fit into your current motherboard but they're still just dual core CPUs... you're unlikely
to see much of an improvement.

If you were going to try and get a CPU/Motherboard combo of some sort, by looking at pricing you'd have to go the AMD route and
I don't know much about AMD except they've been behind the curve for years now and they have a new platform about to be released
in a few months.

My recommendation to everyone who wants to upgrade old hardware is that you should save up for something current instead of
continuing to put a band-aid over old hardware when you could be spending a little more and have much more. I realize that you're
only running three instances of EQ1 and super new and current hardware is most likely overkill, but I think spending $300 on a quad
core processor from 3 years ago compared to spending $325 on a current processor that decimates it is a complete waste.

If the BSODs are becoming that intolerable then you have no choice but to pick a piece of hardware in your case and hope that it
fixes the issue at hand.

I notice you just posted NewEgg though...think maybe Tigerdirect or other sources might be cheaper?

One other thing - after cleaning off some parts in my system, the system runs fine under normal circumstances, but when I run 3 instances of EQ it shuts down instantly after a short while. My only reasonable conclusion is it's overheating.

The question is this - I took the heatsink/fan off the processor to clean it out, and then just popped it back in.

Does the thermal compound need to be replaced after taking off the heatsink, or is the stuff that was on there still good? I'm thinking maybe removing and putting it back might have made it so the processor is no longer correctly transferring heat to the heatsink, so when I heavily use the processor, it overheats and shuts down.

I found this http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/mother ... os/i7-2600. Not sure if it's as good as the one you posted for the i7

[MiRai]

I notice you just posted NewEgg though...think maybe Tigerdirect or other sources might be cheaper?

Different stores have deals all the time, I always use Newegg as a pricing standard. You can get amazing deals if you are lucky to be
in the right place at the right time.

One other thing - after cleaning off some parts in my system, the system runs fine under normal circumstances, but when I run 3 instances of EQ it shuts down instantly after a short while. My only reasonable conclusion is it's overheating.

The question is this - I took the heatsink/fan off the processor to clean it out, and then just popped it back in.

Does the thermal compound need to be replaced after taking off the heatsink, or is the stuff that was on there still good? I'm thinking maybe removing and putting it back might have made it so the processor is no longer correctly transferring heat to the heatsink, so when I heavily use the processor, it overheats and shuts down.

It's always recommended to fully remove all the thermal grease and reapply a fresh coat of it each time you mess with the
heatsink/CPU. If you think you're overheating you can download programs such as RealTemp to monitor your CPU temps.

I found this http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/mother ... os/i7-2600. Not sure if it's as good as the one you posted for the i7

I personally wouldn't go with ECS because they're a budget brand, but that's just me. I'm not knocking the company and I'd assume
their boards will last just as long as any other board, it's just a personal preference. I know people who've used ECS boards and they
obviously work fine and get the job done. Certain motherboard manufacturers offer 3 year warranties on the new 1155 boards, I
don't know if those ECS boards carry that warranty but I would maybe try to find one of those.

Now, to make your purchase even lower in price you can go with a 2500 instead of a 2600, the only difference between the two
processors is that the 2500 doesn't have hyper-threading (virtual cores). Also, if you won't be overclocking then you don't need the
"K" version of the chip.

Your existing memory will not work in an 1155 board so you would need newer dual-channel DDR3 RAM.

I would hate for you to upgrade the motherboard/CPU/RAM and have the problem actually be a faulty power supply.

With Just google running(although in 5 tabs), and the Nvidia Ntune, My processor is sitting at 172F. That's with 66% fan speed, under automatic fan control. I suppose I can see what it gets to with ISboxer running, however I am not certain how hot it gets before it automatically shuts down?

Also btw, the power supply is around 6 months old tops, so although I can't fully rule it out, I think the chances are much lower of it being the problem.

Well I just put on some new thermal paste, and where it was running at 80 C in idle before, it's running at like 32 C in idle now.

Apparently breaking that bond without replacing it is a HUGE bad thing.