Q6600 with GTX 480

Hi, hope this helps, um you plan one getting a 480? So you wantnthe top of the line in that series? (quickly,the 480's get hotter then a 580,they use more power and they perform less, with the reliece of the 680 the prices in 580 dropped allot, I dont know your budget, but an 570 out performs an 480, and in some games an pre-overclocked 560ti out performs a 480 aswell, and is cheaper, So firstly I would suggest looking at the 5sereis before going for a 480. Nothing against them, but if you can get bettter for alitlle more,then why not?). As for the quistion, your cou is allitle out dated, it will botlleneck you new gpu,but not by so much that it will make a giant differance in games, you will notice it in rendering and graphic desigh programs,mhowever,in games the performance will be botlled by the q6600, even though iit was a great cpu. Unfortunatly if you plan on getting a top gfx card, your gonna need to look at a new cpu,wich means new motherboard...and it gets pricy then. As for the card you suggested, its Evga!!! So its allready a win (anyone that differs,please search google for top sold brand cards in the world) there is a reason evga has that number one seller sticker, secondly they offer amazing warrenties. And the card looks good too.

So basically in my own opinion, if you upgrade your gpu, dont stair flat atmthe 480, it is a great card, but got replaced by 5 series, as have the 5series been replaced by 6 series, my point is you can get more performance from newere technology and not have to pay to much. Secondly,the cpu will have to be upgraded on your choice,it wont effect gaming to much if you dont, but its seriously recomended,and the i5 or i7's will definatly not bottleneck your gpu, and the new mobo will give a slight performance boost too,so except for the extra cash you have to drop, its a win win. But yeah,that evga card is a great choice overall.

Hehe, now we have a ballpark. Again you dont "have" to upgrade your cpu, most users have your same cpu and run 480's, 580's without any problems. And still play serious games, its just needed if tou want that "get all you can out of a card" feeling. As for ati, yeah some are cheaper and they use allot less power, so you dont have to worry about dropping cash on a new psu ither, again, same principles aplie wit top ati cards being botled by cpu..... So if you can get the 480 or a 5series cheap, then go for it, unless your trying to get max fps on btllefield 3 you wont "notice" a big dip in performance when you stay with your 6600, so it is the cheaper option to just get a new card, but then rather get a 470,the performance is not majorly less then a 480, and its cheaper, so again you save money.

As for ati cards, I cant recomend any because I never used ati(did once for 2months then sold it, although it was an amazing card, I got an nvidia cheap) your best bet would be to find an ATI Card from the same year reliece as the 4series nvidia, the ati will be cooler,less powerhungry and ......red i geuss. But yeah, if you want the 480 get it, you can allways upgrade cpu,mb,ram at a far furure stage if you want to

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127545



These are good choices, and obviously the one you listed in the begining, And as a bonus, the 480 will out perform the 560 in almost every game you get, some new titles will benefit more from ne tech. But yeah the 480 is a great choice, and you will not be sorry if you get it! So for a finall input, go get that card! Hehe

Your welcome, glad I could help. So are you gonna get the 480? From the link you sent,it looks like a bargain!