Recently I posted asking how to overclock my q6600. I found out that the bios is locked and thus the cpu couldn't be overclocked. I am also thinking about adding another 8800gt to my system to run them on SLI. Yet my motherboard doesn't support SLI. So I got two questions: 1. Will changing my motherboard allow me to overclock my pc? 2. What motherboard do you recommend I get? You can find my specs here: http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1... I have only replaced the 8800gts for a 8800gt and added a X-Fi Extreme Gamer sound car.

What you're proposing is gonna cost you a good chunk of change. You should have realized from the start that OEM systems are generally not overclockable. And why would you replace the GTS with a GT? The GTS is a better card! If you swap the board you'll run into several problems. 1st, will the standard board fit in the Gateway case? 2nd, will the Gateway PSU be capable of handling an SLi configuration? 3rd, you will have to reinstall Vista. And if the current version of Vista is on a Gateway restore/recovery CD, it cannot be used to reinstall because of the board swap...you will have to buy a retail copy. And just to add, it appears that your system came with DDR2-667 RAM? That won't provide you with a hell of a lot of overclocking headroom. You might be better off selling the Gateway system as-is & building a new system from scratch...it looks like you're gonna have to replace a huge amount of hardware anyway.

Thanks for the reply, you do make some good points Jam but: - That 8800gts had 320 mb memory, replacing it with a 8800 gt gave me a performance boost. - I don't mind reinstalling Vista as I want to replace it with the 64 bit version. - My uni sells copies of Vista Business 32/64 bit for about $50. How do I know if the case will fit a new motherboard and if the PSU will be capable of handling two 8800gt's?

"That 8800gts had 320 mb memory, replacing it with a 8800 gt gave me a performance boost" It was a waste of money is my book...what did you gain, 10FPS? "I don't mind reinstalling Vista as I want to replace it with the 64 bit version" XP is much better for gaming. At least go with an XP/Vista dual boot configuration. "How do I know if the case will fit a new motherboard..." That's something you'll have to look into. "...and if the PSU will be capable of handling two 8800gt's? You'll have to get the specs off the PSU label. See if there's a make/model & wattage rating plus the amperages on the +3.3v, +5v & +12v rails. Also see if it has the necessary plugs to power up two video cards. You should have built from scratch.

Just had another look at the Gateway link you posted. Here's the board & it's NOT a standard ATX...I believe it's BTX. If that's the case, you're dead in the water: http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHER...

"It was a waste of money is my book...what did you gain, 10FPS?" Yeah I admit it was a waste of money, although I made some money by selling the 8800gts. "XP is much better for gaming. At least go with an XP/Vista dual boot configuration." Yeah I am planning to have a dual boot with Vista 64-bit and XP 32-bit. "You'll have to get the specs off the PSU label. See if there's a make/model & wattage rating plus the amperages on the +3.3v, +5v & +12v rails. Also see if it has the necessary plugs to power up two video cards." From what I can see on the website I do meet these requirements... "You should have built from scratch." Agree with that too. I didn't for two reasons: 1. Don't know how, and 2. I didn't have the option to do so. It was either an OEM system or not system at all! "Just had another look at the Gateway link you posted. Here's the board & it's NOT a standard ATX...I believe it's BTX. If that's the case, you're dead in the water" No SLI for me then :(. I guess I should spend my money on a better video card then.

I picked up a NVidia 680i motherboard (about $130) which allowed me to migrate my 3 GB of RAM. Also needed a new processor, so i picked up a Dual Cor Quad (about $160) and then i grabbed a coolermaster case. THe good thing about the NVidia motherboard is that i had to do minimal configuration. It was mostly just a bunch of cable-connecting and everything worked out pretty good. I've been waiting to upgrade my pc for a while now and I'm very satisfied with the results. For about $500, I quadrupled the performance of my pc and can max out any game besides Crysis (b---tards). I havent SLI'd it yet, but I take comfort in the fact that I can if I need to. Hope this helps. Good luck. Common sense is not common.