Looking to upgrade processor; any suggestions?

Hey, I'm looking to upgrade my Core 2 Duo E8400 to a quad-core processor (not a nehalem) to tide me over for this season of gaming until I can save up some money to jump to an i7 platform.

Any recommendations? I'd love it also if you could list whichever is the best bang for your buck and whichever has the best performance.

Thanks in advance.

Save the money from a Core 2 Quad upgrade for i7...

$200 for a Q9400Or almost $300 for a Q9550

Man it isn't worth it. Stick with your current cpu until you get enough money for i7.

Stick with it until you have money for a Phenom II/I7.

Just recently jumping from a Phenom II X4 965 to an i7.... Save your cash until you can afford the i7 :) The i7 920 is a great OC'ing CPU which can easily hit 4GHz+ on air cooling. & is 1/5th the price of its big brother in the i7 series.

Just recently jumping from a Phenom II X4 965 to an i7.... Save your cash until you can afford the i7 :) The i7 920 is a great OC'ing CPU which can easily hit 4GHz+ on air cooling.

Sledge70

What unearthly forces made you to change a Phenom II to an I7??

I am a huge fan of AMD, but triple channel DDR3 and the fact the CPU can OC like a hot rod & run 20-30% faster in gaming over AMD's top chip made me jump ship. I alos loved ASUS & AMD paired with some great products but overall the platform plagued me with issues and problems.

X58 + i7 = sweet gaming victory :)

I am a huge fan of AMD, but triple channel DDR3 and the fact the CPU can OC like a hot rod & run 20-30% faster in gaming over AMD's top chip made me jump ship. I alos loved ASUS & AMD paired with some great products but overall the platform plagued me with issues and problems.

X58 + i7 = sweet gaming victory :)

Sledge70

I am a huge fan of AMD, but triple channel DDR3 and the fact the CPU can OC like a hot rod & run 20-30% faster in gaming over AMD's top chip made me jump ship. I alos loved ASUS & AMD paired with some great products but overall the platform plagued me with issues and problems.

X58 + i7 = sweet gaming victory :)

[QUOTE="Sledge70"]

I am a huge fan of AMD, but triple channel DDR3 and the fact the CPU can OC like a hot rod & run 20-30% faster in gaming over AMD's top chip made me jump ship. I alos loved ASUS & AMD paired with some great products but overall the platform plagued me with issues and problems.

X58 + i7 = sweet gaming victory :)

04dcarraher

Yup. it is 10% faster in BEST cases (Intel optimized, hyper threading supported games and on low resolutions). Something was wrong there...

[QUOTE="04dcarraher"][QUOTE="Sledge70"]

I am a huge fan of AMD, but triple channel DDR3 and the fact the CPU can OC like a hot rod & run 20-30% faster in gaming over AMD's top chip made me jump ship. I alos loved ASUS & AMD paired with some great products but overall the platform plagued me with issues and problems.

X58 + i7 = sweet gaming victory :)

Slig0

Yup. it is 10% faster in BEST cases (Intel optimized, hyper threading supported games and on low resolutions). Something was wrong there...

[QUOTE="Slig0"]

[QUOTE="04dcarraher"] Ya um in best cases i7 is only 10% faster in gaming. Ethier you screwed something up or something was wrong with the setup.kaitanuvax

Yup. it is 10% faster in BEST cases (Intel optimized, hyper threading supported games and on low resolutions). Something was wrong there...

[QUOTE="kaitanuvax"]

[QUOTE="Slig0"]

Yup. it is 10% faster in BEST cases (Intel optimized, hyper threading supported games and on low resolutions). Something was wrong there...

Slig0

All you need to know is that a 3.5GHz i7 920 averages 90 FPS (57 min.) vs a 3.9GHz PII X4 965's 71.3 FPS (47 min.) in a newly released game at 1680x1050, all settings maxed.

90 FPS / 71.3 FPS = 26% increase.

You can also tell it clearly wasn't optimized for ALL Intel CPUs.

All you need to know is that a 3.5GHz i7 920 averages 90 FPS (57 min.) vs a 3.9GHz PII X4 965's 71.3 FPS (47 min.) in a newly released game at 1680x1050, all settings maxed.

90 FPS / 71.3 FPS = 26% increase.

kaitanuvax

Oh, that is it. In that case I will ignore this while posting these benchmarks (smiling along the way) :)

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/pii_965/10.html

http://www.modreactor.com/english/Reviews/Test-ATI-HD-4890-1GB-CrossFire-AMD-Phenom-II-955-BE-vs-Intel-Core-i7-920/Page-4-Performance-Crysis-Warhead.html

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenomii_965/9.htm

[QUOTE="kaitanuvax"]

All you need to know is that a 3.5GHz i7 920 averages 90 FPS (57 min.) vs a 3.9GHz PII X4 965's 71.3 FPS (47 min.) in a newly released game at 1680x1050, all settings maxed.

90 FPS / 71.3 FPS = 26% increase.

Slig0

Oh, that is it. In that case I will ignore this while posting these benchmarks (smiling along the way) :)

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/pii_965/10.html

http://www.modreactor.com/english/Reviews/Test-ATI-HD-4890-1GB-CrossFire-AMD-Phenom-II-955-BE-vs-Intel-Core-i7-920/Page-4-Performance-Crysis-Warhead.html

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenomii_965/9.htm

I like how you link to 3 different sites all showing the same game running the CPU at stock speeds... Hard core PC gamers OC their systems & if they don't well thats just sad, as that is one of the awesome abilities the PC has over consoles.

-----------------------------------------------

After many benchmarks & other tests the system was running fine with a 28% OC on the Phenom II. In general it isn't a 30% gain across all games. Nor a 30% gain in benchmark results. I was able to OC my Phenom II and get a 28% increase in perofmance while the system stayed stable in all games. With my i7 I was able to get a 56% OC while fully stable. In that translates the fact in some games I saw upto a 30% increase in performance...

Now if you take stock speeds yes you might get a 10% increase.. But I am talking OC'ing potential...

I have been bulding & OC'ing PC's for years I know how to bench & I know how to OC. The i7 is a superior chip & it can been seen in many benchmarks across the web.

Some benchmarks that back my results...

FarCry 2: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-versus-i7,2360-6.html

World in Conflict: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-versus-i7,2360-7.html

Tom Clancery's H.A.W.K:http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-versus-i7,2360-9.html

Prototype: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-versus-i7,2360-12.html

Again not all games will see such a huge increase as not all games will utilize every aspect of what a CPU can do.

No need to show me some benchmarks (might I say biased ones since the i7 is at stock speeds, a low 2.66 ghz?) where the PII x4 clearly outperforms. I'm sure there are many others out there where the situation is reversed.

All I was doing was debunking your claims of "10% at best", "Intel optimized", and "low resolutions". Which I did.

Edit: Seems theres a problem with the link. For future readers, here's the link:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,698761/Dragon-Age-Origins-CPU-benchmarks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

No need to show me some benchmarks (might I say biased ones since the i7 is at stock speeds, a low 2.66 ghz?) where the PII x4 clearly outperforms. I'm sure there are many others out there where the situation is reversed.

All I was doing was debunking your claims of "10% at best", "Intel optimized", and "low resolutions". Which I did.

Edit: Seems theres a problem with the link. For future readers, here's the link:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,698761/Dragon-Age-Origins-CPU-benchmarks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

kaitanuvax

No need to show me some benchmarks (might I say biased ones since the i7 is at stock speeds, a low 2.66 ghz?) where the PII x4 clearly outperforms. I'm sure there are many others out there where the situation is reversed.

All I was doing was debunking your claims of "10% at best", "Intel optimized", and "low resolutions". Which I did.

Edit: Seems theres a problem with the link. For future readers, here's the link:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,698761/Dragon-Age-Origins-CPU-benchmarks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

kaitanuvax

"All in all Dragon Age: Origins seems to prefer Intel processors."

[QUOTE="kaitanuvax"]

No need to show me some benchmarks (might I say biased ones since the i7 is at stock speeds, a low 2.66 ghz?) where the PII x4 clearly outperforms. I'm sure there are many others out there where the situation is reversed.

All I was doing was debunking your claims of "10% at best", "Intel optimized", and "low resolutions". Which I did.

Edit: Seems theres a problem with the link. For future readers, here's the link:

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,698761/Dragon-Age-Origins-CPU-benchmarks-75-percent-boost-for-quad-cores/Practice/

Slig0

This coming from a hardcore AMD fanboy who's dismissing data that contradicted his recent bold statement?

You just shot yourself in the foot:

"All in all Dragon Age: Origins seems to prefer Intel processors."

Slig0

No, I didn't. There's a difference between a game being developed, or OPTIMIZED specificly for Intel CPUs, than a scenario where Intel SEEMS to do better than AMD CPUs. Notice one is an ASSUMPTION, or OBSERVATION, and the other is a FACT, something that can be PROVEN.

Edit: Besides, even by looking at the data, a stock PIIX4 965 is on par with a stock Q9650, which its supposed to be. I would hardly call that optimized for Intel.

[QUOTE="Slig0"]

You just shot yourself in the foot:

"All in all Dragon Age: Origins seems to prefer Intel processors."

kaitanuvax

No, I didn't. There's a difference between a game being developed, or OPTIMIZED specificly for Intel CPUs, than a scenario where Intel SEEMS to do better than AMD CPUs. Notice one is an ASSUMPTION, or OBSERVATION, and the other is a FACT, something that can be PROVEN.

Naah, PII 965 should beat Q9650 without even looking at it.

@Slig0

It is obvious your an AMD fan but now 2 people have linked and listed true performance for multipule titles showing the i7 is truly the leader & can perform 30% faster in an OC'ing enviornment. I am unsure on why you seem to want to refute this claim... but I have presented my case and proven my point without a doubt.

I should also mention my Rig is far from being stuck on playing games on Ultra low... in fact i play every game at it highest possible settings. Specs below...

Mobo: DFI UT-X58-T3eH8

CPU: Core i7-920 Bloomfield @4.0Ghz 200x20

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm

Memory: OCZ Obsidian 6GB (3 x 2GB) 1600MHz
PSU: CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 295 712MHz Core 1300MHz Memory
HD: 2 x Western Digital Raptor drives 150GB 10,000RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s

Other USB: Logitech G9

Monitors: 2x ASUS 24" LCD's
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

------------------------------------

But over all to keep on topic - Save your cash for i7 or wait for AMD's next best thing.

Ya :roll: 30% across all games.... no

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=79635

Ya :roll: 30% across all games.... no

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=79635

04dcarraher

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I'll just hold off until I can go i7. Cheers!:D