q8400 vs e8400 vs e8500

They all are within $20...

I wanted a quad core cuz its the new thing (I just can't afford the i7 at over $250), but will I get better in game performance out of the e8400 or e8500 because their cores have higher clock speeds?

Also a note... I have e6600 2.4ghz dual core in this computer I am typing on, the second core is only listed at 2.31... I haven't noticed any performance drop but the only game I play on a daily basis is Counter Strike Source which is a bad judge of performance anyway...

it doesn't sound to me like you need to update your processor that badly. it would be better to save your money and buy a higher end quad core in a few months. you can OC your current one a bit till then. that's what i'd do in your situation.paullywog

check this out, i had an e6600 i borrowed from a friend for a while, overclocked it and benchmarked it, i was blwn away witht the score i got, and it's accurate

E6600 3DMark Vantage result

Q9550 3DMark Vantage Result

E8400 3DMark Vantage Result

i was actually kind of mad that my score didn't go up that much with the Q9550 but the performance increase in crysis and other games was quite noticeable

Overclock your current chip and save your money to get a better one later. That E6600 should be able to hit close to 3.5 GHz, if your board can handle it and you have a decent cooler. Heck I had an old E6400 running at 3.2 GHz on air, 3.5 under water. Couldn't quite get to a 100% overclock. :(

That is a great score. Wonder if your mobo was holding you back. On an Asus P5N-D the best I could hit was 3.2 on the EVGA 750i FTW 3.5. I think the difference was the 6 phase power and solid caps.

Back on topic. As was said OC for now and get better later. ;)

e6600 is really good but I would say go Q6600+ everything else is a waste

I didn't make myself very clear, but I'm building a seperate computer from the one that has the e6600...

By the way... did they rename the e6600 or phase it out? I can't find it anywhere....

But as far as overclocking goes could I get a e5200 or e5300 to 3ghz?

I've never built my own computer before, let alone overclock...

I didn't make myself very clear, but I'm building a seperate computer from the one that has the e6600...

By the way... did they rename the e6600 or phase it out? I can't find it anywhere....

But as far as overclocking goes could I get a e5200 or e5300 to 3ghz?

I've never built my own computer before, let alone overclock...

GANGSTA287

q8400 vs e8400 vs e8500?

I didn't make myself very clear, but I'm building a seperate computer from the one that has the e6600...

By the way... did they rename the e6600 or phase it out? I can't find it anywhere....

But as far as overclocking goes could I get a e5200 or e5300 to 3ghz?

I've never built my own computer before, let alone overclock...

GANGSTA287

This CPU is miles ahead of the e5200 and only like 40$ more, and for a quad either the Q8400, or Q9400, or if you wanna go really good, get the Q9550, it's probably the best bang for buck out there right now, very fast, and very good for gaming, where the Q8xxx series is more meant for multitasking and less gaming