Okay, so I built this PC way back at the end of 2008 with a Bing Cashback deal.
Q8200 (@ 3.15ghz) only a 7x multi
Xigmatek s1283 120mm cooler
Gigabyte P45-UD3P mobo
8gb Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 (only good to 890-900 I think, 450fsb)
GTX 460 1gb Zotac amped (or something, previous 9800gtx)
OCZ Fatility 550w modular (previous Corsair 450vx)
I don't play the newest games or mess with video. In fact, the lone game I mostly play is a nearly dead multiplayer Unreal 3 based FPS. At 1680x1050, on the lowest setting I still dip below 60, even down to the mid 40s on a loaded (26 players) server. The game only appears to take advantage of 2 cores- though when I set affinity to 2 cores the performance gets even worse (mid 30's). I do have Crysis, Warhead, Crysis 2, GTa4, Sleeping Dogs, etc, and they seem to play okay, not great of course, but okay. Not multiplayer.
I played the Unreal 3 game on a friends i3-2100 and was suprised at the frames barely dropping below 60 in just a few spots, at the same rez and high settings.
I've glanced at eBay and e8600's are about $30, Q9550's $65.
I could probably get $100 or a little more for my mobo and ram.
So, will the larger cached e8600 and it's 10x multi (4.0ghz+) or the Q9550 and it's 8.5x multi (3.6ghz+) give me a boost worth their small sums, or should I ditch what I have and look for deals in the next month for something modern?
How much is 8gb of DDR3?
I'm also not opposed to used stuff. How quick are i7 920's or i5 750s? They're pretty cheap.
Q8200 (@ 3.15ghz) only a 7x multi
Xigmatek s1283 120mm cooler
Gigabyte P45-UD3P mobo
8gb Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 (only good to 890-900 I think, 450fsb)
GTX 460 1gb Zotac amped (or something, previous 9800gtx)
OCZ Fatility 550w modular (previous Corsair 450vx)
I don't play the newest games or mess with video. In fact, the lone game I mostly play is a nearly dead multiplayer Unreal 3 based FPS. At 1680x1050, on the lowest setting I still dip below 60, even down to the mid 40s on a loaded (26 players) server. The game only appears to take advantage of 2 cores- though when I set affinity to 2 cores the performance gets even worse (mid 30's). I do have Crysis, Warhead, Crysis 2, GTa4, Sleeping Dogs, etc, and they seem to play okay, not great of course, but okay. Not multiplayer.
I played the Unreal 3 game on a friends i3-2100 and was suprised at the frames barely dropping below 60 in just a few spots, at the same rez and high settings.
I've glanced at eBay and e8600's are about $30, Q9550's $65.
I could probably get $100 or a little more for my mobo and ram.
So, will the larger cached e8600 and it's 10x multi (4.0ghz+) or the Q9550 and it's 8.5x multi (3.6ghz+) give me a boost worth their small sums, or should I ditch what I have and look for deals in the next month for something modern?
How much is 8gb of DDR3?
I'm also not opposed to used stuff. How quick are i7 920's or i5 750s? They're pretty cheap.
Last edited: