socket 775 best cpu option

[AgentUnknown]

LGA 775 mobo. What's the best cpu option if I wasn't going to upgrade anything else.

 

[EliteRetard]

Can it take a modern Core 2? Quad? Best option is probably any CPU under 100$. After that it makes less sense. Youd probably be even better off getting a good used CPU from here ebay etc. Whaat do you have and why do you want to upgrade?

 

[AgentUnknown]

E5200 want to upgrade for gaming mostly but keep the mobo. Gigabyte p35 DSL3

 

[KrAzYaZnFLiP808]

Uh, Not to sure, but Man, I am enjoying my Q9550 at 4.1 Ghz on a UD3R. Awesome, stable too. I can hit more. I am currenlty on cpu-Z 1.312 vcore, so more head room left. Ram is whats stopping me from overclocking more.

 

[996GT2]

If you want a cost-efficient upgrade, get a Core 2 Quad Q8400 and overclock it.

If you have more money to spare, get a Core 2 Quad Q9550 and overclock. The main advantage is that the Q9550 has 12MB L2 cache vs. 4MB in the Q8400.

Either one is still better than a Phenom II X4 clock for clock, so if you moderately overclock them to ~3.4 GHz or so then you've easily got something that beats a Phenom II X4 980 BE (the fastest quad core AMD makes right now). Either one should be able to reach 3.4 GHz on air and without much (if any) additional voltage.

But do consider that for around $350 (or about $295 if you live near a Microcenter and can buy their combo deal), you can have a Sandy Bridge Core i5-2500K and a decent P67 motherboard. This combo will easily overclock to 4.2 GHz on air (4.5 is likely doable) and will be much more future-proof than a Core 2 Quad upgrade.

 

[RussianSensation]

E5200 want to upgrade for gaming mostly but keep the mobo. Gigabyte p35 DSL3

I doubt you can get the Extreme processors for a reasonable amount. So your next best bets are:

Q9650, Q9550, Q6700 and Q6600 G0 (in that order of preference). Your board supports all of those without problems.

DS3L craps out at 425 FSB or so on Quads (I had mine at 430 or so but that required too high of a FSB termination voltage for 45nm Quads; and I replaced the Northbridge thermal paste ). So basically you'll want a Quad with the highest multiplier you can get.

Q9650 = 9.0 Multi x 425 = 3.8ghz
Q9550 = 8.5 Multi x 425 = 3.6ghz
Q6700 = 9.5 Multi x 425 = 4.0ghz (not happening on air) - but means you can max out this CPU easily
Q6600 = 9 Multi x 425 = 3.8ghz (not happening on air) - but means you can max out this CPU easily

Although a more reasonable 24/7 operation for the DS3L is around 400-410 FSB (you may be able to pull off 410 FSB without raising the MCH or FSB voltage by more than +0.1V). I believe the FSB Termination voltage on the DS3L at stock is 1.3V, so adding +0.2V will take you way over the safe 1.45V limit for 45nm quads. So ideally, you will want to keep your FSB voltage at 1.4V or below (so this is why 410-415 FSB is prob max for 45nm quads and 425 FSB for 65nm quads).

The board also has weak power circuitry. So since yours isn't new anymore, you may not necessarily crack more than 425FSB overclock. Although, I can attest that I ran my Q6600 3.4ghz @ 378 FSB loaded 24/7 crunching for 2 straight years. So I know the little board can take a beating with the latest BIOS in hand.

Just make sure you get a good aftermarket cooler as Q6600/6700 series run especially hot. If you can find a used Q6600/6700 for $80 or so, that's a very cheap upgrade to hold you over until next year. Obviously the Q9550/Q9650 would be the best option, but those might run more expensive due to higher demand and the fact that they were more high end to begin with.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Getting anything other than a Q8400 or Q9300 is going to be very difficult.

You might be able to find a Q9300 new - if so grab one immediately. That is the best you are going to be able to do. I can't even find 9550s and 9650s on Craig's List. They are VERY hard to find. People are hanging on to those because they still perform so well.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Thanks for the info. HAve a microcenter nearby. Might as well just get the 2500k?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Thanks for the info. HAve a microcenter nearby. Might as well just get the 2500k?

Don't forget to factor in RAM.

Also what video card are you using? Depending on the card, when you upgrade your CPU/Motherboard, the video card could become your bottleneck.

 

[996GT2]

Thanks for the info. HAve a microcenter nearby. Might as well just get the 2500k?

Yeah, I'd suggest getting their 2500K + Asus or Gigabyte P67 motherboard combo. When I got mine it was around $290 including tax I believe.

DDR3 is really cheap these days...4GB can be had for $35, 8GB for ~$65-70. I'd go for 8GB if you can.

This setup is going to serve you well for at least the next 3-4 years. Look at Core 2 Quad when it first came out. If you bought a Q6600 4.5 years ago and overclocked it to 3 GHz or so, it is still a very competitive CPU today when compared to Phenom II X4s. I think this will also be the case with a 2500K that you buy today and overclock to 4.2 GHz or so.

What GPU are you running now? If you like to game and you are running something really old (like an 8800 series or something), then upgrading to a HD 6950 or similar for ~$200 will help quite a bit in games. If you care more about CPU performance, then by all means 2500K is the way to go.

 

[formulav8]

Just get that $95 q6600 a guy is selling in the fs/t forum here.

No reason to spend $350 plus more to get ddr3 ram. The next best thing would be to get a $50 AMD based mobo and a $100 quad. That will run circles around what you currently have.

Edit: Doesn't Microcenter still have those Q9300's for $100? That would be the best option for you if they do.

 

[996GT2]

Just get that $95 q6600 a guy is selling in the fs/t forum here.

No reason to spend $350 plus more to get ddr3 ram. The next best thing would be to get a $50 AMD based mobo and a $100 quad. That will run circles around what you currently have.

Edit: Doesn't Microcenter still have those Q9300's for $100? That would be the best option for you if they do.

The Q6600 is faster than any Phenom II clock for clock. No point switching motherboards just to get the same level of performance as a Core 2 Quad.

 

[formulav8]

Clock for clock means nothing. A PhII 965 (for example) will handle everything a Q6600 or Q8400 can handle and more.

Anyways, he should try to get one of those $100 Q9300's @ MC or go to the fs/t forum here and get a $95 Q6600 or a Q9300 for $110. That would be his best option. 2nd best would be to get a simple PhII x4 setup which will be night and day faster than his current setup. Plus he can use his current memory. If he wants I can recommend him a good $44 board that has 2x DDR2 slots and 2x DDR3 slots in case he decides to upgrade his ram in the future. (DDR2 and DDR3 cannot be ran at the same time of course).

He still should try to find a low priced Qxxx s775 cpu first.

 

[996GT2]

Clock for clock means nothing. A PhII 965 (for example) will handle everything a Q6600 or Q8400 can handle and more.

Anyways, he should try to get one of those $100 Q9300's @ MC or go to the fs/t forum here and get a $95 Q6600 or a Q9300 for $110. That would be his best option. 2nd best would be to get a simple PhII x4 setup which will be night and day faster than his current setup. Plus he can use his current memory. If he wants I can recommend him a good $44 board that has 2x DDR2 slots and 2x DDR3 slots in case he decides to upgrade his ram in the future. (DDR2 and DDR3 cannot be ran at the same time of course).

He still should try to find a low priced Qxxx s775 cpu first.

Clock for clock means quite a bit since Core 2 Quads aren't exactly bad overclockers and will hit the same clock speeds as a lot of Phenom II X4s. A Q6600 G0 will likely get up to 3.4 GHz on air cooling. A Q9300 should hit 3.5 without problems on air cooling. At those clock speeds it's equivalent to a Phenom II X4 at 4 GHz or so, seeing how a 3.0 GHz Q9650 is about equal with the 3.7 GHz X4 980BE (because the Phenom IIs are slower clock for clock even compared to Core 2 Quads)

So really there's no point for him to switch to Phenom II X4 when it won't perform any better than a Core 2 Quad setup, especially when the latter doesn't require a new motherboard.

So, OP, either go for a Core 2 Quad on the cheap and overclock it or go for the 2500K combo from Microcenter depending on how future-proof you want to get.

 

[alyarb]

For $124, a Q8400 is the the best value given this guy's circumstances. He has a decent platform that uses DDR2. You can't ignore the $40 it would cost to move over to DDR3 or the $150+ for a new board.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...e50120df3b9ad9061b3a1a0178fccb9a2b939e3d961a2

Even if this chip can "only" do 3.2 GHz with a $20 heatsink, it will be squarely within the range of high-freq Denebs and low-freq lynnfields. But I'm betting it will do 3.4 GHz.

 

[996GT2]

For $124, a Q8400 is the the best value given this guy's circumstances. He has a decent platform that uses DDR2. You can't ignore the $40 it would cost to move over to DDR3 or the $150+ for a new board.

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...e50120df3b9ad9061b3a1a0178fccb9a2b939e3d961a2

Even if this chip can "only" do 3.2 GHz with a $20 heatsink, it will be squarely within the range of high-freq Denebs and low-freq lynnfields. But I'm betting it will do 3.4 GHz.

Anandtech got theirs to 3.36 but Hothwardware got their Q8400 to 3.92 GHz, so I'd say 3.4 is doable. Pair it with a Hyper 212+ and OP is set if he's on a budget.

 

[mnewsham]

If you CAN get the 2500k (estimate $350 with an MC near by) go for it, however if you cant sink that much into it DO NOT spend over $100 on a new CPU for socket 775 as at this point you are just shoving money on a sinking ship.

 

[alyarb]

my 4 GHz sinking ship only cost me $200 in 2008 and it's going to last me until 22nm. In the era of on-die PCI express, multi-channel DDR3 and ballooning IGPs, you can expect CPU sockets to change at least once every 2 years from 1156 and FM1 onward. For a lot of people the perspective of which architectures are viable and which are already sunken is totally relative.

 

[996GT2]

If you CAN get the 2500k (estimate $350 with an MC near by) go for it, however if you cant sink that much into it DO NOT spend over $100 on a new CPU for socket 775 as at this point you are just shoving money on a sinking ship.

$350? Hardly.

Just a few days ago MC had the 2500K + Asus P8P63-R3 for $289.99

When I bought my 2500K and Gigabyte P67A-UD3, the total came out to $293.98 with taxes included.

 

[mnewsham]

$350? Hardly.

Just a few days ago MC had the 2500K + Asus P8P63-R3 for $289.99

When I bought my 2500K and Gigabyte P67A-UD3, the total came out to $293.98 with taxes included.

HERP DERP DDR3 RAM....

Add $10 per GB for that.
8GB is 80 bucks, $80 + $290= $370
4GB is 40 bucks, $40 + $290= $330
in the middle of $330 and $370 is $350 so my estimate of $350 is correct.

 

[AgentUnknown]

Wow, thanks for the info guys!!! I might lean towards Q6600 or E8400. Buying a i5 setup sounds good too. But I ahve a GTX550 right now. I am aiming towards the 560. There is a major performance increase from 550 to 560?

 

[996GT2]

Wow, thanks for the info guys!!! I might lean towards Q6600 or E8400. Buying a i5 setup sounds good too. But I ahve a GTX550 right now. I am aiming towards the 560. There is a major performance increase from 550 to 560?

For the price of a GTX 560 or 560 Ti you may as well get an HD 6950. Same price as the GTX 560 Ti (actually XFX has an HD 6950 that's only $210 AR right now at newegg), but the HD 6950 outperforms the GTX 560 Ti and draws less power than both the GTX 560 and the 560 Ti.

HD 6950 vs GTX 560 Ti (the Ti is left out for some reason in the graph)

 

[IndianScout]

that's why I went with the 560ti OC tiny bit faster than the 6950 and I didn't lose my physx

 

[tweakboy]

Or just sit and wait for Ivy Bridge,, then the picture will be clearer.. thx gg,

 

[Soundmanred]

Or just sit and wait for Ivy Bridge,, then the picture will be clearer.. thx gg,

Yup
8 core, 34 thread, 4GB cache
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