So I'm really torn on a new CPU.

[Colin.B]

I'm replacing my single core AMD 64 3500 with either a dual core and a quad core. I made a topic already but it didn't gain much attention. I figured I'd try my luck again :p.

These are the CPUs I'm looking.

1. Q6600

2. 9950 Black Edition

3. E7300 or E7400

4. 7750

5. 9850 Black Edition

Now, I can go ahead and get the Q6600. It would be a little over budget though. The thing is, I don't do a lot of gaming. I'll play Crysis here and there, Fallout 3, Prince of Persia and whatnot but a lot of my gaming is done on consoles. I was wondering if I'd even notice a performance difference between getting an E7300 or any of the other chips mentioned.

If I wanted to go quad and save money, the 9850 and 9950 would be an option but I'm not sure they overclock all that well.

Out of these CPUs which would you recommend based on overall performance per dollar, overclocking capabilities and longevity? Q6600 is at the top of my list but I'm not sure if I should go over budget. (I ended up getting four years or more out of my 3500 and that was with a lot of the newer titles.) I play at a resolution of 1440 with a 9800 GTX+.

Hell, for all I know the Q6600 will drop in price come Jan 9th or so come the launch of the Deneb processors. (Another option is getting a 7750 and a motherboard and dropping an AM3 chip in there if I need to upgrade.)

Anyways, I appreciate any swaying you may be able to do for me.

Ps. If I do stay under budget (300 CAD) I can probably get a SATA HD to replace one of my aging IDE ones.

[gwai lo]

What do you do with your computer?

Did you have any specific overclocking goals?

[Colin.B]

What do you do with your computer?

Did you have any specific overclocking goals?

Mostly casual gaming but when I do game I like to know I can have a smooth experience with the game looking as nice as possible. (GPU dependant mainly I know but after having my 3500 I've come to see a CPU can make a difference haha.)

As for overclocking goals, I'd like to hit say a 3.2-3.4 ghz mark on air. Higher would be better but I'd be a new overclocker. I've done some research and it seem as though the 9950 doesn't seem to get very high overclocks on stock cooling and the 45nm CPUs OC with more ease.

[scratch42069]

I got my 9750 not long ago for $180. You could go with something like that and have a quad core and have a good $100 left over for something else.

[gwai lo]

Casual gaming....if you've got no interest whatsoever in CAD, media editing, other-processor-intensive-tasks, then I'd say an E7200 will solve your problem easily while staying in budget. They're cheap and 4 GHz on air is easy with a good stepping.

[Mercellus]

I'd recommend an Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 processor, it performs well (and is quite capable if you want to overclock), and will help you stay within your budget.

[Colin.B]

Thanks for all of the replies so far.

I did some research and I think I may have made my decision.

One thing I'm wondering - Any word around the campfire of Intel lowering the price on their mid range Core 2 or Q6600 CPUs come the launch of the Deneb this week? (Or AMD doing the same?)

[+shift. MVC]

Nope. Don't think Intel is going to be doing anymore price drops with their Core 2 line of CPU's.

E7200 user here, able to get 3.810GHz (380 FSB) pretty easily and it could go up to 400FSB with more voltage.

[PricklyPoo]

Ya, I'd go for an E7200 and overclock it.

[RAID 0]

If you're going to be doing any CPU intensive work (vid editing, rendering, photoshop, F@H, etc), the Q6600 will beat any dual core hands down... assuming the program can take advantage of all four cores.

I'd go for the quad. Why invest in a dual core when they're being phased out?

[gwai lo]

because it's out of his budget and his replies don't indicate any preference or interest in really processor intensive work.

edit: Well if the OP posts his entire build, I'm sure we can rotate money around to fit the Q6600 in. Sounds like he's one of those people that budget off amounts for each component.

[Colin.B]

Well, I'm sticking with everything I currently have. I'm only in need of a new cpu, motherboard and DDR2 memory to support it as I'm coming off a system with DDR400 ram.

(The only other possible issue is both of my current hard drives are IDE, as are my DVD drives so if I can't squeeze a SATA drive in the budget I'll have to operate on 1 120GB HD for a little bit.)

I thought I was set on the E7300 but Newegg has the 9950 black edition for 159 right now and the 9850 for 147. (I thought they had 34 dollars off the 9950 since it says that in the checkout but then below they have a 34 dollar "gift button" you can't remove. Lame.) I know they aren't the fastest quad cores out there but that is a pretty good price. I'm just apprehensive about their OC capability. The good thing about this budget is it is only for the motherboard and cpu, not the memory.

I do appreciate all the responses.

Nice to see ya in this topic Raid. I changed my mind from just five days ago when you helped me with this same decision :p. (I hate being so damn unsure with this.)

Here's my full build anyways. (I've gotten four years or so out of this set up - It handled everything I threw at it until maybe games like Bioshock, Crysis and whatnot started showing up so I replaced my 6800 GT at Christmas and now I'm looking to get the same mileage out of the new cpu and motherboard.)

AMD 64 3500 Socket 939

ASrock 939-Dual SATA2

EVGA 9800 GTX+

2X WD 120GB IDE HD 7200RPM

SB Audigy 2 ZS

2GB DDR400 Kingston Ram

Samsung SyncMaster 932BW

Windows Vista 64 Bit

On a side note: Would onboard sound (Realtek 8 channel or some other common onboard sound device) these days be better than an Audigy 2 ZS?

Edited January 6, 2009 by DigitalManifestations

[DanManIt]

No, the audigy is still better.

[Appzalien]

Just a note about the Q6600's, there are two forms of stepping, G0 and S3. The G0 stepping cpu is the one everyone raves about its overclockability. Alot of places do not tell you which one they have because they know you would take the G0 over the S3. One way to make an educated guess would be to buy the one that comes OEM with no fan/heatsink (most of the G0's come OEM and the S3's as Retail with fan). Its no guarantee but its a best guess cross your fingers if you can't find one from a place that lists the stepping in the specs. Also the G0 has the lettering SLACR on its surface.

[gwai lo]

*B3

[+shift. MVC]

G0 better for overclocking also due to a different tjunction maximum. By the way welcome back gwai lo ;)

[Nevakonaza]

go for the Q6600,its more future proof than dual cores and you should be able to overclock to at least 3gh-3.2Ghz even with a budget motherboard :)

[Colin.B]

So what do the B3s overclock like? I'm sure a 3.2ghz OC is doable on it yes?

I was about to get the Phenom 9950 BE with a decent motherboard using SB750 since it was cheaper but then I discovered the Phenom does not include a fan and heatsink and the money I'd be saving would then have it come out to be the same price as a Q6600. :/. (Although I have seen some overclocks with the 9950 on the motherboard I'm getting go up to 3.2GHZ.)

I started thinking of the Phenom due to AM3 backwards compatibility and whatnot.

If I go with a Q6600, this is likely the motherboard I'll be getting: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130185

Or: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813138122

The Biostar overclocks better from what I've read but I've had good luck with MSI products and the MSI has free shipping. When you're on as tight of a budget as I am, every little bit counts ;).

I was thinking of getting a P35 motherboard to save me a bit of money but I don't know if cheaping out *that* much is worth it. That's already an inexpensive board.

Edited January 7, 2009 by DigitalManifestations

[gwai lo]

G0 better for overclocking also due to a different tjunction maximum. By the way welcome back gwai lo ;)

The process is also better refined.

Thanks, I'm not really back back just yet. New semester starting next week...right back at it. :/

So what do the B3s overclock like? I'm sure a 3.2ghz OC is doable on it yes?

Most of the time: Easily.

[Colin.B]

Hopefully Newegg made the G0 their standard then.

Now for the motherboard decision, with overclocking in mind:

Biostar TP43D2-A7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813138122 (They also have an open box one - All I'd have to do is track down replacement parts - It saves me 40 dollars.)

Or the MSI P43 Neo3-F

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130185

[gwai lo]

B3s are reallllyyy old now. If you're buying from a large retail place like Newegg, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll get a G0.