DC or i7?

[satriani1412]

Ive been trying to decide whether or not i should try my luck with the infamous e5200 and stick it in my system and stay with that for a while on my current setup, or spend a bit more money and wait to afford an i7 spec.

Currently im running a below par motherboard that came with my fujitsu system and a pentium D processor @ 2.8ghz but its still crap.

Having trouble playing games smoothly, apparently im getting good fps and what not but its still stuttering a lot and i think its something to do with my current processor/board.

Would anyone recommend this dual core e5200 and maybe recommend me a decent board to run it?

Also my current board is running my 800mhz ram at 130mhz or something stupid even though its supposed to support up to 400.

This board, is not, at all, clockable, nothing except fans can be adjusted in the bios so was hoping a new board and this processor that people seem to be having a good time with would be worth it, obviously would invest in a decent cooler too but i dont know which ones are good and arent worth it to be honest.

Got an HD 4830 running on stock clocks with the new ram, but i was just wondering whether anyone would recommend spending the money on this processor and a board to tide me over for a while or just wait and take my chances with a full D0 system?

ta very muchly

 

[satriani1412]

Sounds good, I was aware that this Pentium D was rubbish but its good to know whats actually happening in there.

Its not that im not after an i7 system, but it wont be for a good 6-8 months so I was thinking about a Dual Core as an affordable option to tide me over, especially after seeing some of the numbers people have pushed with it.

Also looking at that thermalright brick of a cpu cooler, is it safe to install on a board lying vertically because on the boards ive seen it attached to it looked like installation of an anville

 

[satriani1412]

With a board like the GB thrifles recomended to me, can anyone give me a vague idea of overclocking ability? Ive seen some great numbers with this CPU but being an OC novice im not sure what stable numbers I could expect to touch on if I get a good cooler

 

[satriani1412]

Ive got 2x 1gb of the OCZ Platinum stuff if thats any good?

Was looking at the arctic freezer xtreme that looks like a black brick, that huge thermalright thing or maybe the noctua.

Im quite drawn to the e5200 considering a lot of people on here have given it some good reviews rather than splashing out on an i7 just yet

 

[satriani1412]

Never overclocked before but thats the plan
Got a lot of reading to do havent I >.<

Will definitely need a new board though, the current one is pretty much locked except for cpu to ram ratio and fan speeds