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E2140 Upgrade- Worth it?

Rodger

Rodger

Rodger

Associate
Joined
9 Nov 2006
Posts
113
Location
Glasgow, South Side
Hi,

Got a quick question about a possible upgrade;
I'm currently running;

Core 2 DUO E2140@ 3.0ghz
EVGA 650i MB
4gb OCZ Gold Ram (800mhz)
ATI 2900pro

I'm thinking about an upgrade to an E8200 or similar, as I believe my MB can support this with a BIOS flash, but not the brand new Quad cores.

I mostly use the PC for gaming, so would this be a worthwhile upgrade...

Or would I see more cost effective improvement if I upgrade my graphics for something like an HD4870?

I'm looking for bang for buck, and upgrading both is not an option.

Cheers! :)
 
you'd get a more noticable difference upgrading the gfx card mate, particuarly in gaming, if you went for the CPU it would boot quicker and your desktop would be a bit quicker maybe but for gaming go for the gfx card
 
95thrifles said:
you'd get a more noticable difference upgrading the gfx card mate, particuarly in gaming, if you went for the CPU it would boot quicker and your desktop would be a bit quicker maybe but for gaming go for the gfx card
Click to expand...

+1 3ghz cpu is plenty for the moment, better gfx would make more difference in games
 
You will see very little increase in upgrading to a E8200 apart from in games that make use of the extra cache. As the other's have said, go for a new graphics card.
 
benwoodcock said:
Personally I'd wait a month or two - rumours suggest new cards coming at the end of march...
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2 months on a computer timescale is like 2 years though. :p Something else will be a few months away at the end of March. Id try and source a cheap 280GTX second hand or a 4870 1Gb.
 
Nanoman said:
2 months on a computer timescale is like 2 years though. :p Something else will be a few months away at the end of March. Id try and source a cheap 280GTX second hand or a 4870 1Gb.
Click to expand...

Exactly. You will always be waiting for the next best thing to come out. Best to buy the best you can afford at the time and it does'nt matter who makes it. Bang for buck is what counts.
 
I think what the others are saying is true, you'd notice a huge diff with a new card but not so much with the new CPU.

I just (very) recently went from exactly the same as you (E2140@3Ghz) to an E8400 (Oc'd to 4.05Ghz) however GPU wise i'm running an 8800gt (oc'd to 740/940/1800). More CPU intensive games (Supreme Commander and GTA4) certainly run smoother now and the system overall is a lot quicker but most other games run pretty much as well as they did before, with a few fps more here or there.

On a side note though, for some reason after installing the E8400 I could oc the 8800gt a lot more than I could before! I could never get the core speed past 700 and be stable but now it's quite happy running at 740! :D

But yeah after all that I think the graphics card would be your best bet! What res do you game at? :)
 
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AndyAlex said:
I just (very) recently went from exactly the same as you (E2140@3Ghz) to an E8400 (Oc'd to 4.05Ghz) however GPU wise i'm running an 8800gt (oc'd to 740/940/1800).....

But yeah after all that I think the graphics card would be your best bet! What res do you game at? :)
Click to expand...

Thats quite handy to know.
I knew I'd get some performance gains due to more cache and a better CPU with the E8's, but that I'd mostly see this in slightly faster day to day use.
My current setups not too sluggish that way so I'm not too bothered about that.

Also, I game at 1680x1050.

Although quick in many respects the 2900 is absolutely appalling when you factor in AA, so I'd like to get a new card and turn up some eye candy.

Got my eye on second hand 4870s, if I get a good price then I'd probably just go for one of them and sell my old card for whatever pittance it's worth these days.
As said there is always something better round the corner and you could spend your life waiting for something to come up!
 
Hi
Out of interest, which game(s) do you play ? I predominantly play Arma and the effect of increased CPU speed/cache is significant, as it is one of a handful of games where bumping up the CPU helps FPS (I have an E2180 and notice FPS gains from stock up to 3GHz, whereas overclocking my 8800GTS 512 makes no impact over the same range).

Just thinking as above posters you could get a cheap 48x0 card and a potential CPU boost (bigger cache) for the price of a new 4870 now, which would improve things. Of course, if COD etc is your pleasure then graphics it is !

cjph
 
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