e2180 to e8500

[mame]

Just been playing far cry 2 and i noticed that my CPU was pretty much maxed out. I am considering going to overclockers tomorrow (5 min drive ) and buying an e8500 3.16ghz but what I can't decide is that if it is worth spending £140 on. I know it's obviously a better CPU but can anyone show me the difference between the 2 CPUs for gaming only, bearing in mind that my e2180 is running solid at 3.2ghz so benchmarks comparing it @2.0 against the e8500 @3.16ghz arn't much use.

Has anyone done a smiliar upgrade ??

 

[Bradley8988]

i tried a little E2180 out @ 3.4Ghz while i had a 8500 and although it was a impressive little chip the 8500 was way faster at 4ghz and to me worth every penny.

 

[Trunks9486]

Don't bother.

Save up for a Q9550 or a whole new Nehalem based system.

 

[Big.Wayne]

I'd be looking closely at the E5200/E7200/E8400 . . .

You can sell your old 65nm CPU to offset the purchase, get better performance and have a nice few geeky evenings testing your new chip out!

For the last reason alone I think thats worth swapping out an E2180 for an E5200!

i.e the upgrade is not gonna cost much more than a Pizza is it!

 

[mame]

Don't bother.

Save up for a Q9550 or a whole new Nehalem based system.

That is my main reservation really, That if I buy the e8500 and it only has a moderate improvement on games, then i'll hear all about new games needing quad-core and it would make the upgrade seem almost worthless.

 

[OCOCOC]

That is my main reservation really, That if I buy the e8500 and it only has a moderate improvement on games, then i'll hear all about new games needing quad-core and it would make the upgrade seem almost worthless.

In this case, a Q9550/9450 is the best choice for now cos building a whole new Corei7 system will rob your wallet

 

[UltimateBadger]

Your current CPU may be at 100% but is it degrading your gaming experience? If not, I would be inclined to wait until early next year to see how things pan out. Well, that's what I'm doing anyway...

 

[Vimes]

I went from a 2180 @ 3.2ghz to a E8500 @ 4ghz and I found a noticeable difference when I benchmarked Crysis and WIC.

In practical terms in meant I could up the eye candy settings without the same levels of slowdowns at certain parts of the games. Running Stalker SOC was also improved.

The above noted improvements, using a 512mb 4870 on a 22" TFT, did not give me a 'wow' feeling of a worthy upgrade as the differences were more incremental than a major improvement.

I have found that it makes a worthwhile difference in Civ IV when, in the later stages of the game, it does not pause as long when the AI is taking its turn.

Running Fallout 3 is nice but I didn't have that game when I had my E2180 so I can't give a comparison.

If it wasn't for the fact that my E2180 is going in my wife's machine then I would not have considered it a good VFM purchase. Then again I suppose it depends how deep, and full, your pockets are, as well as your 'compelling' need to 'upgrade'.

 

[MumboJumbo]

That is my main reservation really, That if I buy the e8500 and it only has a moderate improvement on games, then i'll hear all about new games needing quad-core and it would make the upgrade seem almost worthless.

You ahve to remember most the people on an overclocking forum will beleive small extra overclocking power is worth it. Even when in reality you may only be talkign 5fps.

Personly i have been out the loop a while so im not sure of the differences. But i recon if you went half way and overclocked a bit youd save your self cash and still have more then enough power.

I think a E8500 would be an overkill upgrade tbh.