E5200 Bundle, or just the E5200?

satriani1412 · 6 Jul 2009 at 18:06

At the minute im running an HD4830 on an ASUS motherboard that came with the PC so the bios is locked, cant overclock etc etc. And in that, i've got a 2.8ghz PentiumD, which ive been told is basically a dual core Pentium4

All I want at the minute is to be able to play COD4 half decently now and then, so my question is, if i spent the 50 quid on the 2.5ghz E5200, would I see a big enough difference that the game would run smoothly, rather than having really nice graphics, but jolting frames because the processor is having a bitch fit.

Or, do I get the overclocked E5200 bundle :-
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-029-OE

And have a decent system that I can clock freely and actually have half decent components, but spend more money?

If the Core2Duo will give me a big enough difference and run the game smoothly then ill just buy that, but I haven't been able to test it obviously, and will the E5200 definitely run on my/any LGA775 motherboard?

cmndr_andi · 6 Jul 2009 at 18:10

What is your motherboard/ computer model? Not all PentiumD boards can support core 2, never mind 45nm core 2.

Depending on what the prebuit computer is - it may not accept standard ATX boards. If that were the case you would want to get a new case - which adds extra costs.

satriani1412 · 6 Jul 2009 at 18:12

Its an ASUS P5SD2-F/M or something, cant find anything on it to be honest, best ive found is a bios upgrade unfortunately

Would probably get an Antec 300 too because i've lost the outside of this case

satriani1412 · 6 Jul 2009 at 18:15

Just found something saying 'LGA775 socket for PentiumD/Celeron support'
So I assume i'll be looking for a cheap new board to go along with it eh

cmndr_andi · 6 Jul 2009 at 18:20

Aye, that board does not look like it supports it, and is generally bad. That overclocked bundle is looking very good if you are new to overclocking. If you want to try and clock it yourself - a board like this would be great. Couple it with a cooler like this and you will be away

First, you will definitely need a new case (antec 300 is great) as your old board is smaller than ATX - so a good new board will likely not fit in your old case.

You should then check that the PSU is up to snuff and will transfer happily to the new case (some OEM PSUs do not like to be shifted).

Also, make sure you have 4GB of dual channel DDR2 - it can be such a cheap upgrade but it makes a world of difference.

satriani1412 · 6 Jul 2009 at 18:24

Legend.
Got a budget 600w psu at the minute that I replaced my 350w one that came with the PC.

Got 2 gig of OCZ platinum RAM at the minute but its fairly cheap to replace nowadays isnt it so i'll look into it.

Cheers buddy