I need a good Socket 775 processor for gaming!

[Ryssak]

Hi guys,

I need a decent gaming processor (Socket LGA 775). I don't need them extreme top processors because of the price but something that is fast and great for gaming especially (Empire:Total War & Napoleon: Total War).

Which one shall I get? I've heard that Q6600 2.4Ghz is a good processor, shall I get this one or something else?

My current spec:

Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L iG31 Socket 775
Intel Pentium Dual Core E5300 2.6GHz Socket 775 800FSB 2MB L2 Cache
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 HyperX T1
XFX HD 4870 512MB

I know it's not the best gaming pc but I can play my fav game Empire on it and the only problem is that it is stuggling when I move around Grand campaign map, it laggs because of the processor.

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

Ryssak

 

[Ryssak]

ok thanks, which cooler would you suggest? Is this any good?

Xilence Xilent Blade Socket 775, AM2, AM3, AM2+ Heatpipe CPU Cooler

 

[Ryssak]

I second grabbing a cheap cooler and overclocking it.

My E5200 Clocked to 3Ghz without any fuss, 3.3Ghz with a little fiddling and played the Witcher 2 no probs with a 5850. What games will you be playing?

I play Empire: Total War & Napoleon: Total War series, and sometimes World of Tanks but I have no problem with World of Tanks, it's just Empire total war is lagging on campaign map especially when I get half way through the game and number of units and troops increases and its really slow on campaign map.

Thanks for your advice guys, I will get myself a nice cooler and overclock my CPU and see if it helps.

 

[Ryssak]

I'll third that you should try and overclock your E5300. I have that running on a Gigabyte G41-Combo and I can easily get 3.6GHz out of it (possibly more but I don't want to give it more voltage really). In fact, you may be able to get it to 3GHz or so with the stock cooler although I am using a Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 7 which is good value at under £16:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-035-AR&groupid=701&catid=2330&subcat=2338

The main reason I got it is because the stock one was too loud for me. Getting a Q6600 wouldn't make much sense since your G31 would probably not be able to overclock it much, and it's a 65nm quad rated at 95W-105W while the E5300 is 45nm and rated at 65W. So you might have to upgrade your PSU and it will generate a good bit of heat (as your 4870 already does).

I have just overclocked it with stock cooler but only to 3.1Ghz ( 13x 240 ), runs stable and I will push it forward when I buy better cooler. Opened my game and it's a bit better but still some lagging here and there but not like before.

Thanks for advice.

 

[Ryssak]

You'll likely get lag on the world map no matter what. I've got my q6700 OC'd to 3.7ghz and the world map lags quite a bit at times. I.E. I wouldn't bother upgrading unless it really bothers you

Really? That sounds bad , oh well at least it's not so laggy now, it's playable. Not gonna bother with upgrading cpu then, i'll just get the cooler and O'C a little bit more and it will be enough for these games.

I was planning to build a new rig in a couple of months anyway so.

 

[Ryssak]

Whats the maximum 'SAFE and STABLE' O'C that I can do with my CPU and Mobo? Obviously when I get the better cooler. Can I push it above 3.6Ghz?