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Moving from E5200 to Q9550 or i7?

GizmoTheMogwai

GizmoTheMogwai

GizmoTheMogwai

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Joined
13 May 2009
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797
Location
Norwich
I have a E5200 @3.2ghz at the moment and was wondering which to get.
The PC is mostly used for gaming (mostly Source engine games) and HD video.
If I was to get a i7 I would have to upgrade the RAM, mobo and the cpu (obviously) which would cost a heck of a lot. Is getting an i7 worth the extra money? I am pretty short on cash :p
 
Source engine games barely use 2 cores, I would not upgrade till you find your cpu lacking mate, or overclock more, thats cheaper, e5200s should clock well, even my stinker got to 3.2ghz, should have been a lot closer to 4ghz.
 
I vote AMD phenom II 965 lol. Cheaper for gaming and minimal performance hit in games as it saves you a lot of wonga.

I just went from Q6600 to AM3 965, should be delivered today, hopefully.
 
Are you actually noticing anything wrong with it? I doubt it's much of a bottleneck... you could probably clock it higher nonetheless.

This should be able to max out any GPU, what card do you have?
 
Superewza said:
Are you actually noticing anything wrong with it? I doubt it's much of a bottleneck... you could probably clock it higher nonetheless.

This should be able to max out any GPU, what card do you have?
Click to expand...

XFX 4850 512mb

It seems that in CPU intensive games the framerate really suffers. E.G L4D2, Champions Online
 
Aren't they only really CPU intensive during really action-packed scenes? Even so, i'd try to get another 800MHz out of it before getting a new one entirely.
 
Superewza said:
Aren't they only really CPU intensive during really action-packed scenes? Even so, i'd try to get another 800MHz out of it before getting a new one entirely.
Click to expand...

No matter what I can, I can't get this chip past 3.2, just doesn't want to work.

My friend has a Q6600 with a 9800gtx and gets a lot better frames then I do.
 
Even a Q9400 or Q9550 at the same speed as your E5200 should have better single threaded performance due to the increase in L2 cache.
 
Last edited:
GizmoTheMogwai said:
Is getting an i7 worth the extra money? I am pretty short on cash :p
Click to expand...
Hello Gizmo!

I can't say that a E5200 @3.2ghz is desperately needing an upgrade but if you have the *itch* then deffo have a look at the Athlon II series on a AM2+/DDR2 platform . . . assuming you have some good quality DDR2 all you will need is to buy a new chip/mobo combo, slap in your DDR2 and then sell off your LGA775 chip/mobo . . .

I can't see the conversion process costing more than £100 all in, probably less if your a bargain hunter and also get a decent price for the older CPU/Mobo! . . . Did a similar upgrade myself a few months back, loving it! :cool:

 
GizmoTheMogwai said:
No matter what I can, I can't get this chip past 3.2, just doesn't want to work.

My friend has a Q6600 with a 9800gtx and gets a lot better frames then I do.
Click to expand...

Then sell your current mobo chip and ram and get

i3 and beat your mates Q6600 in games

Intel Core i3 530 2.93GHz (Clarkdale) (Socket LGA1156) - OEM £88.99

Patrtiot G Series Sector 5 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Dual Channel £74.99

Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Intel H55 (Socket 1156) DDR3 microATX Motherboard £74.99


Total : £238.97
 
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