Worth upgrading to a E8500/E8400?

[Darryl_1983]

My pc is as listed in my sig.

I'm currently thinking about upgrading from the E2200, which i brought to tie me over till these new 45nm chips came out. Main reason for the upgrade would be for gaming. Would there be much of a difference in the latest games?

I currently struggle to play UT3, i get a good 60 fps average, but i get dips in the fps for very breath moments of about 25 fps, which renders it unplayable. crysis seems to play really well, although i haven't checked fps on this.

Also I've managed to get 3.3GHz stable with the E2200 at 330x10, but at 400x8 to give 3.2 Ghz i can't get the pc to boot. Is there any reason for this?.....and would the fsb restrict my clocking speed on the E8*** chips or is it just something to do with my E2200?

 

[Kelt]

My pc is as listed in my sig.

I'm currently thinking about upgrading from the E2200, which i brought to tie me over till these new 45nm chips came out. Main reason for the upgrade would be for gaming. Would there be much of a difference in the latest games?

I currently struggle to play UT3, i get a good 60 fps average, but i get dips in the fps for very breath moments of about 25 fps, which renders it unplayable. crysis seems to play really well, although i haven't checked fps on this.

Also I've managed to get 3.3GHz stable with the E2200 at 330x10, but at 400x8 to give 3.2 Ghz i can't get the pc to boot. Is there any reason for this?.....and would the fsb restrict my clocking speed on the E8*** chips or is it just something to do with my E2200?

Looking at the E8*** overclocking forum, there doesn't seem much improvement in games with these newer CPU's. This supports the general consensus that most games are GPU bound. I have a similar rig to yours and am more than happy with it. The only chip at the moment I'm looking to upgrade to is new Q9450 when it comes out. I currently get around 12200 in 3dmark06. Maybe a tad higher than your score due to higher FSB and memory perhaps. Have you increased the northbridge voltage when upping the fsb? And did you increase the voltage to your memory? Increasing the fsb will put an extra strain on it, and sometimes needs more power.

In summary, no, I don't think it would be worthwhile going to an E*** series chip from what you've already got!

 

[Darryl_1983]

I've actually already ordered one now, there were only 2 left in stock so i quickly ordered before your reply, wish i'd have left it now, as i've also read on the E8*** overclocking thread that people seem to be having some problems clocking these chip and getting them stable.