Looking to upgrade my cpu

I am getting 4 more GB of ram for a total of 8GB so now I am looking into a better CPU, I have a LGA 775 socket and these are what can fit it, and here is a list of the best ones. I currently have an Intel 2 quad Q8200 2.3GHz. My budget is $100 or lower. If CPU effects power usage much I have 300W power supply with my current setup it is using an estimated 279W. :thanks:.

p.s. I prefer less cores because I like to play FSX (flight simulator) and it only uses 1 core.

p.s.s. Is it hard to switch out a cpu?

I use my computer for everything, I am a gamer but not computer intensive games although this is mainly because my computer most likely would not be able to handle it. Arma II for instance must be on lowest settings.

To be honest, there isn't a lot of headroom for you to upgrade.

It's not hard to switch out the CPU, but the only way you're going to improve single core performance is getting a faster quad core processor (not worth the money) or a faster dual core processor (sacrificing overall performance).

Are you sure you can't upgrade to at least a second gen i series CPU's?

If your not bothered about cores, then get this > Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 EU80569XL088NL (BX80569QX9770)

Core2duo's are bombproof , but I would consider moving away from LGA775 .

What MB do you have ? Maybe upgrade to the Intel Q9550 CPU with a little overclock.
The s775 cpu's are very cheap now.

ryansoh3 said:

To be honest, there isn't a lot of headroom for you to upgrade.

It's not hard to switch out the CPU, but the only way you're going to improve single core performance is getting a faster quad core processor (not worth the money) or a faster dual core processor (sacrificing overall performance).

Are you sure you can't upgrade to at least a second gen i series CPU's?

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I would much rather faster overall than faster for just one game, it is just a preference that it is less cores but not a necessity.

ped said:

If your not bothered about cores, then get this > Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 EU80569XL088NL (BX80569QX9770)

Core2duo's are bombproof , but I would consider moving away from LGA775 .

Click to expand...

That is $350 :yabbem:

Blord said:

What MB do you have ? Maybe upgrade to the Intel Q9550 CPU with a little overclock.
The s775 cpu's are very cheap now.

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I have the Pegatron Benicia MB. The Q9550 CPU is a bit over my budget but maybe I will get that one. Is S775 a motherboard? I would rather not replace the motherboard because I am planning on building a new computer when I have the money (probably in the next year or so) so I do not want to spend very much on my current one, also a newer motherboard would have DDR3 ram and I have DDR2 so I would need to buy new ram which isn't very much but it is just compounding the cost.

You could really do with getting together some more $ , you budget its very restrictive.

ped said:

You could really do with getting together some more $ , you budget its very restrictive.

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I am just looking for something cheap that will do until I build my new computer, no sense in wasting too much on this one.

Probably the best you can do is get a Core 2 Duo E8400, and then attempt to overclock it to higher speeds. At stock speeds it's about 1.3x faster than your current setup, at least for your particular game. It'll be slightly slower than an i3 when overclocked.

If you haven't already, you could try overclocking your current chip too. It involves upping the FSB speed, which improves system performance overall. The only problem is that those Q8200 chips are supposedly not very good at it. Worth a shot though.

It's really diminishing returns at this point trying to push your platform further. I personally wouldn't bother with the C2D upgrade, as it would divert money that would be better spent saving for an LGA1155-based computer.

That will be a good setup, just make sure (like you have) the CPU is a "K" version so you can overclock it.

But yeah apart from that, that will be a nice fast machine.

What's with the external 2TB drive? You could also go for the 256MB M4 for roughly the same GB/$ ratio, or even a 128MB drive at a worse ratio, and then put the money towards a better and bigger drive later when you really need that extra capacity. Barring another flood in Thailand, you should always just buy the minimum drive capacity for your needs and then upgrade as needed.

You probably don't need watercooling unless you are really pushing it or want your system to be extra quiet. Processors today can do pretty well even with stock coolers.

Bionic-Badger said:

What's with the external 2TB drive? You could also go for the 256MB M4 for roughly the same GB/$ ratio, or even a 128MB drive at a worse ratio, and then put the money towards a better and bigger drive later when you really need that extra capacity. Barring another flood in Thailand, you should always just buy the minimum drive capacity for your needs and then upgrade as needed.

You probably don't need watercooling unless you are really pushing it or want your system to be extra quiet. Processors today can do pretty well even with stock coolers.

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I plan on putting it on my desk so quieter is better. I am using an external hdd because I am most likely getting one in a trade. I plan on using the SSD as the main drive so 512 GB will be necessary. I need this computer to last at least 5 years without any further upgrades.

Well what I mean is that unless you really need everything on your computer to run at SSD speeds (you probably won't) you should get a smaller one now, and save the money, and then later you can get a bigger/faster one as needs demand. You're not losing anything, but you have everything to gain: 1) by the time you need to add more storage drive capacities/speeds will improve, 2) there may be sales that you can take advantage of (I was able to get a 128GB M4 drive for $90 in one sale), and 3) it's easy and unintrusive to install new drives.

If you were in a laptop or something small it would be a different matter, but you have a full-sized motherboard and case, so you can add tons of additional drives as needed. On my own system I've added many drives over the years; at the moment I've got 8 different disk/ssd drives on this system.

It's good to think in the long term like you are, but remember that only slower-changing components last that long ((CPUs, motherboards, RAM, video cards, etc.). Storage drives are one of those things that don't last 5-years at a time because they improve so often. That 512GB is a lot of SSD space -- space that probably doesn't all need to be at SSD speeds, or will all be used. You could get away with a smaller one, say 256GB or even 128GB, and then later if you need more space for games or something, buy another when they're even cheaper. For media that doesn't need SSD speeds you could even get a large hard-drive based drive.

Overall, you'd be saving money that you could spend later to improve your system again with better hardware than you could afford now. If I had purchased 512GB of SSD space when I first got my old 80GB Intel it would've cost more than my entire computer. Waiting until I needed that extra space, I was able to get some other SSDs over the years for cheap and add them in as needed. I didn't suffer from doing that because I wasn't using that space anyway even for a main drive because most of my data is just being stored, not accessed. My SSDs are for my Windows system drive and programs (80GB works fine), and another SSD for games that I actively play. Even if I had 512GB I probably wouldn't have been using that fast storage very optimally for stuff I rarely access -- stuff that should go on a regular HDD.

So think it over. You can save $175 now and get something better later. It's the name of the game in computer parts.

Nice build you're planning here.

I have the same CPU and Mobo as you're planning to get, except my Mobo is a D3H not a UD3H .

An SSD is only really used for things you use regularly, I'd get a smaller SSD and put the money you saved towards something else in your build, such as a better graphics card.

Good luck :beer: