2.6c vs 2.8E - Ive got extra cash to spend

[batmang]

Hi guys. I've got a little question about the 2.8E. I currently have a 2.6c @ 3.03ghz / IS7-E / SLK-900u / 1gig ram / 9800 Pro / 160gig Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm IDE. I'm wondering if upgrading to a 2.8E is worth doing. I do plan on overclocking, and from what I've read, they seem to be pretty good overclockers. I'm playing up to date game which are certainly using my systems full potential, so upgrading is never a bad idea in my mind, but the question is, is it even worth it? I know if I got this chip, it'd at least run at 3.0 easy. I'm looking to run it at 3.2ghz. If I do end up getting a 2.8E, I'd be selling my 2.6c rather cheap. Do any of you have this chip, if so, can you give me some feedback on it. Thanks.

 

[Fricardo]

It looks like you already have a pretty nice rig batmang. From the research I've done on Intel chips, the performance gain you would receive from an overclocked E would be negligible. If I were you, I would save the money and see what sockets T and 939 bring to desktop performance. Clock for clock at anything short of ~3.5 Ghz your current northwood will beat out the prescot. You might see a slight improvement in benchmarks if you got a good overclocker, but the real life game impact probably wouldn't even be noticed. If you really have some cash burning a whole in your pocket, buy an Audigy 2 or a Raptor or something that you will actually notice the performance boost from and won't go obselete for quite some time.

2¢

 

[batmang]

Yeah, your probly right Fricardo. I did some more reading around and found the same results you just answered with. Clock for clock, my Northwood is faster, a performance notice in games would not even be noticed. I could use a better sound card, but I actually use my Plantronics DSP-500's more then I used my onboard sound. These headphones are great for gaming btw, their usb powered.

Plantronics DSP-500's

If anything, I'd be better off getting a nice SATA HD. But I just found the header I've been looking for, for my car. So I'm buying that as we speak.
Thanks for your reply btw.