Any point to upgrading a core 2 duo e6550 to e8400?

[Indus]

Considering they're like $6-7 now, is it worthwhile to upgrade it?

I haven't touched my system in 8 years now and it's held up pretty well..

Would there be a decent performance improvement?

 

[Burpo]

Yes, it'll add a little more zip to it.. Single thread performance of the E8400 is about 50% faster..

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+E8400+@+3.00GHz

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+E6550+@+2.33GHz

 

[StrangerGuy]

I got hardmodded Xeon E5450 which is a drop-in upgrade for S775 boards from China at $30, which is basically a Q9650 with a lower TDP. Much, much better deal than any of the used consumer grade C2D/Qs.

 

[SPBHM]

yes, if the mobo can handle it just buy a quad core xeon,
I have an e5420 running on a low end g31 board (the ones that people only used for Dual Core Pentium) it's pretty OK,

I recommend going for one with higher frequency like the e5440 mentioned, but even with lower clock than the e8400 I would take the quad core, basic usage already sees the benefit because of how demanding the windows stuff is (defender, update and so on) and Chrome/video.

 

[tweakboy]

Keep what you have. Wait a little land buy Skylake, unless your rig is bottlenecked.

 

[cbn]

Considering they're like $6-7 now, is it worthwhile to upgrade it?

I haven't touched my system in 8 years now and it's held up pretty well..

Would there be a decent performance improvement?

For gaming yes.

For web browsing it should be faster as well.

With that mentioned, I had been using E6550 with my Dell Optiplex 755 (GMA 3100 iGPU) for quite some time and even without the H,264 decode it had no problem playing 1080p You tube videos. Definitely a serviceable CPU.

 

[VirtualLarry]

While we're on this subject, would a 2.93Ghz C2D w/4GB RAM, running Win7 64-bit, with a GT630 (Kepler, 384CC) 64-bit DDR3 be able to play the newest D3?

My friend plays it on a 2.66Ghz C2Q, with 8GB of RAM, and a GTX460. (Win7 64-bit.)

Because I picked up that PC for less than $20 shipped (minus the OS and GPU) from ArrowDirect the other morning, thanks to cbn's ATHD thread.

Friend wanted to get a desktop gaming rig for his daughter. I figure that's right up his alley.

Unless D3 needs a quad-core? (Thought that I heard Blizzard games were optimized for dual-core still.)

Edit: Oh yes, resolution would be less than 1080P, I think the LCD I gave them was 1280x1024.

Edit: According to this, it exceeds the recommended specs by a bit:
http://www.game-debate.com/games/index.php?g_id=17&game=Diablo III
I don't know it those specs cover the expansion.

 

[Zodiark1593]

While we're on this subject, would a 2.93Ghz C2D w/4GB RAM, running Win7 64-bit, with a GT630 (Kepler, 384CC) 64-bit DDR3 be able to play the newest D3?

My friend plays it on a 2.66Ghz C2Q, with 8GB of RAM, and a GTX460. (Win7 64-bit.)

Because I picked up that PC for less than $20 shipped (minus the OS and GPU) from ArrowDirect the other morning, thanks to cbn's ATHD thread.

Friend wanted to get a desktop gaming rig for his daughter. I figure that's right up his alley.

Unless D3 needs a quad-core? (Thought that I heard Blizzard games were optimized for dual-core still.)

Edit: Oh yes, resolution would be less than 1080P, I think the LCD I gave them was 1280x1024.

Should run fine at lower settings. Blizzard target their games at a mainstream audience, so their games typically have low base requirements. Hell, Starcraft 2 scales all the way down to Warcraft 3 level graphics. It certainly wouldn't be a stretch for D3 to run on a cheap ultrabook.

 

[frozentundra123456]

It should handle normal D3, but at higher difficulties it might bog down.

 

[Rayb]

Those Xeon's are very good at reviving LGA775 MBs, I dusted off an old nForce 650i with a X5460 ($35) OC @ 3.8 and it's been humming along for over a year.

Considering the benefits of a Quad over a C2D it was a no brainer IMO, for something that was probably destined for the recycle bin.