Are Core 2 DUO's still good for light gaming ?

[Durvelle27]

I'm thinking og upgrading the Pentium D 915 in my HTPC to a core 2 duo or Pentium Dual Core just so it can lightly game. Games: COD Series, Portal etc. The card being used will be a GT 440 that will eventually upgraded to a GTX 460. Also which will be a better upgrade a Core 2 Duo or Pentium Dual Core 6700 ?



Edit: I also just got a new motherboard and 2GB more of DDR2 800MHz RAM and the Res is 1280x720

 

[KlokWyze]

Absolutely. I think the graphics card & RAM would be the biggest potentials for a bottle neck.

 

[VirtualLarry]

You just bought a new 775 mobo? And some DDR2 RAM? And now you want to get a newer CPU? Hint: You're doing this wrong.

 

[Durvelle27]

You just bought a new 775 mobo? And some DDR2 RAM? And now you want to get a newer CPU? Hint: You're doing this wrong.

wouldn't say new more like preowned and it cost only $25 for the RAM and board so i don't think its wrong

 

[DigDog]

why? a 775 mobo is like three bucks from ebay. DDR2 ram is probably about the same. the CPU might cost a bit too much, but if he's lucky, he can get a 8400 for $40.

my E6600 @ 3.2 is still going strong

darn, too slow

 

[Vectronic]

It won't be too bad, but I can't find any useful information on the MSI MS-7173 (?)... I have an ASUS P5LD2, it's kinda picky about "supported processors"... though I haven't actually tried so it's just got my Pentium D 915 in it, minus everything else that would make it work...lol

C2D > PDC ... depending on specific ones... but for the most part they are the same.

 

[Durvelle27]

why? a 775 mobo is like three bucks from ebay. DDR2 ram is probably about the same. the CPU might cost a bit too much, but if he's lucky, he can get a 8400 for $40.

my E6600 @ 3.2 is still going strong

darn, too slow

idk what boards you saw because all the ones i saw had out rageous prices or were ATX and i needed Micro ATX. Well i asked about the 6550 because i can get it for $20

 

[Durvelle27]

It won't be too bad, but I can't find any useful information on the MSI MS-7173 (?)... I have an ASUS P5LD2, it's kinda picky about "supported processors"... though I haven't actually tried so it's just got my Pentium D 915 in it, minus everything else that would make it work...lol

C2D > PDC ... depending on specific ones... but for the most part they are the same.

Not using the msi board as its crap and barely functioned right with my pentium d.


This is the board ASUS IPIBL-LB


Motherboard supports the following processor upgrades:
Intel Core 2 Quad (Y) Q9xxxx
Intel Core 2 Duo (W) E8xxx
Intel Core 2 Quad (K) up to Q6600
Core 2 Duo E6x00 (C) up to E6700
Core 2 Duo E4x00 (C) up to E4400

 

[MentalIlness]

I am still using a Gigabyte UD3P P45 motherboard, with a Core 2 E7200. Awesome chip. overclocks to "almost" 4.0 Ghz. Runs most of my games pretty dang good.

Rig in sig.

 

[ElFenix]

the front page had an article a few days back showing that core 2 is still working pretty well. particularly if you're playing casual or mmo type games.

 

[moonbogg]

Yes, its certainly plenty good for most older games and even some newer ones. It will destroy any COD game, thats for sure. You can play BF Bad Company 2 on medium settings as well.

 

[Haserath]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6670/dragging-core2duo-into-2013-time-for-an-upgrade

 

[NTMBK]

I'd certainly say it's good enough for plenty of games- especially when you go outside of the FPS mainstream and look at things like adventure games, or indie titles.

 

[2is]

A Core 2 Duo would be fine for those games, except for possibly the first Black Ops which is a CPU whore. I have an e7300 @ 3GHz and it pulls 40-70fps in BO2 depending on the action. This is with a 4850 @ 1080p so a 460 will handle your 720p res with ease.

 

[Durvelle27]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6670/dragging-core2duo-into-2013-time-for-an-upgrade

thx for the link helped alot

 

[Durvelle27]

Is it possible to oc on stock

 

[Denithor]

If you haven't already purchased the CPU, I'll second the suggestion for a cheap used e8400 from eBay. I have picked up 2-3 of those over the last six months (at ~$40 each) to use in general purpose builds for people, still make great machines for light duty applications.

And the e8400 is considerably faster than any of the e6xxx/e7xxx chips, higher clocks out of the box, more cache and they generally overclock great if you provide even mediocre aftermarket cooling.

 

[sm625]

Yes try to get an E8xxx series cpu if at all possible. If not then get E7xxx. If you have to get an E6xxx series then it gets more complicated. Try to get a model with 4M cache, such as conroe E6600, E6700, E6750, E6850 (these do not have pentium in their name). Only take the "pentium dual core" if it is more than 300MHz faster than any 4M cache version you have available. The extra 2M cache gives you a boost equal to roughly 300MHz in gaming.

 

[Durvelle27]

thx guys but i'm trying to keep this cheap as possible

 

[Genx87]

Still have an E8400 + 5870 working great for games like GW2, World of Tanks, and Planetside.

 

[Durvelle27]

Still have an E8400 + 5870 working great for games like GW2, World of Tanks, and Planetside.

what about COD or NFS or F1 2012

 

[djgandy]

C2D is fine for modern games. Most games now have a settings menu where you can turn the graphics quality down

 

[SPBHM]

what about COD or NFS or F1 2012

F1 2012 seems to run decently on the faster C2D CPUs, that is, if your target is around 30fps minimum

a 2.6-3GHz C2D runs most games well enough for a GT 440,

 

[max347]

Not sure how helpful this is to you, but I had a pentium d (945?) that I oc'ed to 4.5ghz. Ran a bunch of benchmarks. Then I put in an e2200 @3ghz and ran a bunch of benchmarks. The e2200 destroyed it.

This was on a highend s775 board with ddr3, so the oc numbers may be unattainable with your board, but the moral of the story is c2d arch destroys p4d arch, so definitely worth the upgrade.

 

[Durvelle27]

F1 2012 seems to run decently on the faster C2D CPUs, that is, if your target is around 30fps minimum

a 2.6-3GHz C2D runs most games well enough for a GT 440,

thats fine as the res will be low