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C2D E6400/6GB/8800GT to Phenom II X2 550/4GB/8800 GT ?? Should i do it ? Cost $80

G

gsethi

Diamond Member
My current setup is as follows:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13 GHz / Gigabyte P35 DS3L Motherboard
6GB DDR2 Ram (2x 2GB, 2x 1GB)
nVidia 8800GT Video card

Got the Frys combo (impulse buy - Phenom II X2 550 and the Gigabyte cheap nforce630a board)) but I can return it and wait :
AMD Phenom II X2 550 3.10 GHz
4GB DDR2 RAM (2x 2gb - Motherboard limitation since it has only 2 slots)
same nVidia 8800GT Video Card

Current have Vista running but will be doing a reformat to Windows 7 Pro.

Games I play occasionally(1920 x1200 resolution):
CoD:MW1
AA

So the question is...should I do the upgrade and is it worth $80 (minus whatever I can sell my C2D setup for) ? or should I just wait. I dont want to do any OCing. I believe the motherboard for Phenom will not unlock extra 2 cores and dont want to spend $$ for a new motherboard.

or

Should I spend the $80 or so towards a better Intel CPU ?

or

Just wait ? I just dont want to go towards i5/i7 yet because my DDR2 ram will be useless.
 
PII and nForce just aren't a good combination. (Though there is a recent surge of updated 980a boards for AM3 CPUs - which are overpriced for SLI crowd)

I haven't kept track of C2D/C2Q prices, so someone else might have better answers wrt your CPU upgrade. I'd think a 45nm C2D would fit nicely, if the board supports it.
 
gsethi said:
My current setup is as follows:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13 GHz / Gigabyte P35 DS3L Motherboard
6GB DDR2 Ram (2x 2GB, 2x 1GB)
nVidia 8800GT Video card
Click to expand...
Your $80 threshold is a challenge. Except for a low end 45nm Wolfdale (E5x00) theirs not much you can get. Have you tried overclocking the E6400? You have a great MB, you should be able to get to 3 - 3.5GHz. Perhaps a good cheap HSF.

Do a search on NE for S775 CPU's and see what the reviewers are getting with $80 CPU's on your MB.

With 32nm shipping later this month, I'd not put a lot into your rig. We're always trapped by the new socket, new DDR cycle, but at least DDR3 is pretty cheap. I remember paying $400 for 2GB of DDR for a s939 rig, this spring I got a 2GB stick of DDR2 for my Atom for ~$22.
 
Just overclock your e6400? 3-3.2GHz should be easily doable with your setup - at which point it will skunk that PhII hands down. Add an aftermarket cooler ($30-40) and you should be able to hit 3.4-3.6GHz with some tweaking.
 
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the chips coming out next month will be clocked higher than 3 ghz. they will make any upgrade you could do now look totally gay. save your money
 
Thanks for all the help guys. Just cranked up my C2D E6400 to 3.0 GHz and am going to return the AMD PII x2 550 combo to Frys.

I guess will wait another 5-6 months before an upgrade. This E6400 has really lasted me for ~3 years now (what a great chip & architecture C2D is)
 
pick up a xigmatek 1295 heat sink while your at frys.

Its like 29.95

Put that cooling on your CPU and see if u can get 3.2ghz.

They start moving at 3.2... and FLY @ 3.6, and shoot to the moon @ 4.
 
aigomorla said:
pick up a xigmatek 1295 heat sink while your at frys.

Its like 29.95

Put that cooling on your CPU and see if u can get 3.2ghz.

They start moving at 3.2... and FLY @ 3.6, and shoot to the moon @ 4.
Click to expand...

Thanks... I am already using a Scythe Ninja 1000p HSF w/ a quiet 120mm fan. I prefer quietness over speed/loudness.

Will try 3.20Ghz-3.40Ghz shortly and see how it works
 
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