CPU Uprgrade?

[hmsrolst]

I'm thinking about upgrading my son's system from an E5200 (not overclocked) to an E8400. Its main 3-D use is to play train simulator games. The video card is a Radeon 4670 with 512MB:

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814102816

The upgrade isn't that expensive, but will he see improved graphics, or is the video card the bottleneck?

Thanks.

 

[toyota]

an E8400 isnt going to make much difference over an E5200 while using a 4670. you would do better just to oc the E5200 and buy a slightly faster card.

 

[alyarb]

E5200's can go up to 3.5 GHz with stock voltage/heatsink. buying a very expensive dual core to that end is not cost effective at all. just get a 5750 or 5770 and overclock your current CPU.

 

[zagood]

Spending $150+ (the price of an e8400) will get you significantly more performance from video card rather than CPU.

How much ram in the system though? What resolution? Hard drive? Etc...

 

[Spikesoldier]

here is my zero dollar spent suggestion:

go into bios and set fsb to 266 , raising the cpu frequency to 3325. the e5200 should do this at stock vcore in its sleep. whatever memory you are using can easily adapt to this new fsb frequency.

then go download latest version of the ati driver from amd's website, and let catalyst control center run their overdrive auto-tune. then as a precautionary measure i would back down the core and memory two ticks each after applying the new speeds.

then play the game for yourself. if you see a marked improvement and no crashes, i would call it a set and forget for an hour or afternoon spent.

 

[hmsrolst]

Thanks for all the suggestions. My net cost for a used E8400 less what I could sell the E5200 for, is only about $35. Does that make a difference?

 

[zagood]

In my mind, yes, that's a worthwhile upgrade for that price. Just keep your expectations reasonable as it applies to gaming.