How much of a performance increase can I expect?

[magick72]

I have a 3800+ Venice, OCed to 2.6Ghz, and am thinking about picking up an Opteron 175 or X2 4200+. Yeah, I do plan on doing some mild to moderate overclocking. Will it be a decent bump in performance?

Other items in the system:

MSI K8N Neo4-F
512MB 8800GT (got it 2 weeks ago for cheap)
decent 580W PS
2GB DDR 400

Mostly I use it for WoW, Oblivion, and a couple other similar games. No Crysis or other cutting edge stuff.

Just wanting to squeeze another year out of this rig before starting another gaming system from scratch.

 

[nerp]

You'll notice a nice jump from single to dual core, for sure. I upgraded my Opteron 144 to a 180 some months back, before I built this Intel rig, and the difference was pretty substantial. Although most apps are still not really taking advantage of multiple cores, having two cores for the OS and everything else really well. If you can get a good price on one of those dual core chips, go for it.

 

[daveybrat]

Definitely worth it. The increase in performance just in windows and multi-tasking as well as games is a definite plus!

 

[magick72]

Ok, thanks guys. Now I just need to find one.

 

[Marty502]

My performance increase in Oblivion was massive when I went from single to dual core. And that was with a Radeon x1950 pro.

You won't believe the difference.

 

[Denithor]

The difference in WoW will be big also. WoW definitely relies more on CPU/RAM than raw GPU speed especially in the big busy cities. Dual core should up your fps nicely.

 

[v8envy]

I got the opportunity to use my parents single core 3500+ Venice this weekend. Having gotten used to a 3.2 ghz core2 box on my desk since I last used it the difference in EVERYTHING was astounding. Starting from opening browsers and ending with firing up Eve-O for a few minutes. While the opty is quite a bit slower it should still do you well.

Unbelievable difference is not hyperbole.

 

[ochadd]

I went from a 3200 to a X2 3800 and noticed a massive difference. Also my work machine was a 2.8ghz P4 single at the time. The difference in daily work and gaming was obvious.

 

[videogames101]

I'm upgrading from a 3700+ single core to a Q9550, this should be fun

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: videogames101
I'm upgrading from a 3700+ single core to a Q9550, this should be fun

Oh ya!

 

[MagickMan]

nm