thoughts on core 2 duo product line

[Tempered81]

So all the core marchitecture is the same. from the pentium dual core to the xeon X series. give or take a few minor changes and 45nanometer vs. 65 nm production. I'm probably going to state a bunch of cpu jargon that many of you are familiar with, but its helping me learn. You basically can choose, all marketing numbers aside:
45nm or 65nm,
1 - 2 - or 4 cores,
1mb-2mb-4mb-8mb- or 12mb L2 Cache,
Stepping and Revisions,
and anywhere from 1.6 ghz to 3.2 ghz.

I would want a 45nm 4 core 12mb cache 3.2ghz+ cpu.
What i have is a 65nm 2 core 2mb cache 3.3ghz cpu. This leaves me to choose the x5482 xeon or the qx9650 core2 extreme. I wonder how does my e4300 (at its overclocked potential) compare to a qx9650 (overclocked to its potential) in 3d gaming? Does anyone know the answer to this? How big of a difference does L2 cache make in gaming?

 

[harpoon84]

Your current CPU is already very fast for gaming. The only games that I can think of needing more than a 3.3GHz C2D would be Flight Simulator X and perhaps Supreme Commander. Most games are still dual threaded at most. More L2 cache helps somewhat in gaming, but in your case it wouldn't matter because you are most likely GPU limited, not CPU limited.

If you want a better gaming experience, upgrade your video card. Something like a Radeon 3870 or GeForce 8800GT would do wonders for gaming.

 

[Vipeax]

If i were you; i would wait until January and get one of the new intel quads coming out then. You will save yourself 600$ and for that money you can buy an awesome VGA and another 2GB ram. So that you are 100% future proof.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115035 1145$ you can upgrade a lot by just waiting a few weeks.

 

[jonmcc33]

You are fine for 3D gaming. If anything you will want to upgrade your X1950XT. I still have my X1900XT and I'm waiting on a single GPU solution from nVIDIA or ATi that will handle Crysis with everything maxed at 1680x1050. I don't care about the Crysys game but it's a good benchmark for 3D capability of your video card.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Vipeax
you are 100% future proof.

:roll: Just not possible in this world of hardware enthusiasts.

 

[trOver]

Originally posted by: betasub

Originally posted by: Vipeax
you are 100% future proof.

:roll: Just not possible in this world of hardware enthusiasts.

qft

 

[Denithor]

Future proofing doesn't happen and is honestly a waste of today's dollars. The best recent example is the x1950xtx. A year (or so) ago this card was top end, couldn't be beat and cost like $400 or more. Today the Radeon HD 3850 will beat it easily and only costs $185 for the 256MB version.

And like the others said, your OC e4300 is already top notch for gaming, you really don't need more cpu power for most (read: >95%) of the games available today. I don't really expect a lot of quad-threaded games to appear until middle of next year or even later. You will get a lot more performance for your money by upgrading the video card (8800GT 512MB > 8800GT 256MB > HD 3870 > HD 3850). Also note the revised (G92-based) 8800GTS 512MB is launching with a quieter cooler that might be an option for you. Rumors are also spreading that nVidia plans to launch the next generation of truly higher-performance cards sometime in the first quarter of 2008.

For right now, I would recommend the 8800GT 256MB (~$200) to use for the 3-6 months while you wait for something seriously more powerful to launch (resell when you get a newer card, or get and EVGA and hope the new cards come out while you can still step-up).