What would be the best processor for this board?

[imported_Pissedjedi]

I recently had a Gigabyte board of mine that was running a Core2duo 1.86 processor die on me and in a quicky replacement spurt I got an Asus P5b. I have Corsair 2 gig Ddr2-6400 ram. I really want better cpu performance and I Am considering going Quad... but I have heard the Core2duo 8400 are incredible values.. I am torn between. I do lots and lots of gaming and I have a 24inch screen currently running an Ati 3870 and I am going to switch to an x2 instead. Will I need to switch my memory if I go one of the new 65 nanometer Core2's?
And which should I get?

Games I play are Hgl,Crysis,Halflife2 ORange box. SupremeCommander forged Alliance.
Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.. I Am running Vista 32bit ultimate.

 

[daveybrat]

I'd go with the E8400 if you can find a decent price on it. It'll be faster in most games than the Q6600. The system i built with an E8400 was blazing fast.

 

[imported_Pissedjedi]

E8400 I have an Artic cooler Pro fan and nice Thermal grease and that board would I have to switch that ram? OR do I need like ddr2 ram with faster speeds and Is overclocking worth the attempt or is it going to be blazing fast default wise over my Current 1.86 core2?

 

[krnmastersgt]

Well it depends on the speed you run the E8400 at, if you want 450fsbx9 multiplier you might need a ram upgrade. Not sure if your ram can overclock that much.

 

[BlueWeasel]

You can overclock the E8400 to 3.6Ghz easily and still run your existing DDR2 at stock speeds.

 

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
You can overclock the E8400 to 3.6Ghz easily and still run your existing DDR2 at stock speeds.

IMHO doing what's quoted here gives best performance for the money, hands down

 

[daveybrat]

OP, even if you don't overclock the E8400, it'll still be blazing fast compared to your 1.86GHz C2D processor and you should have no problem in today's games especially since you already have an HD 3870 vid card.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Pissedjedi
I really want better cpu performance and I Am considering going Quad... but I have heard the Core2duo 8400 are incredible values..

Have you OCed that C2D yet? Try 7x400 (RAM in-spec @800MHz) to get 2.8GHz & a 50% increase in clock speed.

 

[Mr Fox]

Originally posted by: Pissedjedi
I recently had a Gigabyte board of mine that was running a Core2duo 1.86 processor die on me and in a quicky replacement spurt I got an Asus P5b. I have Corsair 2 gig Ddr2-6400 ram. I really want better cpu performance and I Am considering going Quad... but I have heard the Core2duo 8400 are incredible values.. I am torn between. I do lots and lots of gaming and I have a 24inch screen currently running an Ati 3870 and I am going to switch to an x2 instead. Will I need to switch my memory if I go one of the new 65 nanometer Core2's?
And which should I get?

Games I play are Hgl,Crysis,Halflife2 ORange box. SupremeCommander forged Alliance.
Any opinions would greatly be appreciated.. I Am running Vista 32bit ultimate.

Consider for the cost of the DVD you can get 64Bit, and open up your Memory buying a 2 x 2 Gig PC2 6400 or PC2 8000 ram to give you better headroom, overclocking.... P5B is a very good High FSB Capable MOBO


Most 2 x 2 Gig kits are Superchips IC's, and good overclockers...

G Skill or Mushkin are good vendors