upgrade core2duo with core2quad?

C

so this is my dilemma:
current rig

intel c2d e7300 @ 3.33ghz (OC with "tape mod")
intel dg35ec mobo (with no OC options)

i am thinking of upgrading my CPU to a second hand/used (no warranty left) q9550 @ 6k. then i will buy a lga775mobo with OC features and OC the chip to 3.3-3.6ghz.

is it worth it to invest in such a old platform?
cost of upgrade(CPU+ mobo)= 6k+2.5k= 8.5k
old parts resale( old CPU+mobo) = 3.5k
total spent=~5.5k.

if i dont go with this upgrade, i will have to wait till ivy bridge in next april or so.

if i go with the upgrade, i will wait for at least a year before upgrading.

is it worth doing this upgrade or should i save more till ivy bridge and buy a spanking new platform?

edit: reason for upgrade is that crysis2/ bfbc3 are heavily multithreaded and 2 cores are still bottleneck @ 1080p. i dont do any other CPU dependent work.

For that price the change is nice. But it would be hard to find an OC'able LGA775 motherboard.

C

^ i asked from local dealer. New ASUS/MSI/GB g31 mobo is 2.3k

Price is tasty IMO.

I didn't get it. You are planning to spend 6K for an EOL processor with no warranty and 2.3K for a motherboard, at this price you can get better than that.
C2Q 9550 performs at the same level of a Phenom II 955 (may be slightly better) in Phenom's stock speed but since P II 955 is a Black edition processor, it can be overclocked to 3.4-3.5 GHz with its stock cooler to gain some extra performance. Now a new Phenom II 955 is retailing @ 5.5K with 3 Yrs of warranty and there is no point of getting the old 9550 now.

You can find 760G or 780G based AM3 or AM2+ boards within 3K with all the overclocking options available in BIOS.

So sell of the old parts including your existing DDR2 rams and get a new CPU + Mobo + DDR3 ram combo

My suggestion:
Phenom II X4 955 + Asus M4A78LT-M LE + 2 GB Corsair 1333 MHz DDR3= 5.5K + 2.6K + 0.8K = 8.9K

Cilus' idea is just perfect. Really, there is absolutely no point in getting an OLD C2Q proccy w/o warranty for 6k. IMO PII 955 BE will be a much better option.

It will be even better if you save up a bit more and go with a IVY Rig.

Check the comparision here:
AnandTech - Bench - CPU

Both beat each other in diff. Benches. So, both are equally good. So, going with PHENOMII 955BE will be a better choice as AMD will give better on-board gfx with 3yrs warranty.

C

i dont want to buy a PII when BD is just round the corner. the nearest intel offering is still >9 months away.
the PII has a 400mhz speed advt and yet is almost equal to a 2.8 ghz c2q.

An article published in KitGuru was speculating that AMD might have stopped production of X2 and X4. In any case, it will be, starting from next year for sure. So I think investing in a new platform, which is already a dead end, is not wise.

But the best option will be to hold on your cash and wait for some time for a complete overhaul.

BD's launch is not yet confirmed.
Any ways you wont regreat going with P2 at all.
Also why don't you try the new Llano CPUs. They very good gfx and you can also X-Fire with the on-board gfx for better performance.
Waiting for BD, SB-E CPUs and IVY Bridge is not a bad idea at all.

Go with any of the above three catagories.

I agree with Cilus's suggestion. Also, it would be to good to wait a bit and get 880G based board along with a decent processor (and later next year, upgrade to next gen AMD CPU.

You don't want to get a Phenom II when bulldozer is not even launched but wanna get a Core2Quad, after which two generation of new CPUs have been launched? If it looks like a better alternative then go for it, what more I can say.

Skud, buying and AM3 based platform is not at all any dead end solution.There are plenty of budget AM3 motherboards available from MSI, Gigabyte and ASUS with already confirmed Bulldozer CPU support. GIGABYTE GA-880GM-USB3 AM3 , available @ 4.75K has Bulldozer support.

C

@ saswat23
i have a gtx 580. i am not interested in on board graphics/llano.

BD is confirmed to be released on 19 september.

I totally agree with Cilus' idea!! also if you can save up more while waiting for BD is also a good option!! But if you aint ready to wait that long then go with Cilus' suggestion & aint Sept 19 a rumor??

How can he get a BD setup in:

total spent=~5.5k.

asingh said:
How can he get a BD setup in:

cost of upgrade is 8.5k. OP can go for 880G board (4.7k) and a Phenom II X4 9xx for some 5k, which will be more than enough for next 1 year or so and then once BD is stabilized, he can make the jump!

C

so the general opinion is to leave the C2Q idea.

ejjactly

C

then i will prolly wait till IB comes out.
i dont want a AMD rig.

any reason why? what if BD performs better than IB?

This can only be known after IB come out. So, waiting for IB is a good idea.

T

Cilus said:
You don't want to get a Phenom II when bulldozer is not even launched but wanna get a Core2Quad, after which two generation of new CPUs have been launched? If it looks like a better alternative then go for it, what more I can say.

Skud, buying and AM3 based platform is not at all any dead end solution.There are plenty of budget AM3 motherboards available from MSI, Gigabyte and ASUS with already confirmed Bulldozer CPU support. GIGABYTE GA-880GM-USB3 AM3 , available @ 4.75K has Bulldozer support.

I also had a E7300 and Instead of C2Q I went for PII 955BE with The same mobo Cilus mentioned here which has AM3+ Socket. i.e. BD Support already.

This one has given me very good boost even at stock and tbh above 3 GHz Quad it doesnt matter much thats its a i7 Extreme or Q9550 as at HD Resolution both will give you more than playable FPS. There is a topic on Anandtech Explaining this already. (120 FPS & 50 FPS may sound huge in bench but as long as they are above 30 it doesnt matter for user)

So Go with the Cheapest Quad PII 955 BE and forget about upgrading CPU for gaming for a long time.

C

any reason why? what if BD performs better than IB?

price of BD 8core top model= $300= price of 2600k.
this means that AMD knows that the 8 core performs as well as the 2600k.
if it performed better, the price would have been higher.

IB is the die shrink of SB. it has no/little architectural change. it will probably be clocked higher. most people on tomshardware/anandtech arent too excited about IB. they are much more interested in BD.

@ Tech_Wiz:
i have dropped the C2Q upgrade route. but i think i will wait till BD release before jumping on the AMD bandwagon. buying a CPU thats gonna be EOL is not appealing.

^^
Believe me. If you can get a C2Q cheap, it will run your games just fine for the next 2x years. Games are not so hardware bound anymore. the GPU does most of the work, just that 4x working threads are mandatory these days, since most games are coded this way. It is a small prerequisite. I have a C2Q and face no stuttering what so ever EVER, on any game. Ya, but on Dx10, but that is good enough. Rest is your choice.

LOL. judging the performance of AMD processor based on price? Intel always overprice their CPUs. AMD on the other hand is generous with the pricing, always! If it is debuting at same price as 2600k, they should be confident that it outperforms 2600k easily.

T

My only point is as long as gaming requires 3 Ghz Quad it doesnt make any difference if its i7, BD, Ivy, PH II or C2Q. Rest is your choice.

EOL in terms of production YES but its at 5.5k and comes with Good Warranty years. I was also opting for a i5 2500K earlier but dropped it for PH II 955 and saved me 10K Rs which I will use in buying a 6870 or 6950. For Gaming upto HD and a bit higher also PH II gives more than playable frame rates with effects maxed out.

If you are waiting for BD its great also. But My opinion was if that much amount of power is not going to used then why spend money on it. Rather save up and add a Great GPU.

Tech_Wiz said:
My only point is as long as gaming requires 3 Ghz Quad it doesnt make any difference if its i7, BD, Ivy, PH II or C2Q. Rest is your choice.

EOL in terms of production YES but its at 5.5k and comes with Good Warranty years. I was also opting for a i5 2500K earlier but dropped it for PH II 955 and saved me 10K Rs which I will use in buying a 6870 or 6950. For Gaming upto HD and a bit higher also PH II gives more than playable frame rates with effects maxed out.

If you are waiting for BD its great also. But My opinion was if that much amount of power is not going to used then why spend money on it. Rather save up and add a Great GPU.

He already has a 580. What greater GPU can he add?

@OP: better wait for some time. If you can, BD will be out in September, SNB-E is expected in November, so next year you will have lots of options to choose from.

T

Oopsy haha. Ok Replace it with "You can add a Good SSD in that"

Skud, don't take every word literally. I guess what Tech_Wiz is trying to convery is that if gaming is the main concern then there is no need to go for the latest tech based and the higher end CPU models as gaming is more GPU bound. A decent quad core CPU which can handle the high end graphics cards properly, will perform same as their higher end brothers as long as gaming is the concern. IThe money saved can be used for other components like Cooler, extra gigs of memory or a better motherboard. If you are planning for some CPU intensive task regularly then its different.

Cilus said:
Skud, don't take every word literally. I guess what Tech_Wiz is trying to convery is that if gaming is the main concern then there is no need to go for the latest tech based and the higher end CPU models as gaming is more GPU bound. A decent quad core CPU which can handle the high end graphics cards properly, will perform same as their higher end brothers as long as gaming is the concern. IThe money saved can be used for other components like Cooler, extra gigs of memory or a better motherboard. If you are planning for some CPU intensive task regularly then its different.

Arre... just some leg-pulling.

I do agree, a quad-core is essential these days for gaming, and as such it would be better to wait some time. In any case, whatever BD and SNB-E brings to plate, prices of current CPUs may drop once they are released. My point is if OP just want to upgrade the CPU to a C2Q, then it's OK. But for a platform change, the BDs and SNB-Es are now too close to ignore.

ejjactly. I still remember asking many to wait a month when nehalem was coming out few years ago.

A normal release can be ignored but this is an architecture shift (AMD) and it (probably) has the potential to shake up the price list.

C

SNB-E will be too expensive for most people. prolly in the range of $1k. also the mobo will be quite expensive too. so i am not looking forward to that.

but IB/BD looks quite appealing for lga775 owners.
BD launch will definitely lower the prices of AMD's current lineup.

clear_lot said:
but IB/BD looks quite appealing for lga775 owners.
BD launch will definitely lower the prices of AMD's current lineup.

That's right.. LGA775 owner here waiting desperately for the Bulldozer launch. I just want a great CPU+Mobo+RAM combo in 15-17K.