CPU upgrade, whats good for me?

[mlee49]

I currently have an e8200 and am thinking about upgrading to a better cpu. I would like some input for the best overall recommendation for best bang for the buck!

CPU's I'm eyeing:

Q6700
Q9450
E8500
E7200/7300
Q8200/Q6600
Super cheap e5200


Primary uses will be gaming/benching! Please drop your opinions and reviews to support your cause. Please dont start a Quad vs Dual core battle, just let me know what cpu you would get based on my system.

Thanks

 

[NeoCrisis]

Neither
Your video card is whats holding you down upgrade your card before anything else

also going from e8200 to either e72/7300 or even e8500 is hardly a worthy upgrade.

 

[mlee49]

Woah Woah Woah, system specs updated! My bad!

 

[farlex85]

Any particular reason for the upgrade, anything in particular your hoping to accomplish w/ it? I think the E0 e8400s for like $150 or so at local retailers are currently the best bang for the buck, given they seem to be able to reach about 4.5ghz fairly easily. Although, that really wouldn't be that dramatic of an upgrade if your e8200 is decent at all, so in that case perhaps a q9550, also in the E0 variety, would be a great step up, but only in apps that utilize the cores.

 

[NeoCrisis]

Woah Woah Woah, system specs updated! My bad!

lol

that aside i still dont think you'll need an upgrade. Better cooling you should be able to push 4ghz.
There arent enough games out there that will utilize a quad core to its fullest.
Now if you are doing video encoding, quads are the way to go.

 

[mlee49]

Any particular reason for the upgrade, anything in particular your hoping to accomplish w/ it?

Mostly Benching/e-Peen

I want a bad ass cpu that will hold a stable overclock 24/7 for the next three years.

 

[farlex85]

Mostly Benching/e-Peen

I want a bad ass cpu that will hold a stable overclock 24/7 for the next three years.

In that case I'd give it a month for nehalem to come out and snag a q9650 after they drop the price. Or if you don't mind a few hundred mhz slower the a q9550 E0. Don't kid yourself though, in 3 years Sandy Bridge should be around (at 32nm about to move to 22nm), 8-16 cores will be the norm, and ddr3 will be the standard. I wouldn't buy a 775 platform now unless I really was knowing I am not going to follow computers for a while, b/c you know if you do you'll want new stuff (hence, your current desire to buy a new cpu even though your current is perfectly adequate).......

 

[Fitseries3]

your CPU is ok. id get a e8400 if your not planning on good water or extreme cooling setups. you can get a 45nm quad but i would recommend staying away from the q6700.

you can get a 4870 and it will smoke that 3870x2 or you can get a gtx260 and it will smoke both your cards together.

 

[..'Ant'..]

For gaming id say go for the E8400. Multi tasking then a Quad should do the job.

 

[Binge]

I've explored the new duals and the best for gaming with 24/7 overclock are E8400-E8600 (duh). The heat is low, vantage benches were around 9k on the 8600 I benched @4.0ghz but they would probably be better now that I have more knowledge on the subject but I took vantage off of my pc. Dirty program ties itself to drivers.

Games are amazing! E8400 would definitely do it for you.

 

[Fastmix]

You have a fine system, I would wait for the next architecture.