Which processor do i choose?

matt297

New Member
It may be completely obvious to most of you but ill ask anyway. I have a choice between a:
Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16g 6mb cache or a
Quad core 8400 2.66ghz 4mb Cache...
Both are 1333fsb
which one and why? I cant decide.... :confused:
 

BlackRat

New Member
More and more applications are optimized for hyperthreading, 4 cores would be super beneficial when you work with video, in gaming it will be 50/50 - some games still like dual cores with higher clocks. On the side note E8400 might be easier to overclock - lover temperatures and higher multiplier. Is it possible to get i3 540 instead? It'd dual core but with hyperthreading and turbo-boost, I think I would go with this one, little cheaper, enough for DDR3 upgrade and P55 or H55 mobo
 

matt297

New Member
More and more applications are optimized for hyperthreading, 4 cores would be super beneficial when you work with video, in gaming it will be 50/50 - some games still like dual cores with higher clocks. On the side note E8400 might be easier to overclock - lover temperatures and higher multiplier. Is it possible to get i3 540 instead? It'd dual core but with hyperthreading and turbo-boost, I think I would go with this one, little cheaper, enough for DDR3 upgrade and P55 or H55 mobo

That was gonna be my next question. What about an i3 540 or i5 650, once again, i cant decide. There is a big price difference between the two though! Apparently the i3 doesn't support Turbo boost??
 

daisymtc

Active Member
I don't think i5 650 really worth the money when compare to core i5 750

My current list on cpu would be
Athlon II (any which suit budget) < core i3 530< Phenom II x4 955 < core i5 750 < core i7 860 < core i7 930
 

matt297

New Member
I don't think i5 650 really worth the money when compare to core i5 750

My current list on cpu would be
Athlon II (any which suit budget) < core i3 530< Phenom II x4 955 < core i5 750 < core i7 860 < core i7 930

What is so much different from the i5 650 to the i5 750. And what is different from the i3 540??
 

87dtna

Active Member
The I5 750 is a true quad core, the I5 650 is a dual core with hyperthreading. The 750 is much better for the money.

The I3 is the best bang for the buck, and seems perfect for what you want to do. Don't worry about turbo boost, it's overrated.


BTW, you do know that the I3/I5's are socket 1156 and the E8500/Q8400 are socket 775 right? Do you already have a motherboard, or not?


See, I would recommend a P55 board, but you never know if the Bios is going to be up to date enough to accept an I3 cpu. All H55 boards do though, so I'd probably recommend an H55. plus, H55 gives you onboard video thats not too bad, but sounds like you'll be needing a video card anyway.
 
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2048Megabytes

Active Member
Is there any reason you decided to go with old Socket 775 processors? I say look at Socket LGA 1156 motherboards. The Core i5 750 is probably the best bang for you buck right now unless you want to go with AMD Processors.
 

Twist86

Active Member
I have to agree....775 is a solid socket but you can pick up a 1156 board/cpu for almost the same price and get much more performance.


If you all ready have the 775 id get the Q8400....but if possible id pick up the Q9450 if you can find it for the proper price. (150ish)
 

Forevermore1337

New Member
Why not just get an AMD Phenom II 955, save a ton on a good motherboard, and call it a day?

It's hands down the best bang for your buck out there, and gives great performance.

Unless you're really THAT set on an Intel.
 

Thanatos

Active Member
my Athlon II is doing about 3010 MHz right now.... Really fast 4 me. i overclocked the heck out of it.. :D
 
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