Which quad core processor still has good benchmarks for gaming?

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maxraj

maxraj

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Hello everyone! Since, I cannot upgrade to a higher level (i-series) at this point and my love for gaming, I have an option to take Gigabyte G41 DDR3 or Combo (not required) in exchanging my XFX X-G31 in the second hand market of course. It includes upto 8GB ram support instead of my 4GB limitation as of now.

If I go for it, how much ram should I take?

Which quad core processor is good for gaming in medium settings? Q6600 or Q8400? or any other if you can advice me?

I had finished Ghosts, Advanced Warfare, and Watch Dogs (quite hard in FPS but it sure was playable) and already playing Unity in low settings getting a very low FPS.

My PC Configuration is:
Motherboard: XFX X-G31
Processor: Core 2 Duo E7400 2.8GHz
RAM: 3GB DDR2 (Max 4GB in 2 slots)
GPU: Gigabyte HD5770 1GB
PSU: Corsair VS450
Resolution: 1366x768
 
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photonboy

photonboy

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Jun 20, 2006
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Quick answer:
I see no point in replacing the CPU without getting a better video card than an HD5770. Perhaps get an R7-260X 2GB for $100 (after rebate)?
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-1003662l

Or similar card for cheaper used. Make sure you have 64-bit Windows to support all the video and system memory.

Long answer:
PASSMARK scores are useful.
You must compare apples to apples (4-core without hyperthreading).

E7400: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Duo+E7400+%40+2.80GHz

Q9550: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core2+Quad+Q9550+%40+2.83GHz

i5-4670K (for reference): http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-4670K+%40+3.40GHz

Summary:
The Q9550 has single performance per thread but has double the number of threads. The newer i5 has almost double the performance per thread.

*So the Q9550 sounds like the best solution, though it's a bit tricky as many older games won't see much benefit due to using only two threads and newer games may be bottlenecked by the poor performance.

Thus it's going to strongly depend on what games you are playing.

**Your GPU (HD5770) seems a much better part to upgrade than the CPU.
 
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fancarolina

fancarolina

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Agreed the 5770 is becoming an outdated card at this point. However don't discount the benefit of a Quad Core chip in overall performance. Windows will take advantage of these extra cores allowing for the machine to feel snappier and more responsive. I would point you squarely at the GTX750Ti very good card for the money if you want to step up the budget then the GTX960 is a great new card.
 
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maxraj

maxraj

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Thanks a lot for an in-depth analysis. It seems the newer cpu-intensive games are asking for a quad core processors to run swiftly.

Meanwhile, I will try to take Q9550 and if not, then I guess Q8400 or sth like that. Btw, what's the use of l2 cache in gaming or any other application?

And should I stick with 4 gb ram or go for more if I get the mobo? Thanks!
 
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fancarolina

fancarolina

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http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/188776-how-l1-and-l2-cpu-caches-work-and-why-theyre-an-essential-part-of-modern-chips
 
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