Is it worth upgrading my 6300 now?

[Mr_Badger]

I normally allow myself a new PC every 3 years. I put my current system together towards the end of last year: Gigabyte S3 956P motherboard, Core 2 Duo 6300, ASUS 8800GTS and 1 GB memory (2 x PC5400 DDR2 667 512MB) running Windows XP. I am not currently over clocking. My main (intensive) uses are FPS gaming, image processing and occasional video rendering.

I am about to buy some more memory (probably 2 x PC5400 DDR2 667 1GB to give me 3GB in total).

It appears that the motherboard will only take processors of up to 1066 FSB. My question is, does it make sense to upgrade the CPU now? Would either of these deliver a significant performance increase over the 6300 in my system?

Core 2 Duo E6420 2 x 2.13ghz 4mb Cache 1066 Fsb Dual Core Processor (£122.79)
Core 2 Duo E6600 2 x 2.4ghz 4mb Cache 1066 Fsb Dual Core Processor (£142.76)

That's about the limit of my budget, although there are also these two more expensive options in stock:

Quad Core Q6600 95watt G0 Stepping 4 x 2.40ghz 8mb Cache 1066 Fsb Quad Core Processor (£178.60)
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2 x 2.67ghz 4mb Cache 1066 Fsb Dual Core Processor (£180.89)

I was planning on leaving a CPU upgrade till next year to stretch the life of this platform (probably replacing the motherboard in another 2 years) however I'm now wondering if the 1066 FSB CPUs will have disappeared by then?

Of course the other option is to just save the money and stick with the 6300 until the system really starts creaking.

What do you think? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[NMDante]

I would not upgrade right now.
If your system works fine, and runs the applications you run with no issues, what benefit will you see with this upgrade? That's what I would be asking myself, if I were in your position.
Will it run my rendering much faster, or just a bit faster? Will it run my games faster? Probably, but will the gains be worth the $$$, or wait to upgrade when newer processors/motherboards/memory are out and a little cheaper.

 

[cb62fcni]

I don't think it's really worth it either. The only benefits you would see is a slight increase in rendering times for your images and videos. Games would run and load a bit faster, but it would likely be harder to see the benefit in that arena. In your position, I think an overclock would be the most beneficial course of action, in addition to being far cheaper than a new CPU. The life of your CPU will not be measurably shortened. You can easily get your processor to roughly E6700 speeds. A good CPU cooler would allow you to go beyond this, and would also cost less than even the cheapest CPU upgrade. The coming introduction of 45nm CPU's will most likely cause current Q66 and 6700 processors to drop considerably, making them an excellent mid-life upgrade for your computer before you overhaul the entire rig.

 

[jaguarskx]

It is not worth upgrading. I would wait until Penryn comes out in Q1 2008. It will incorporate SSE4 extensions which will more than double the video encoding performance when compared to a current C2D (Conroe) of the same speed. You will need to use a SSE4 compatible codec like DivX 6.6.1.

Assuming image processing programs will also incorporate some SSE4 extensions you should see some improvement. I don't do image processing so I never really bothered to look into the potential gain. I have seen some benchmarks showing a 5% - 10% improvement, but I don't know if those programs were SSE4 compatible.

Games will eventually incorporate some SSE4 extensions, but I don't think SSE4 will boost performance by much. From what I recall, current games will get a boost of about 8% compared to the current C2D generation (Conroe).

Your mobo may or may no be compatible with Penryn because of voltage regulation concerns. Technically, it should be compatible, but....


I do a decent amount of video encoding (my DVD collection) so I will wait for Penryn to come out before upgrading. Of course, if I hear of and see some impressive Nehalem benchmarks (Penyrn's successor in H2 2008), then I might postpone my upgrade.

Nehalem will require a new motherboard since the socket will change.

 

[chookman]

ill go with the not upgrading also... for the money outlay there is little to be gained

 

[lunyone]

No need to upgrade. If anything, I would upgrade your RAM (as you stated). Other than that, I would save my $ for future upgrades.

 

[Zorg]

Wait. OC your current CPU if you need more speed.

 

[zenmaster]

Yeah, OC your Current CPU.

And Buy DDR2-800 instead of DDR2-667.
The price is about the same and you will be able to use the DDR2-800 later.

Set your FSB from 266->333.
Ensure the RAM is set to a 1:1 ration.

This will increase your CPU from 1.86Ghz to about 2.36 Ghz.

This will be a very minor OC and you should not have to worry about heat or any other issues. You may need faster RAM to go higher.

 

[buzznut]

I agree that an overclock would help. But DON"T try it with the stock fan. Intel has made the c2d with expectations of overclocking, so you shouldn't be hesitant from a hardware failure standpoint. If you are ready to go mucking about in yer pc's innards, just check out the forums and there are plenty of folks ready to help. Definately upgrade the heatsink and fan if you are going to take the plunge, though. Remember, heat is the enemy.
For a modestly priced heatsink/fan combo for the c2d, people have been having success with the arctic freezer 7 for about $20 us.
I'd say you can prolly oc that proc easily with that AC7 about 25%. 25% performance gain for 20 bux aint too shabby.
The faster ram will give a noticeable boost too, along with the oc. maybe even more noticeable.

1.86-2.36 ~26% gain in speed

 

[maverick7]

wait for Decemberish, when the new mobo's will have been released, hopefully the new graphics cards and the new Penryn processors

 

[Crashman]

I agree that an overclock would help. But DON"T try it with the stock fan. Intel has made the c2d with expectations of overclocking, so you shouldn't be hesitant from a hardware failure standpoint. If you are ready to go mucking about in yer pc's innards, just check out the forums and there are plenty of folks ready to help. Definately upgrade the heatsink and fan if you are going to take the plunge, though. Remember, heat is the enemy.
For a modestly priced heatsink/fan combo for the c2d, people have been having success with the arctic freezer 7 for about $20 us.
I'd say you can prolly oc that proc easily with that AC7 about 25%. 25% performance gain for 20 bux aint too shabby.
The faster ram will give a noticeable boost too, along with the oc. maybe even more noticeable.

1.86-2.36 ~26% gain in speed

Hogwash, the stock INtel CPU cooler is fairly powerful (originally designed for Pentium D's at twice the thermal load) and will let most E6300's hit 3.6GHz or higher.

 

[Mr_Badger]

Thank you everyone - looks like it's a good idea to wait then!

Someone suggested I run CPU-Z and I've found out that I have mainboard revision C2 of the Gigabyte S3 956P (if that sheds any more light on my options).

Cheers.

 

[mikeny]

Yeah, OC your Current CPU.

And Buy DDR2-800 instead of DDR2-667.
The price is about the same and you will be able to use the DDR2-800 later.

Set your FSB from 266->333.
Ensure the RAM is set to a 1:1 ration.

This will increase your CPU from 1.86Ghz to about 2.36 Ghz.

This will be a very minor OC and you should not have to worry about heat or any other issues. You may need faster RAM to go higher.

Zen, is that all you have to do to O/C is change the FSB from 266 to 333? I have a E6300 and was thinking of upgrading to a DX10 video card and the E6850 or Q6700. Ive never O/C but if it increases my computer without me changing anything now, part of me might want to try. My system is only for games (no FPS) in stategies, simulation, and maybe a MMORPG sometime. I also have 4GB ddr2-675, would this hold a O/C or do I have to get ddr2-800?

 

[zenmaster]

Yes, that is all you really need to do.
It will not be a massive change, but it will help some.

The DDR2-667 limits the amount you can overclock.
Now the DDR2-667 may be overclockable, but what I pointed out would be a nice little boost.

It would also be moderate enough to not stress your stock fan or possibly have any worry about voltages.

Be sure to check to see you memory ratio.
You will want to set it to 1:1 so your RAM does not OC.

Your RAM can run @ 333 and your CPU has a default speed of 266. So the current value may show as 4:5 or something close to that.

 

[T8RR8R]

I'd just snatch up another gig or 2 of ram. That'll carry you for another year or 2 at least.

 

[mikeny]

Yes, that is all you really need to do.
It will not be a massive change, but it will help some.

The DDR2-667 limits the amount you can overclock.
Now the DDR2-667 may be overclockable, but what I pointed out would be a nice little boost.

It would also be moderate enough to not stress your stock fan or possibly have any worry about voltages.

Be sure to check to see you memory ratio.
You will want to set it to 1:1 so your RAM does not OC.

Your RAM can run @ 333 and your CPU has a default speed of 266. So the current value may show as 4:5 or something close to that.

I have 4GB (4x1GB sticks) of ddr2-675, overclockable or do I need to get ddr2-800? My ddr2-675 sticks are less than a year old. I will also replace the stock fan to the one everyone loves--->AC7
If I do o/c would it be wise to change my video card from 1900xtx to 8800gtx or Im still good?

 

[Mr_Badger]

zenmaster, so if you had faster RAM (Pc6400 800mhz) what setting would you use for the memory ratio to go along with changing the FSB from 266 to 333 for the 6300?

 

[Zorg]

zenmaster, so if you had faster RAM (Pc6400 800mhz) what setting would you use for the memory ratio to go along with changing the FSB from 266 to 333 for the 6300?

4:5 Ratio. 333/4 * 5 * 2 = 832.5.

@ all OCers: Keep an eye on your CPU temps, for a little while, after you OC, to make sure things don't get too hot. You should run Prime95 25.5 while watching temps closely.

CompuTronix has a very in-depth temp guide here Core 2 Quad and Duo Temperature Guide, read it carefully there is a lot of information to process.

Edit: modified frequency to 832.5

 

[zenmaster]

I would keep the memory ratio the same. (1:1)
However, I would increase the FSB to 400 since DD2-800 can handle that.

This would take your CPU to 2.79Gghz.

Even this speed is not really a stress on your system.
The E6300 frequently run over 3.0Ghz.

However, you would need to remove your old RAM to get there.

 

[zenmaster]

From what Zorg said, the biggest thing to watch likely is your "Voltage" setting. Most likely its set to "Auto". You may want to set it to use Std Voltage. I don't recall the exact working, but I have the same mobo you do. Sometimes the "Auto" setting will increase it when not necessary. This will cause extra heat.

I'm actually able to run my E4300@ 3.0 Ghz with the voltage reduced from normal. I would not expect your 2.8ghz E6300 to have any heat issues. We are still not pushing it too far.

If it does get warm, you can always dial back from a FSB of 400 to something a little less like 375, but only do this if your system seems to be getting warm.

In my case, My system if full stable @3.2ghz and stock voltage, but it does run warm there and a bit louder. So that is why I only use 3.0Ghz.

 

[Zorg]

I agree on the divider, 1:1 is preferable. Voltage absolutely should be watched, but I was talking about heat in relation the abysmal mounting of the stock HS. It seems that so many are never seated correctly, and heat can skyrocket.

 

[mikeny]

so guys with E6300 and 4GB of ddr2-675, what can I do to overclock safely (never overclocked before so im a newbie at this) and would give me a peformance gain since I was talking about changing my video card to DX10, get P35 mobo, and E6850 or Q6700. Is the o/c worth it or should I replace the parts I just mentioned? Thanx for the advice so far.

 

[Zorg]

First, Start a new thread, list current specs and ask your questions. Get a Q6600 and OC to 1333. It can be done with the current RAM of DDR2 667

 

[mikeny]

ok

 

[kingoftherings]

I wouldn't spend that amount of money on a new CPU. For gaming, really the only thing that matters is the number of cores. Meaning, going from a single core to a dual core will give you a much bigger increase in performance, than getting a higher clocked single core.