I have a gigabyte x48-DQ6 board, 2 sticks of patriot ddr2 1066 memory, and a E6850 cpu. I am headed to the store today to get an E8400 cpu. My question is, when I put in the new cpu will I have to do anything, or will it automatically just start working?

On a separate note, how much boost in gaming performance can I expect to see upgrading to the e8400?

If your board supports the Wolfdale, then it should be reconized right away and you probably won't have to do anything.

You won't see any performance increased at all, both chips run at 3Ghz stock.

I think the E8400 has more cache than the E6850. So there will be an increase in performance, but like the above poster said, you won't be able to tell.

However, if you want to overclock, then it would be a great buy.

And I assume you should be able to drop it in the X48 without bios update, but I am not all too familiar with intel.

Just remember, and Tom verified this too. With the CPU that you have and buying, If you want increased performance use the $200 on a video card upgrade or maybe even Xfire. You didn't list what you have for a video card. Both CPU are more than capable of reaching 4ghz for processing power already.

I bought the E6850 last weekend for 160.00, the E8400 is only 180.00 so I took it back and paid the difference. I am running a 3870 graphics card. I will pop in another one at the end of the month.

Nice. Great system spec. That E8400 will be rockin in that system.

i just hope it's enough to play Age of Conan. with the e6850 i am only getting 16-20fps on max settings. latency is high too around 98. could it be that I don't have enough volts going to the ram?

I also added a Zalman 9700 cooler to the cpu. I am going to try to over clock tonight. what is the best guide to over clocking a e8400?

why is everyone so obsessed with age of conan... like honestly its not that impressive in my opinion... the first mmo game i'll try has to have at least decent graphics...

have you seen the graphics on high? past the newbie starter zone? the game is gorgeous!!! As far as being obsessed with it, I wouldn't say that , I started out on EQ, went to COH, then WOW, then LOTRO, and now AOC, so I would say it's a natural progression. AOC is just so demanding on a system, most people are probably asking questions, because most computers that were fine for those other games just won't cut it for AOC.

X48...the E8400 should be plug-n-play on that chipset, my Q9450 was. You're not going to see a phenomenal increase in performance, IMO from the E6850 @ stock speeds (the E6850 is a stellar CPU). However, you should see some increase in performance due to the much larger cache. The E8400 should also easily overclock far beyond the E6850, so should you OC it you'll reap benefits.

There's just not all that much to get excited about, with PC gaming anymore...so when something new comes out its a really big deal...and it gets overhyped.

you can't just look at video's of the game on youtube, you have to actually see the game on a big wide screen monitor set on highest settings to see just how detailed and beautiful the game really is.

I've been playing Guild Wars for years, and am looking forward to Guild Wars 2.
I'm at work right now so I can't check out any gaming sites; does AoC charge a subscription fee like WoW or is it free once you've bought the game, like Guild Wars? If no one answers that I'll just remember to check when I get home.

I know the newer games are quite beautiful to see and fun to play. One reason to enjoy PC gaming as opposed to console gaming.

I tried to get into gaming (hence the old 8800GTX), I'm just not really into it...I always feel like I could be doing something more productive/interesting. ...my issue, my issue alone.

but seriously I looked up AoC... it doesn't look good at all... it had the potential but didn't quite get there in my opinion

^ o halcyon great avatar dude =D

AOC is around 15.00 a month or so.


The thing that attracts me to AOC is the large scale PVP battles that the game will have....pretty much city against city, all out warfare! You can even do combat while riding your mount!

Thx. I love that thing...it reminds me...of me.

system is running great, temps between 32 and 36 degrees, now it's time to overclock. ALso have one more question for you guys out there. what do you thing will give more FPS, going to windows vista and adding 2 more gigs of ram, or adding a 2nd 3780 video card?

here is a link to a review of age of conan, see if u like it http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/videos/2 [...] gory_key=8