Best CPU upgrade from E6400?

[TooFastForYa]

System Specs as follows:
MB: Asus P5B-Deluxe
CPU: E6400
Memory: G.Skill F2-6400CL4D-4GBPI-B
GPU: EVGA 8800 GTS
PSU: Corsair HX520
Case: Antec 180
CPU Cooler: Zalman 9700

I'm looking to upgrade the CPU in this system but I'm not sure what my best option is. I have been looking at the Q6600 and the Q9450. Is the Q9450 worth the extra price over the Q6600? Are there any better options then these processors?

Thanks

 

[amdfangirl]

Best upgrade is no upgrade... the performance increase is too little to justify $200.

 

[Reynod]

I disagree ... if you have the extra cashe get a Q9450 ... if not then a Q6600.

Either will give your machine a huge boost in perfomance over the E6400.

Especially if you give the quad a mild overclock to around 3Ghz and don't have to increase the core voltage.

Good luck with it.

 

[tango305]

With a new mobo that has the correct slot you can get an i7 for $300 at newegg...that would annihilate your cpu. xD

 

[jamesgoddard]

A new gfx card may give you more bang - especially if that's the 320MB gts you have

 

[Reynod]

tango that would also mean new DDR3 ram as well ... bit expensive.

A cheap quad with a mild overclock and a better graphics card would produce a good boost in performance without breaking the bank.

 

[werxen]

i would overclock the funk outta the CPU + buy a new GPU.

 

[amdfangirl]

Yeah...

 

[werxen]

amdfangirl i noticed you play left4dead, you enjoy amdproducts, and you're a girl. marry me?

 

[Amg]

L4D=awsomness if only that was a word or is it my bad spelling...meh you could overclock the hell out of the poor thing or pay to get a 9550 and OC the hell out of that if you got the cooling for it

 

[amdfangirl]

amdfangirl i noticed you play left4dead, you enjoy amdproducts, and you're a girl. marry me?

Not if your 96.

 

[Reynod]

She is probably too old for you mate ...

 

[amdfangirl]

Reynod!

 

[salabarria]

you should go for the Q9450 because all of the new games that are gonna come out this year are most likely gonna take advantage of all 4 cores......im upgrading my e8500 to a Q9550 lol

 

[RetiredChief]

I also have E6400. Overclocked to 3.2 GHz (400 MHz Bus, FSB=1600), 4 gigs ram with 1::1 ratio, and a ATI 4870 512 GPU

Question
(1) Is your E6400 overclocked, Should easily hit 3.2 at stock voltage.
(2) Do you run applications. Or Games, that take advantage of 4 cores?
(3) What are you trying to “speed” up
If not OCed, then try OCing to 3.2 GHz.

If trying to improve games, Might get better Bangs for Bucks with GPU upgrading. Possibly a ATI 4870 (or Nvidea equiv.) 512 Meg, or 1 Gig depending on monitor size/resolution. My system with a 4870 gets approx 13K score in 3dmark06. This also depends on the types of games played – cpu, GPU intensive.

If applications use 4 cores, then a quad core CPU would be advantageous.

Too me it makes more sense upgrading the GPU and OC. What I plan on doing is waiting till the end of the year and see what shakes out in terms of price/performance gains. Then shoot for an I7 (my preference), or AMD II 940. The GPU upgrade will transfer over and The decrease in price would cover about half of the projected cost of an upgrade ie to a 9550/9650.

Intel/AMD are dropping their prices as I’m writing this. Also Win 7 should be out and beta users are reporting improved performance.

 

[spoonboy]

What nobody here has said is that theres a possible compatibility issue with that mobo and 45nm quads, and to a lesser extent the duals as well. The latest 'official' bios for the p5b, version 1236 is a bit iffy, but the 'beta' 1237 seems to do the trick. Check page 196 of this mega thread on the p5b at xtremesystems.org:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=112648&page=196

Your in a similar position to me, ive got an e6300 and a p5b deluxe. I'd like a q9650, or a q9450 or e8600, but the costs are soo high in the uk right now. Id like to stick a really really good cpu in this old board, but they cost a packet. The q6600 is a pretty good substitute, but it sucks down power. Hopefully 45nm quads and duals with the full 12mb and 6mb L2 caches will be alot cheaper by the summer (when i plan to make a decision and upgrade my cpu, get more ram and get vista 64) cheers.

In short get the q9450 and google 'asus p5b bios 1237'.

or try this link for the download lol:

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20061223034227274&board_id=1&model=P5B+Deluxe%2FWiFi-AP&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

If you get the q9450 pm me and tell me how it went, cheers

 

[TooFastForYa]

I got a Q9650 and am using bios 1238. Running great. Overclocked to 4.05 ghz with ease. Haven't tried to go any farther because I am comfortable with this overclock.