Which processor

[rdrabick]

looking for an answer on which processor I should get. E8200, Q8200 or Q9400.
looking for good gaming speed
thanks

 

[MadAdmiral]

None of those. If you're looking at Intel go with an i5-750 ($200 most places, $150 from Microcenter).

If those are your 3 choices for your budget, you should be looking at AMD. Check out this article. It's on the (approximate) price range of the Q9400 and E8500. Neither are choosen for their price, and the AMD Phenom II X4 955 (the best AMD CPU) is cheaper, and much, much better.

The AMD is a much better choice in this range because it's much more powerful than what Intel's got. It's on the most current (and future) AMD socket, making the build much more future proof. It's got great overclocking potential. You won't have to buy a different CPU fan if you're not doing a massive overclock (Intel's stock fan is really loud, and the i5 automatically overclocks).

That said, if you can afford an i5, that is the best choice for gaming.

 

[saint19]

Which is your budget?, if your budget is limited to this 3.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340343%2050001157&CompareItemList=N82E16819115055%2CN82E16819115131&page=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True

My vote goes to Q9400, have more cache memory and operating frecuency.