Which CPU should I use?

[alazeer]

I'm wondering how much more powerfull my system will be if I switch from:

This CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681

To this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808


I'm running this Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

With 4Mb of this Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

With this Video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127484

With this PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371016

With this Fan and Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate as my OS.

I installed the Hyper 212+ so I could overclock my system, then decided I didn't know enough about OCing and decided I'd be better off not screwing anything up .

I use my system to play MMO's, do some word processing, web design and programming. Right now I'm in college to get my degree in Software Engineering. I do use MS Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate, Visio 2010 and Office 2007 Enterprise quite a bit. I also use it to play: SWG and AOC MMO's and a few other PC games (Splinter Cell Conviction, Borderlands, C&C 4).


Or would i just be better off saving my $$ and then building an Intel i5 or i7 based system?

 

[WR2]

Hello alazeer;
This chart will give you an idea what the switch might get you in terms of better performance
Athlon II X2 255 Regor 3.1Ghz vs Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz (X2 255 used since X2 250 option wasn't available).
The Black Edition CPUs are easier to overclock since they have an un-locked multiplier.

If you're games are limited by the HD 5770 and high graphics settings you won't see much of an increase over the current CPU.
Same for games that single threaded like many MMOs are - no big jump in gaming performance there.

 

[alazeer]

Thanks for the info, I was having 2nd thoughts about upgrading the CPU, but wanted to come in here and ask because I know most of you know way more about this stuff then i do .

Guess my first thought was best, save up to build a nice all new i7 or i5 Intel system then give this one to my two teenagers, they will get plenty of use out of it!

Thanks again!

 

[alazeer]

Best answer selected by alazeer.

 

[geofelt]

Unless your apps can use more than two cores, or you multitask some cpu intensive jobs, I would expect no measurable difference.

Very few games do, and even then, I would expect that your graphics card would be more limiting than the cpu.