Intel Quad Q9300

*EDIT
I don't plan to OC right now but im also wondering how this CPU does in that regard i under stand about board and cooling needs i just like to have a little foresight in the matter.

What are you using your computer for that you need the upgrade?
The reason I ask is that the E5200 will perform on par with the Q9300 for single/dual threaded apps, and even then, you might be better off OCing your current CPU (provided you don't have a locked BIOS).
Please also state the rest of your system specs.

I use my computer for some light photo shop some light programming and HTML work but the main reason i the up grade is to play final fantasy 14 i don't game much at all but iv been looking forward to the release for awhile and its pretty cpu intense. I under stand it might not be threaded up to 4 cores but it would mean there was 2+ cores to run the game.tell me if i'm wrong i would guess some of the cores can run the system applications and so forth and the otheres could run a game ect . My board is OEM so i cant over clock and even if i could its not really my speed
SPECS
-ASUS IPIBL-LB mother board
-ASUS ATI HD 4870 1GB
-6GB 800 mhz corsair ram

to clear things up i just checked and FF 14 supports 4 cores in fact its recommend system requirements state a i7 quad and i wouldn't mind future proofing a bit.

Iv heard Duel > Quad for gaming but im guessing if the game im looking towards seems to use all 4 cores then that wouldn't be the case.

Tons of questions i have appreciation for help there is.

if a game is optimized for Quad then a dual core will cry trying to run that game.....plus having a Quad will be more future proof than a dual... dual core r now going to be absolute........

illfindu,
run the FF14 benchmark on your PC and see how well it runs.
If you are satisfied with what you see, you may not need the upgrade.
In case the performance is slow or you want to upgrade anyway, your current heatsink/fan will not cool the Q9300 well enough (even with good ventilation).
That said, the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 is a great cheap heatsink/fan for socket 775 CPUs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Edit: Broken link

I ran it i got a 2300 iv been told my card can easily get a 3300 so i know my cpu is holding me back plus the way i see it is that a quad would set me up for that game and give me some wiggle room in the future so ur saying the stock fan with the quad would be better then the stock that came with my E5200?

nudge

those are bench marks for just one app. I'm not 100% sure about how multi threading works with multiple applications but wouldn't a quad run 2 apps that can multi thread with 2 cores each while the dual would only have 1 core for each app. Basically what im asking does the math work like this.
dual 2.5ghz -- 2 applications -- running with 2.5ghz each
Quad 2.5ghz - 2 applications -- running with 2 2.5ghz cores each.

and also im not under standing how the quad can run faster even if two cores weren't operating wouldn't those 2 2.5ghz run the same and the dual core.

excuse me i read the chart you gave me wrong thats my mistake it seems it out performs at least a little with each application.

I think this article will help you understand better: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multithreading

As for how a single (or dual) threaded app can run faster on the quad, its likely due to the increased L2 cache (6MB vs. 2 MB) and higher FSB (1333 MHz vs. 800 Mhz); don't forget that any other processes running in the background get 2 extra cores to use which gives the main app more of each core to use.

Ya i might have explained my self incorrectly i under stood how a quad can speed up none quad threaded apps since theres more cores/processing power for the application to use even if it cant use more then 2 at a time (if its not quad thread).
I found a Q9300 for $130 so I'm definitely going for that the increase in speed will allow me to play ff 14 and extend the life of the system i have now.
Every one was super helpful thank you very much.

Glad we could help; that's what we're here for. If you have any more questions you know where to ask.

Best answer selected by illfindu.

Hello I m looking to buy a q9300 too
but a little afraid about that it won t be enough to play @40fps

could you tell me if it s a good choice please.

my pc:
e8400 @3.0
ATI 4870 512mo
5go DDr2 @800
I have a Antec sonata 3 with stock alim @500W

thx for help
and sry for my poor english

Keep your current cpu; you have one of the fastest core 2 dual core cpus, and most games don't take advantage of more than 2 cores (meaning a quad wouldn't help you much).

If you have a problem and/or questions about your current setup, start a thread under the most relevant topic:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/

I don t have any pb on my computer, I just have 20-30fps @ ff14 my graphic card is only @50% of its capacity (~35-40% in reality)
but my cpu @ 90-95-98% non stop

see what i mean?