Why Upgrade?

[humanage]

I have an OCd Pentium D E5400 @ 4Ghz. I don't see the point of switching to an i7 2600k(new sandy bridge). I play games on a GTX 460 OC. Will I see any performance difference, or is this $600+ switch just for some bragging rights?

 

[moody89]

If you ask me it all depends on the games you play and the settings you're happy with. If you're happy with your current setup and you can play all your games on settings you're happy with then why upgrade? If you're struggling then maybe it would be worth considering, but why fix what isn't broken. If you do upgrade though from what I've heard the 2500k is cheaper than the 2600k and offers great gaming performance - it's mean to be the best price/performance chip of the new SandyBridge line so that may be worth considering.

 

[humanage]

I play all my games at max with 15-45fps. 23 average. I'm wondering if a CPU and chipset upgrade is worth it. I like to overclock also.

 

[jpmucha]

Its not just bragging rights. The 2500K offers great performance with reasonable power and thermal requirements... at a very good price. You can probably get a capable AMD system for less, but this is as good a price/performance ratio you'll get out of Intel for the near future... You're probably looking at $400 for CPU/mobo ... and add $50 for 4GB of DDR3. Not quite $600...

Most gaming reviews I've read use 30fps as the line for 'playability'. Its also a factor of image quality, graphic content, and resolution. If you can get a richer gaming experience with shinier graphics and sharper images...

I usually find the graphics card makes the most drastic difference... but the card you have should be pretty capable. Perhaps the CPU/RAM is a bottleneck. Are you playing at High Quality to get 23fps avg?

 

[humanage]

Yes, maxed out Fallout New Vegas.

 

[jpmucha]

I'm sure you would see an improvement.
Here's a review at a different website that has Fallout 3 at medium quality. the closest CPU to yours, a Q6600, is in the high 60s. The 2500K is getting 90fps. Test is using a GTX 280. They're getting over 20fps at medium... it should translate to an extra 10-15fps for you perhaps... just extrapolating from the data. If that is worth the $450... that's your call.

 

[Randomacts]

1996 if i remember correctly. Can't wait to see what 15 more years gets us in processor technology.

The power supply will be intergraded into a single 22mm chip.

 

[humanage]

I decided to get the i5 2500k
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57962&manufacture=Intel&promoid=1277

This MSI mobo (I'm a fan of MSI and want their OC button)
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57197&vpn=P67A-GD55&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar&promoid=1277

And some Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 RAM 8gb
http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=57078&vpn=CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1277

Sound good?

 

[1965ohio]

The E5400 is not a Pentium D. Pentium D is just a dual core Pentium 4 (netburst)... the E5400 is based on the Core 2 architecture and just has less cache and/or a little less features. And of course the 2600 will be better because it can do a lot more clock for clock, just like your E5400 can do a lot more than the Pentium 4/D clock for clock.

 

[1965ohio]

Yes i know. Just brings back memories

Lol Actually I was just clarifying that for the original poster

 

[humanage]

Best answer selected by humanage.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar