Upgrading advice needed Thanks! :)

[Mastersaofan]

OK, so im planning to upgrade really soon since i believe my rig is super ancient. But to clear my mind a bit can anyone tell or help me understand these following questions.
First off i am currently gaming, and playing Witcher 2: Assasin of kings. So far so good, im playing on High settings with very little lag. Also, i just finished crysis 2 recently which was also played in high settings and played much smoother than withcer 2. So here are my question

1. Is an Phenom x2 stocked @ 3.0ghz or more better than a i3? or a Quad core stocked at 2.8 or less? ( since there are no quad cores that are stocked at 3ghz + except for the really expensive ones like the Q9660/650 etc. which i cant afford)

2. Is it more practical to get a phenom x2 and change my mobo? since i think it wont be compatible with AMD processors. which means to upgrade, i need to spend for a new procie and a new mobo. Rather than to go for an iSeries processor, i would also have to change my ram to ddr3 is that correct?

3. Lastly, If i would to say, Upgrade to an Q8400 @ 2.3 ghz or more but not exceeding 3.0ghz be better than my current E7400 2.80ghz? Im considering an Q8400 since its the only quad core i can afford. Unless you guys have something else to recommend? that would be better than my current procie WITHOUT getting a new board or changing to ddr3.

My SPECS.

Intel Core to duo E7400 @ 2.80ghz
Palit GTX 275 896mb
4GB kingston RAM ddr2
Asus p5kpl am/ps
320GB WD
courgar 750 PSU

thanks a million guys.

 

[megadelayed]

OK, so im planning to upgrade really soon since i believe my rig is super ancient. But to clear my mind a bit can anyone tell or help me understand these following questions.
First off i am currently gaming, and playing Witcher 2: Assasin of kings. So far so good, im playing on High settings with very little lag. Also, i just finished crysis 2 recently which was also played in high settings and played much smoother than withcer 2. So here are my question

1. Is an Phenom x2 stocked @ 3.0ghz or more better than a i3? or a Quad core stocked at 2.8 or less? ( since there are no quad cores that are stocked at 3ghz + except for the really expensive ones like the Q9660/650 etc. which i cant afford)

2. Is it more practical to get a phenom x2 and change my mobo? since i think it wont be compatible with AMD processors. which means to upgrade, i need to spend for a new procie and a new mobo. Rather than to go for an iSeries processor, i would also have to change my ram to ddr3 is that correct?

3. Lastly, If i would to say, Upgrade to an Q8400 @ 2.3 ghz or more but not exceeding 3.0ghz be better than my current E7400 2.80ghz? Im considering an Q8400 since its the only quad core i can afford. Unless you guys have something else to recommend? that would be better than my current procie WITHOUT getting a new board or changing to ddr3.

My SPECS.

Intel Core to duo E7400 @ 2.80ghz
Palit GTX 275 896mb
4GB kingston RAM ddr2
Asus p5kpl am/ps
320GB WD
courgar 750 PSU

thanks a million guys.

i think that you mean the q8200 as the q8400 is @2.66ghz
anyway, i wouldnt get the phenom ii x2's as they are not better than the i3 and you wont notice a big difference from the c2d you already have, if you are looking to change your cpu then the chances are it might not be worth it if the prices are too high, if you are looking to change your cou and mobo then can you sell your current one for money? if you can then a probably you would be better off getting a athlon x3 or x4 as they are only a bit more and i would rather get more cores than the extra l3 cache the phenom has, or you can get a i3, which is a bit more expensive but has really good performance and is quite close to the athlon quads even tho its a dual core and they would probaably be cheaper and a better upgrade to the q8xxx due to their higher clock and better ipc but you will have to get ddr3 tho which normally isnt a worry, they are quite cheap now.
plus their are quad cores that have stock 3+ghz for a cheap price eg the athlons and if its the 2.3 core 2 quad you are getting then probably in quite a few games it might be slower due to the lower clock speed of the quad(2.33 vs 2.8) but in games like gta Iv then you will get better performance though

 

[Wamphryi]

From a gaming point of view you should stay with your Core 2. The Quads you are looking at have lower clock speeds and they do not have Turbo Boost. This means they don't perform as well on single thread applications as the higher clocked dual core. However the Quad comes into its own with such things as Video Editing. They are a good workhorse but they don't rate against Sandy Bridge.

 

[Mastersaofan]

@megadelayed

im happy to hear that there are quad cores @ 3.0ghz or more on stock speed, but like i said those are the bleeders in my pockets. Anyhows, so you would recommend the Phenom x4? another thing is my board is intel exlusive so i gotta get a new one too..so to sum it all up, its pretty much a big upgrade, And to the i3 upgrade part, i gotta get a new board and new ram which is expensive in our *** country haha! But thanks for the reply. Ill try to wait till october or mid nov to get more cash then i would prolly GET the Phenom x4 with the 3.0ghz and change my board.


@ wamphryi

Im quite suprised actually that my core 2 is kicking ass with its 2.8ghz and almost at 3 yrs old. Im planning to overclock it though but thats a whole new ball game. About the video editing yea thats actually my main hobby, so an i3 would be more practical in the long run both for gaming and work?


BTW is my Vid card still good for now? there are a bunch of card that came out and do you guys think i should still keep mine? yeah i could sell my old pc part but its gonna take a while. RAM, procie and vid card

 

[megadelayed]

@megadelayed

im happy to hear that there are quad cores @ 3.0ghz or more on stock speed, but like i said those are the bleeders in my pockets. Anyhows, so you would recommend the Phenom x4? another thing is my board is intel exlusive so i gotta get a new one too..so to sum it all up, its pretty much a big upgrade, And to the i3 upgrade part, i gotta get a new board and new ram which is expensive in our *** country haha! But thanks for the reply. Ill try to wait till october or mid nov to get more cash then i would prolly GET the Phenom x4 with the 3.0ghz and change my board.


@ wamphryi

Im quite suprised actually that my core 2 is kicking ass with its 2.8ghz and almost at 3 yrs old. Im planning to overclock it though but thats a whole new ball game. About the video editing yea thats actually my main hobby, so an i3 would be more practical in the long run both for gaming and work?


BTW is my Vid card still good for now? there are a bunch of card that came out and do you guys think i should still keep mine? yeah i could sell my old pc part but its gonna take a while. RAM, procie and vid card

there are athlon x4 thats over 3ghz but its just personal preference really as there is only a slight difference between the 2.8 and the 3ghz models and yea the i3 performs more like a quad core due to hyperthreading and its 3.1ghz clock speed and sandy bridge architectue will help plus you can take use of its quick sync and it will be good for games, still its a good idea to wait till bulldozer is out then you can get a bulldozer compatible motherboard, a phenom x4 which would have dropped in price by then and still have a future upgrade path to bulldozer

 

[Mastersaofan]

Best answer selected by Mastersaofan.