Is an intel core 2 duo e8400 cpu good for gaming?

[saucenugget]

I don't have very much money, but I love gaming and I am somewhat new to the concept of building my own computer. I am looking at the core 2 duo e8400. Does anyone have any problems with this processor? Does anyone know if this will not allow me to play higher end games?

 

[amuffin]

It would be better off of building a system with a sandybridge pentium cpu. They go from 50-100 dollars for the processor. The core 2 duo e8400 is an older cpu.

 

[rds1220]

I don't have very much money, but I love gaming and I am somewhat new to the concept of building my own computer. I am looking at the core 2 duo e8400. Does anyone have any problems with this processor? Does anyone know if this will not allow me to play higher end games?

It will work but you have to realize it's starting to get up there in age. Not to mention the socket 775 is dead. I would save up money and go with a newer Sandy Bridge CPU.

 

[phyco126]

A new Sandy Bridge based system isn't going to cost more than a E8400, unless they found it cheap on ebay or something. The Pentium G840 performs slightly better than the E8400 (but it can't be overclocked).

I would suggest either a G840 or the i3 2100.

 

[shanky887614]

It will work but you have to realize it's starting to get up there in age. Not to mention the socket 775 is dead. I would save up money and go with a newer Sandy Bridge CPU.

there discontiuning the socket 775 series


i bought a i5 build for £385 for everything minus mouse,keyboard,tv and graphics card


(you can get a cheap socket 1155 (sand bridge) for £50-80 then an i3 for 90 or i5 2500 for 150 then 8gb ram for 30

thats £170-200 for an i3 210-260 for i5 build

 

[WR2]

Do you already own that CPU and a motherboard to go with it?
If so it's not terrible. But there are probably better options if you're looking to spend money.

 

[rds1220]

there discontiuning the socket 775 series


i bought a i5 build for £385 for everything minus mouse,keyboard,tv and graphics card


(you can get a cheap socket 1155 (sand bridge) for £50-80 then an i3 for 90 or i5 2500 for 150 then 8gb ram for 30

thats £170-200 for an i3 210-260 for i5 build

I know that's why I said it's dead. That's why he would be better off going with a Sandy Bridges build as I said earlier.

 

[seumas_beathan]

I dont think you guys are taking into consideration that this guy might not want to buy a new motherboard. And in answer to your question as long as you have a decent gpu then you will be able to play games fine

 

[WR2]

@ seumas_beathan;

He did say he was thinking about building his own computer.
He did not say if he actually had any of the parts he's thinking about using.

 

[rds1220]

If he already owns the motherboard then it's not terrible. But if he doesn't have a 775 motherboard than it's not worth it to buy an old CPU on a dead socket type.

 

[shanky887614]

an e8400 costs £170

a core i5-2500k costs £150
i3 2100 - £90

mother - 50
8gb ram - 30

i3 2100 - £90

50+30+90 = £170

cheaper to buy an i3 pc then upgrade to i5 ivy bridge later

than to buy just that cpu and that cpu is better than the core 2 duo one he mentioned

 

[Gordon Freeman]

It will do in a pinch but I will stress you to OC the crap out of it to get every last bit out of it and if you are cool with mid range performance it is all good then.

 

[seumas_beathan]

£180, thats absoloute rubbish, it costs £100 brand new and about £55 on ebay

 

[shanky887614]

item is discointude

if your going to buy that pick up a tin hat and wax for your modem for all the good it will do for gaming


seriously though why buy a product 4+ socket types ago

1366,1156,2011, 1155

the newer processors are more effiecent per core/clock cycle- bassically frquency



if thats all you can afford wait till you can buy an i3



the reason there cheap is people are trying to get rid of them.

they have already stopped production i believe and that socket type is as good as dead as far as gaming are concernd

 

[shanky887614]

games may not fully utilise quad core cpus

but dual cores cant run the games that use 2 cores very well because they have to run all the stuff from windows in the background

 

[XM Keeper]

A good Core 2 Duo will get you by fine for at least all of 2012 and will probably be able to play all games until the next generation of gaming consoles come out.

 

[rajyohanson]

The E8400 was a great chip, you can OC the crap out of them and tey just keep taking it. They air cool well with a good HSF, but if you have to spend money, get something new. If you have a mobo and a chip already, as mentioned you will be gaming just fine.

 

[Spankymcbob1]

I know this thread is relatively old but, my advice to you would be look at it like this. Most modern games minimal requirements as for a 2.4-2.6 you also need to look at the fact that intel dual core processor's are have a lower requirement for games then amd's dual core line. I have a linux server that I have windows 7 64 bit on still that still uses a intel core 2 duo which has a lower clock then your's. Mine only has about 1.8 and I like to install newer games on that for fun, just as a way to see how it plays out. I also have 8 gb's of 800 ram and a dedicated gtx 520 graphics card and I find my guests wanting to play battlefield 3 on it from time to time and get 25 fps with mild settings but it will also depend on your game preference. Hell if you play wow or something along the mmorpg line I have found updated versions of world of warcraft on my clients computers who are still rocking a pent 4. Don't worry about all the other people telling you to ditch that old system just buy a significant amount of ram and a dedicated 1gb video card and you will be good to go