AMD x2 to C2D upgrade?

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noinimod

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Aug 23, 2006
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Hey guys,
i was wondering if i'm gonna see a huge real world difference between the two in everyday usage, not talking about benchmark numbers here cos i don't care about them.
i'm currently on an o/ced 3600 brisbane @ 2.8ghz, looking to get a e7300 and o/c the life outta the bugger.
Any thoughts?
 
The E7300 can be pushed to around 3-3.2GHz (if not a bit more); with its newer technology and larger L2 cache, it will perform better than your X2 3600+... but it may not be enough (by itself) to produce a noticeable difference.

What does the rest of your current build looks like? And which components were you considering buying along with the E7300?
 
I was thinking of either getting a cpu upgrade or a 4850. I'm sorta in two minds about it cos i don't see myself gaming thaaat much. I'm currently on a 7900gs, at 1920x1200 reso, which is why it's kinda tricky, since i don't have that much cash to fork out for a massive overhaul.
 
noinimod said:
I was thinking of either getting a cpu upgrade or a 4850. I'm sorta in two minds about it cos i don't see myself gaming thaaat much. I'm currently on a 7900gs, at 1920x1200 reso, which is why it's kinda tricky, since i don't have that much cash to fork out for a massive overhaul.
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Yeah you're in a bad spot if you have a limited budget.
At 1920x1200 you require a much better gpu for high end gaming. A 7 series geforce is really dated.
Now is the E7300 a big upgrade from your x2? It sure is. However, now you're talking new new cpu and mobo. You're looking at at least $200 to get a the Intel platform. Also not sure what kinda ram you got now. Good news is some quality ddr2-800 is less than $50 for 4gb. But if you need it then you're at $250. For that price you could get a GTX260 or 4870. That's really the level of gpu you need to be at for 1920x1200 gaming.
Of course if you get a 260 or 4870 with your current gpu you'll be handicapped by your cpu. But unless you got $400-500 to spend you kinda have to pick between a cpu/mobo and a gpu. So while the x2 isn't great its proportionally better than the 7900gs for gaming at 1920x1200.
Then again re-reading your OP you don't really talk about gaming. So yeah if you just need basic non-gaming PC stuff then go ahead with the E7300. They OC well above 3.5Ghz actually. [I have a E7200 at 3.9Ghz myself]
 
Your X2 3600+ O/C at 2.8ghz? That's not too bad actually. You got it to the speed of a X2 5400+ cpu. Since your video card is soo.. dirt slow right now, what games do you play anyways? You don't seem to be a hardcore gamer if you have a 7900GS running on a 24" display. I would pop in a 9800GT and just be content with this. You don't have to run every game at 1920 x 1200, just lower the res down to 1680 x 1050 and tone down the settings. Depending on what type of game you play, you will be be able to run some games at 1920 x 1200. This maybe enough for your needs. You certainly will gain a boost over that 7900GS.

But then again, since you say you don't game as much then maybe a Core 2 upgrade is a wiser choice.
 
HardwareGuru said:
But then again, since you say you don't game as much then maybe a Core 2 upgrade is a wiser choice.
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I took the same mental path you did ^^^. I think we all naturally gravitate towards gaming questions and solutions. But as aforementioned since he specified he was not gaming much the C2D route looks to be the better road to take. Shoot he might even try a E5200 and then a 98GT to really cut corners and see some gaming help. If the gpu is ok as is then definitely move up to the E7300 the OP already mentioned
 
Thanks GonzoP and HardwareGuru. You guys nailed it. Actually i had a 8800GT when it first came out, but i sorta got bored of all the games then and sold it. I didn't see a point in having that much power. But now things have changed.

I'm just wondering if i will really feeeel the difference when moving from a x2 to a c2d, cos i've read of people who say they don't feel any difference moving up, which worries me.
 
noinimod said:
I'm just wondering if i will really feeeel the difference when moving from a x2 to a c2d, cos i've read of people who say they don't feel any difference moving up, which worries me.
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If you're talking about basic usage like music listening, web browsing, and word processing, you won't notice a difference. If you're talking about video editing and gaming, you'll see a performance increase depending on the game and video editing app you use.
 
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