Intel Core Duo - worth the upgrade?

[akapaulk]

I am currently looking to get a new video card for my computer - however since PCI Express grew up so fast and my motherboard only supports AGP - I believe this would be a good time to upgrade my main rig.

I currently have:
P4 3.0E (with hyper threading)
2 gb ram (5x512)

If I go with Intel Core Duo - would I see a major difference in performance over the P4 3.0E?

Thanks

 

[Martyr]

yes, with a c2d mobo, new ram, and a new vid car ide say you would notice a difference

 

[akapaulk]

Please let me know why I would need new ram. I have:
2 sticks of 512MB Corsair XMS2 and 2 sticks of regular 512MB Kingston DDR400

I can dump the Kingston ram and just get 2 more sticks of the 512MB Corsair XMS2.

 

[Martyr]

Please let me know why I would need new ram. I have:
2 sticks of 512MB Corsair XMS2 and 2 sticks of regular 512MB Kingston DDR400

I can dump the Kingston ram and just get 2 more sticks of the 512MB Corsair XMS2.

none of it. all the cpu's are on ddr2 now.

 

[jen4950]

I have a machine a little older than the one you referred to- but with 15k rpm SCSI, RAID, blah blah.. overall a pretty nice machine.

and my Dad's Core2 Duo LAPTOP smokes the shit out of it.

Hence my latest crusade- take back the title. Dual Quad-Core Xeons. (X5355). Ordered the Power Supply today- PCP&C 1kw with a custom harness.. have the case (Lian-Li PC-76), Bulk HDD's (8 x 750GB Seagates)..

And asked for 2 30" Dells for Christmas

 

[chrisf6969]

you could build a budget Core 2 box that takes DDR, but you'll only have 2 slots available.

Via chipset, AGP & PCIe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092

Intel 865 chipset, AGP only
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131029

But you should just take the full plunge and get a 965 motherboard with PCIe 16x slot & ddr2

 

[Endurancevm]

C2D is what you mean, and yes. Just like when i went from P4 3.4E to my 3700+, i could play games at higher frame rates at higher resolutions and everything felt snappier and faster. So I would believe, and my friend who just did a Opty -> E6300 would verify, that you will notice a considerable improvement in everything.

 

[Ranari]

I am very tempted to get that mobo and an E6400... man would that be a big performance increase.

 

[chrisf6969]

I am very tempted to get that mobo and an E6400... man would that be a big performance increase.

Which motherboard?

The only problem with either of those budget motherboards is they don't overclock very well. You might get 300FSB + or -, so with an e6400 you'd be at 8x300 = 2.4Ghz

@ 2.4Ghz it would be very fast = stock e6600, which if you look around is pretty much equal to or faster than a $900 FX-62!

 

[hofan41]

if you have corsair xms2, you can reuse that, since their xms2 line is ddr2.

 

[akapaulk]

Thanks for the advise guys (and gals)

If I am going to do it - I might as well do it once and do it right.

What's the best mobo and ram (2gb) for this processor?

Also - which is the best bang for your buck processor? I will not be overclocking it.

Thanks in advance again!

 

[chrisf6969]

Thanks for the advise guys (and gals)

If I am going to do it - I might as well do it once and do it right.

What's the best mobo and ram (2gb) for this processor?

Also - which is the best bang for your buck processor? I will not be overclocking it.

Thanks in advance again!

Thats LUDACRIS! (yes the rapper!)

Why would you not overclock a Core 2, they are just dying to be overclocked to at least 3Ghz.

Mobo: Gigabyte DS3 or DS3P (coming out soon) or Asus P5B-E $130-150
CPU: e6400 $220
ram: G.Skill ddr2 800 cas 5 @ $200

 

[mzs_biteme]

....
I will not be overclocking it.

....

I submit a vote to strip you of your [H] status....!!!!
NOT overclocking Conroes, is just

-ed...

 

[akapaulk]

Nice!

You guys are going to make me buy another 7700ALCU and crank this sucker up

Now is it worth getting 4m cache vs the 2m cache? It's a $100 difference between e6400 and e6600. Just curious.

 

[mavalpha]

If you don't overclock, MAYBE. If you do overclock, get the e6400. If you aren't sure whether you will or not, save your cash.

 

[akapaulk]

Can you please explain why the e6400 is preferred over the e6600?

 

[chrisf6969]

Can you please explain why the e6400 is preferred over the e6600?

b/c its cheaper

If you don't overclock, MAYBE. If you do overclock, get the e6400. If you aren't sure whether you will or not, save your cash.

read "save your cash"
pretty much all the Core 2's max out around the same if you don't hit a FSB wall / motherboard limit.

 

[akapaulk]

but you are rocking a e6600