Upgrade from Intel Core 2 Duo E6300

[drummer223]

I'm not looking to upgrade very soon, probably in a couple of months, but if I do upgrade soon, what do you think would fit well?

My budget is around $100.

I've got an Intel Core 2 Duo "Conroe" E6300, running at 1.86GHz, which is what I'm looking to upgrade from.

I have only one fan in my computer, and I have a 300 Watt power supply.

Any suggestions? I'm open to AMD processors as well, but I'm partially biased towards Intels.

 

[Omegas]

Do you have a Fry's or Microcenter around you?

 

[Direfox]

Do you have a Fry's or Microcenter around you?

Exactly, there is a Microcenter deal for a q9300 for $100 bucks, that would be a nice upgrade for a decent price for your system.

 

[causticspill]

While the Q9300 is a good suggestion (and an upgrade I am planning as soon as I can get over to Microcenter) you need to determine what CPUs your mobo will support. Luckily my DS3 supports a lot of (all?) the core2quads with the F13 and F14 Bios updates, but you could be limited as to what you can drop into your current motherboard.

With that rig and a budget of only $100 why are you looking to upgrade? I'm guessing you aren't a big gamer.

 

[drummer223]

Ok, I'll look at the Q9300s. I probably won't get one until after Christmas though...

Also, I found something strange.

Fallout: New Vegas "requires" a 2GHz processor, but with my 1.86GHz, I seem to run very smoothly on low settings + HDR. Any comments?

 

[450]

The OP has a Dell Dimension e520 IIRC. Best he can get is a Q6600 used.

Somethings I'd consider doing...
1. Sell e6300 and OEM Power Supply
2. Buy Q6600 and a quality 400w PSU
3. Buy a cheap GPU; 9600GT or better.

 

[drummer223]

3 Things

I currently have a GT240 graphics card (grabbed it for $35 on newegg) in the mail.

Who would buy my CPU? Its barely good enough for much.

This doesn't answer my question: My CPU runs below the "minimum" settings for New Vegas, yet it still works. Does this mean that other games that "require" a 2GHz processor will run as well?

 

[450]

3 Things

I currently have a GT240 graphics card (grabbed it for $35 on newegg) in the mail.

Who would buy my CPU? Its barely good enough for much.

This doesn't answer my question: My CPU runs below the "minimum" settings for New Vegas, yet it still works. Does this mean that other games that "require" a 2GHz processor will run as well?

I'm sure you could sell it for $35-40 shipped in the FS board here. You'll need at least 50 posts though. Assuming you make $35 profit from the CPU, the Q6600 should be about $100, making your CPU upgrade about $65.

The system requirements are always more of a recommendation and there really isn't much difference between 1.86 and 2.00. 140MHz isn't a big deal.

 

[drummer223]

However, my computer gets around 10 FPS on Assassin's Creed 2, which "requires" a 1.8GHz processor. The cutscenes lag like crazy, and there is minor lag through the entire game? Will the GT240 fix it, or is it a processor problem?

 

[WStokes]

Well the sale on the Q9300 might not hang around too long and I doubt you will find a better deal on a processor at this time especially since your MB probably already supports it. The catalog says the prices are good till 12/19/10 but I would also check stock at the microcenter closest to you to make sure they still have them available. They could be trying to dump stock before sandy bridge comes in but I doubt that a reasonable quad core will get much cheaper than this.

 

[causticspill]

As 450 already pointed out, if the OP indeed has a dell e520, the Q9300 likely won't be recognized. Q6600's are confirmed and would breathe some new life into that system along with a video card update (and probably a beefier power supply- again, as pointed out by 450), but all three will probably require closer to $200.

Keep an eye on ebay, you should be able to get a Q6600 for under/around $100.

I haven't played AC2, but if the cut scenes are laggy, it's probably a video card deal. Can't tell you for sure. A new one certainly wouldn't hurt.