# Worth upgrading my processor?
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533
**Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic
**Created:** [March 26, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533 "2011-03-26T14:38:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2011, 2:38pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/1 "2011-03-26T14:38:56Z")
I have a C2 4300 1.8ghz in my desktop now. Just picked up 8GB of RAM and upgraded to W7 and according to my “experience index” of 4.9 it seems a bit of a bottle neck. It should be, its super old.
I don’t feel like building a new computer. Its an LGA 775 mobo, would I notice upgrading to something like this, or am I better off waiting until I pick up a new motherboard?
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&cm\_re=LGA775\_processor-](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&cm_re=LGA775_processor-)_-19-115-037-_-Product
I mostly do basic work stuff, browse with umpteen tabs open and that kind of stuff. I play games from time to time, but am hardly concerned with having a gaming computer.
Other suggestions?
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### Author:  [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/2 "2011-03-26T21:49:47Z")
> [@walter"](#):
>
> I have a C2 4300 1.8ghz in my desktop now. Just picked up 8GB of RAM and upgraded to W7 and according to my “experience index” of 4.9 it seems a bit of a bottle neck. It should be, its super old.
>
> I don’t feel like building a new computer. Its an LGA 775 mobo, would I notice upgrading to something like this, or am I better off waiting until I pick up a new motherboard?
>
> [Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - Core 2 Duo Wolfdale Dual-Core 3.0 GHz LGA 775 65W Processor - BX80570E8400 - Newegg.com](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&cm_re=LGA775_processor-_-19-115-037-_-Product)
>
> I mostly do basic work stuff, browse with umpteen tabs open and that kind of stuff. I play games from time to time, but am hardly concerned with having a gaming computer.
>
> Other suggestions?
E4300… Allendale that is on the weaker side but honestly most bottlenecks will end up being I/O, if you have SATA a SSD might go a bit longer way. But my current system a Gigabyte P45 Mobo, Intel Core2Duo E8600, 8gb of ram and a SSD boot drive. Here is my experience index…
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### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 9:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/3 "2011-03-27T09:22:56Z")
Yea, I’m looking to pick up a SSD as well. For $200, if it was going to be worth anything, I’d throw that in there too, but if its not really going to make much of a difference, then I’ll punt. There are more expensive 775 options, I just didn’t know what the price/performance benefit was vs just starting over.
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 10:46am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/4 "2011-03-27T10:46:40Z")
What does your board support? Do you have the latest BIOS update?
Just because it’s a 775 socket doesn’t mean it supports the whole line. You might as well do a Quad core.
This is the one I have:
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115041)
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### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 12:06pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/5 "2011-03-27T12:06:32Z")
Worth the extra $100 for the quad/extra 6MB if supported?
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/6 "2011-03-27T12:22:50Z")
It just seems with a dual core you are kinda moving sideways rather than upgrading. Yeah it’s a boost in performance, but it’s meh. The extra 6MB is up to you…I’d really shoot for the mid-high quads though, especially if you aren’t doing an i5/i7 Setup. I put a quad core in my parents computer because for the money it made sense.
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### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 1:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/7 "2011-03-27T13:26:49Z")
> [@ProgRocker](#):
>
> It just seems with a dual core you are kinda moving sideways rather than upgrading. Yeah it’s a boost in performance, but it’s meh. The extra 6MB is up to you…I’d really shoot for the mid-high quads though, especially if you aren’t doing an i5/i7 Setup. I put a quad core in my parents computer because for the money it made sense.
Thats the thing, if I’m just going to side step, I might as well just buy a new MOBO and proc. Current setup only has 3GB SATA, slow ram, etc.
Guess I’ll see what I can find for a mobo/processor combo in the ~$500 range.
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/8 "2011-03-27T14:54:28Z")
SATA 6Gb/s ports are gonna run the price up.
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### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/9 "2011-03-27T15:13:34Z")
> [@ProgRocker](#):
>
> SATA 6Gb/s ports are gonna run the price up.
Ok, then I’ll just see what I have to spend then :-p
[http://www.anandtech.com/show/4164/budget-system-builders-guide-february-2011/5](http://www.anandtech.com/show/4164/budget-system-builders-guide-february-2011/5)
[http://www.anandtech.com/show/4025/holiday-2010-system-builders-guide/5](http://www.anandtech.com/show/4025/holiday-2010-system-builders-guide/5)
Pretty cheap when I don’t need most of the components.
Here is my current mobo for reference:
> **[GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 LGA 775 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com](https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813128017?cm_re=GA-965P-S3-_-13-128-017-_-Product)**
>
> Buy GIGABYTE GA-965P-S3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
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### Author:  [@eskudo12791](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/eskudo12791)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/10 "2011-03-27T19:12:23Z")
> [@evane](#):
>
> E4300… Allendale that is on the weaker side but honestly most bottlenecks will end up being I/O, if you have SATA a SSD might go a bit longer way. But my current system a Gigabyte P45 Mobo, Intel Core2Duo E8600, 8gb of ram and a SSD boot drive. Here is my experience index…
sorta jealous. rockin solid sate hard drives or what
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### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/11 "2011-03-28T04:09:04Z")
> [@eskudo12791](#):
>
> sorta jealous. rockin solid sate hard drives or what
reading not your strong suit?
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/12 "2011-03-28T04:26:19Z")
IF you want to skip the SSD you can always get a 10,000 RPM Velociraptor. When gaming, it was my biggest boost when loading maps for Battlefield 2. SSD is definitely in the near future for me.
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### Author:  [@eskudo12791](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/eskudo12791)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/13 "2011-03-28T07:04:45Z")
> [@walter](#):
>
> reading not your strong suit?
no not really. sorry for any inconvenience I have caused you
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### Author:  [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 11:11am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/14 "2011-03-28T11:11:59Z")
> [@ProgRocker](#):
>
> IF you want to skip the SSD you can always get a 10,000 RPM Velociraptor. When gaming, it was my biggest boost when loading maps for Battlefield 2. SSD is definitely in the near future for me.
Velociraptors for the cost versus performance don’t make sense anymore compared to SSD’s. I wonder if they ever fixed the noise issues with them. They where LOOOUUUD in the first gens and some of the early first gens I heard had the same issues.
---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
> [@eskudo12791](#):
>
> sorta jealous. rockin solid sate hard drives or what
Yes I have a Corsair Force line SSD
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### Author:  [@eskudo12791](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/eskudo12791)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/15 "2011-03-28T11:15:09Z")
I think im going to upgrade to a pci ssd here soon. liking the numbers coming out with them lately
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### Author:  [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/16 "2011-03-28T11:15:38Z")
> [@ProgRocker](#):
>
> It just seems with a dual core you are kinda moving sideways rather than upgrading. Yeah it’s a boost in performance, but it’s meh. The extra 6MB is up to you…I’d really shoot for the mid-high quads though, especially if you aren’t doing an i5/i7 Setup. I put a quad core in my parents computer because for the money it made sense.
I don’t know if I agree with you on that, he’d be almost doubling his clock speed. Core 2 Quad are a waste of money if you are going to upgrade to 4-core It is best to go Sandy Bridge or whatever that latest Phenom is. Secondly does his applications take advantage of quad core as not that many apps are 4-core thread aware yet. I know many games aren’t
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/17 "2011-03-28T11:20:28Z")
> [@evane](#):
>
> Velociraptors for the cost versus performance don’t make sense anymore compared to SSD’s. I wonder if they ever fixed the noise issues with them. They where LOOOUUUD in the first gens and some of the early first gens I heard had the same issues.
>
> ---------- Post added at 02:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
>
> Yes I have a Corsair Force line SSD
The main thing with Velociraptors is bigger size. They now make a 600GB I think Velociraptor. The noise really isn’t an issue, and the early VRs were only 1.5Gb/s. I’d like to quiet down my entire rig but, cooling and performance outweighs noise IMO. If you have the change I’d definitely buy an SSD…a reputable SSD
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### Author:  [@evane](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/evane)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/18 "2011-03-28T13:29:49Z")
> [@ProgRocker](#):
>
> The main thing with Velociraptors is bigger size. They now make a 600GB I think Velociraptor. The noise really isn’t an issue, and the early VRs were only 1.5Gb/s. I’d like to quiet down my entire rig but, cooling and performance outweighs noise IMO. If you have the change I’d definitely buy an SSD…a reputable SSD
Unless your overclocking how is cooling ever a issue most stock fans cool more than adequately and secondly SSD produce little heat. I still think a SSD for boot drive plus certain apps that benefit from it installed to C: then use your existing HD as a “Apps” Drive.
_edit_
Reputable subjective… Right now stick to Anything Sandforce 1400 based (corsair force was), Crucial, or OCZ Vertex or Agility lines. There are others, there are tons of good articles on tech sites about how to choose a SSD.
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### Author:  [@ProgRocker](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ProgRocker)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/19 "2011-03-28T14:29:50Z")
I meant…even if the hard drive was “loud” it is paired with fans whirring, drives spinning, etc. I’m not worried about noise.
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### Author:  [@Darksyde](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Darksyde)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/worth-upgrading-my-processor/210533/20 "2011-03-28T15:26:03Z")
Ultimate Electronics on Walden has SSD’s for 50% off. I believe they were only 30gb models. But I think they were like $50 due to the store closing.