Dual Core Intel Processor
 

I'm looking into buying a new processor for my computer. Right now I have an Intel Pentium D, I contacted Gateway and they told me that I can only buy processors compatible with Socket T (LGA 775) in my motherboard, which totally rules out AMD.

This leaves me with having to buy an Intel Processor. Since I mostly use my computer to play video games, I need something powerfull. And that something is a multi core processor.

Ive looked around but was left dazed and confused as to what is what and how well it performs, so I need help finding the best Intel Dual Core processor for the price range of 200-250 dollars.

Now, I realise processors aren't everything. I have a 500 dollar budget for my computer upgrades. Give or take around 50 dollars under special circumstances. Since i'm spending around 200 dollars on my processor, i will be upgrading my Radeon X800 to something better (around 200-250 dollars as well), with Pixel Shader 3.0 support. And whatever money I have left will go towards more RAM.

Any suggestions are more then welcome, but this question is mostly about a new processor, since I know virtually nothing about those.

Finally getting rid of a X800? I yet to have gotten rid of mine yet..desperatley need to though :(.

Anyways the E6750 for $200 is probably the best price/performance ratio Core 2 Duo out.

And for a video card, what games do you plan to be playing?

One other thing though, do you know your Power Supply? If it isn't powerful enough you may have to upgrade it aswell.

My Power Supply is 300 Watt. I couldn't find anything about the processor's requirements though.

For gaming, you don't really need to upgrade. If you do upgrade, then as SteVen said Core 2 Duo is the way to go. However, it would be helpful to know which motherboard you have. Not all motherboards that support the Pentium D support the Core 2 Duo as well.

You should upgrade your Power supply so you can have more power for a more power hungry video card.

I think it would be much easier if i could just post my system specs. Do you guys know of any free detecting software? Anything really.

As for the games I plan to play... Im gonna stick to Battlefield 2\2142, it'd be nice if i could run those on full graphics. The last two games i bought (and stopped at that) were Supreme Commander and S.T.A.L.K.E.R., both of which ran so miserably I decided it's not even worth my time. Other than that I play CS:Source, and a couple other source games, as well as REALLY old stuff like Fallout. There are a couple new games I wanted to play but can't because of my graphics card, specifically Spider-Man 3, and Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Plus there are a coule games soon to come out that im looking forward to playing, and with my current setup, cant.

I'm actually kind of confused as to Pentium D... Is it a god damned dual core or not?
When I run the gateway detector it says i have Pentium 4, yet i bought the computer advertised as with Pentium D, and that's what it says on the computer itself. And if D is a dual core, it sure doesn't seem to perform like one... What's the difference between Pentium D and Core 2 Duo?

There's one called CPU-Z for detecting what kind of cpu you have.

All Pentium D processors are dual core, all Pentium 4 processors are single core. In short, Core 2 Duos are the replacement for the Pentium 4/D processors. They're considerably faster, but the processor isn't really that important in games.

I disagree the CPU is the second most importand for gaming.
Bioshock for example you need a Core 2 Duo to run it at a good pace.

I can run Bioshock on my 5600X2 and 8600GTS and 2x 1GB PC6400 with no problems. Or are you referring to Intel CPU's only?

Blindwatchmaker

how much system memory do you have?

What speed or model is your CPU?

DO NOT GET ANY INTEL DUAL CORE CPU that starts with E4 anything. It is my understanding that these are repackaged Pentium D's that Intel is trying to pawn off as economy processors.

You can download 3D MARK 2006 free version, install it, start it and on right in System bo click on details button and it will tell you what your CPU, video card and RAM is.

IMHO...

You should try to get to 2GB of RAM

Any dual core CPU over 2.6GHz is pretty good. Since you already have a Pentium D a new CPU is the last place I would spend. I think you will see the most difference with new RAM and a good video card.

A good video card. Since your on a budget I recommend the MSI 8600GTS for $159 or a ATI HD 2600XT (but get the GDDR4 version)

Hmmm lets see

$90 fro RAM
$160 for video card
$90 for a good PSU

Your at $340.

The CPU is important for gaming, but it's not like he's running an old Celeron here. To me, regardless of the small gaming increase, the overall system performance increase with a Core2Duo would make upgrading to one worthwhile so long as the current board supports it.

What video card are you running? Chances are you'd get alot more gaming performance by just throwing $200 (or whatever) at that instead. Type "dxdiag" in the Start -->Run... window and look under the display tab.

{edit} Nevermind, I see it's an x800... Upgrade that. Go with the advice in the post above.

My budget would be somewhere around 500 dollars tops. That's already a buttload of money im willing to throw into my computer.

My main issue is that I can't afford to upgrade my computer often. What I do now has to last me for about 2 years. So while Pentium D is sufficient now. It might very likely become obsolete in a year.

Here you go, my system specs are as follows:

Processor:
Intel Pentium D 820 (2.80GHz)

Motherboard:
Intel D945GCZ

Memory:
DDR2 1024 MBytes

Graphics Card:
Radeon X800 Series
256 MB
----------------
Anything else?

Upgrade your ram from 1 gig of ram to 2 gigs then get a 320 Geforce 8800 GTS for that budget.

But that still leaves me with the Pentium D issue... What are you guys' thoughts on that?

The Pentium D should be just fine, it is no slouch even though it's no Core 2 your CPU still got 2 CPUs witch should last you antore year or two.

According to Intel's compatibility chart, your board can't support a C2D processor. Adding a new motherboard would increase the cost at least another $50-75. You could probably stretch a couple years out of that Pentium D and just get some more ram and a really good video card.

Add 1 or 2gb of ram, and buy an 8800 GTS 320MB. That should make you quite happy while gaming compared to your current setup.

One thing to keep in mind though is if you really want to stretch your video card $$, the nvidia 9 series cards (9800GTS, etc) are supposed to be released very soon (in about 2 months). They say they really leave the 8 series cards in the dust performance-wise. Could be worth waiting a couple months on buying the video card and just buy the ram for now.

That Nvidia 9 thing sounds intriguing, is there any price estimate so far?

The new lineups are usually fairly similar in pricing to the current lineup, add maybe 10-20% for the first few months. A super high end 9800GTX might be $600-$700, where the more down to earth high end card like a 9800GTS would be $300-$350.

Waiting for the next generation also has the added benefit of forcing 8 series price cuts, and an 8 series would still be a good option.

Oblivious how do you know the 9 Geforces are coming soon?

It's the rumored release date. It's also said Nvidia may be aiming to release a new series in Q4 of every year.

Here's a random hearsay thread on the 9 series. Here's another thread. Pinch of salt optional...

Actually, the Core 2 Duo is pointless now, because as Oblivious pointed out, its incompatible with my motherboard. So now I need to upgrade my GFXCard and Ram...

Why is my word format different from yours??

oh! I don't notice that the Core 2 Duo is not incompatible with your motherboard, :eek:. I don't help you at all...:(

Actually... It is incompatible.

But we all know what you meant :p.