Help me choose a new CPU!

[manrossdamn 57]

Well as the title states, I am in desperate need of a new CPU, my old-school "Pentium Dual-Core" Just wont cut it in today's CPU heavy applications.

I have studdering games, thats how bad it is

I am looking at two CPU's, oh and this is for a LGA 775 socket.

I'm working this weekend and I will have around $250+-.

I was looking at the Intel Q9505

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115060&cm_re=Lga_775-_-19-115-060-_-Product

And the Intel Q8500

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115207

The Q9505 has a 50% more cache, and clock rate.

But cost a little bit over 80$ more.

As for the Q8500, it has a lower clockrate, about .3ghz difference.

And has a 4MB Cache compared to 6MB.

I just want to have this system for the next couple of years till i get out of college, haha.

So I'm not looking to go and buy a whole new system, ex: 1156 socket, I7, AMD X6, and DDR.

That's for another day.

Thanks, opinions are welcome

Edited December 16, 2010 by ManRossDamn

[manrossdamn 57]

Anybody have any insight on these two cpu's?

o:

[manrossdamn 57]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130562

Or should I just upgrade my videocard from a GTX 9800+..

I also have 4GB of DDR2 ram at 833Mhz.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Which mobo do you have?

A faster CPU may help a little, but the Vid card upgrade, and if possible, a faster RAM would be more beneficial, especially the vid card if yours is much older than the one you linked. Today's games are much more dependent on the power and speed of the BUS (PCIE), the memory and the power and memory of the video card than before. I can remember the days when CPU power and RAM were the top need for a fast gaming machine. They're still important, but not nearly as much as the video card and bus speeds.

My guess is you're limited by memory and bus bandwidth.

[holley2346 6]

I used to be deep into this stuff a couple of years back. It has changed so much now that I am out of the loop.

[manrossdamn 57]

Haha it is just a simple thing I need to fix.

It's an.. Foxconn Mirco-Atx board.

It's good for what I'm using.

The CPU bottlenecks after playing some games, and causes stuttering. Even when overclocked 25% more from 2.4ghz to 3.0ghz.

My video card usage hasn't been past 70% so that's fine.

[manrossdamn 57]

double post -.-

Edited December 16, 2010 by ManRossDamn

[Shogen 325]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0328258

^^ Good processor and sub $100 and quad core and 6MB cache... I currently have a Q9550 and its almost on par. Tested both out and very little difference in real world performance.... GL!

[manrossdamn 57]

Thank you Shogen!

That is an amazing price..

I will consider it over the weekend

[gcs8 10]

i loved my q9550 in my old mini tower oc'ed right up to 3.4gh with a small after market cooler, your temps might also be high or your thermal past might have gone bad unless you used AS5. i also recommend not using the stock heat sink.

the 9800 was a good card back in the day but you can get a nice gtx460 for 160-200 depending of what card specs you are looking for.

if you would like links to all my hardware choices let me know i will go link hunting for you.