Forum

i3/5/7 is pointless for those who have a solid 775 platform (good RAM/Board). For those that have a lower end (such as OEM) and older 775 (65nm dual), going to a quad on the new platform would be more worthwhile if you have the money. But, it's just not in Killaman's budget. It's certainly a tough choice in Killaman's shoes. If it were me, before buying, I would whip out task manager and GPU-Z and see which is pushed harder and upgrade that. I haven't had any experience with SetFSB but if it does what Knight says, go for it, you can usually go pretty far on stock volts and I find OEM's to use slightly higher than stock volts. I don't think 2.7 or 2.8GHz is out of the question.

You should figure out what you're using the most of. You might be maxing out your graphics card more than the CPU. The CPU will be an upgrade, it WILL help FPS and when you go to sell it to get a new rig, you'll get more since it's a newer high-end chip.

Yea, I kind of wished I tried the full retail version on my dual before I popped my quad in, I could give you a more definitive answer as to whether or not you would see a huge difference. The beta ran like crap but it's hard to tell what was going on in there. Look at it like this though, maybe by the time you upgrade, a i5 or i7 could be in your price range (not saying you're poor, but they're still outrageously priced).

Killaman, the answer is simple; cost. There's motherboards that have solder pads/holes for various features such as AGP, PCI-E and other chips but if you strip features, it costs less. Also it appears that the 530's with the G33M02 have a lower power supply.

If I were in your position, I would buy a new motherboard. Something that could be a drop-in replacement (i.e. supports your current CPU, Memory, GPU) that you could use to overclock or that would support newer CPU's. There's only 1 problem with doing this though, OEM's like to have proprietary front panel connectors so I don't know what you would do. Again, if it was me, I would re-wire the front panel connectors but you may not have the means or desire to do that. Now, you COULD purchase a new mobo and case and probably be under $150 for a nice setup. Lastly, I don't think the E8500 is worth it for you unless you can overclock it which you can't.