ok i want to build something new, and ive been reading around but i cant make a decision. i have the parts in my sig that i can reuse if need be which will either be the cpu or the motherboard. the problem is i cant decide between getting the E8400 or GA-EX38-DS4 (or recommend a better board)
The 965P-DS3 is still a decent motherboard, but it'll probably need a BIOS flash to support an E8400, better check with Gigabyte on that one.
yea i checked on that already, they have a new bios for it (F13o) but it says its still in beta, but the main reason i was considering a new mobo was because it wont let me overclock my e4300 past 3.15GHz. but you think a e8400 would be a better choice? or should i wait for some more wolfdale models to come out?
3.15Ghz is as far as I can get my E4300 with the P35-DS3R, the chip can't go much beyond that without high voltages. I personally think the ex38-ds4 is overkill considering you already have a decent board, an E8400 seems a much logical choice, if you can get a reliable BIOS to support it.
You can expect about 3.6 Ghz without OC'ing your Ram. You don't really need a newer motherboard either. The fact that the E8400 has three times the L2 cache will help performance too.
That's the E8400 right? lol As for not needing a new motherboard, I agree, on the proviso that a stable BIOS will run it. The P35 boards seem to accept the new CPU even without the required update, but I don't know if that goes for the 965 too.
aren't 965p chipset outdated?...if it was me i'll go for the mobo, but like you said it's a over kill. E8400 is a better option if the mobo can support it
It's old, but not that old, and when it was new it was an awesome board. It's still well up to the task of powering a top end PC.
Out of all those, the E8400 is probably what I'd have, even though they're £200, mainly because of how outrageously fast it is. That's if I was rich though. Right now I'm sticking with my 4300 until Quad cores offer significant benefits in games, and when they do I'll probably get something along the lines of a 9450.
