Upgradig hardware

While it's the best you'll get get, and a good bit faster than what you have, overhauling everything to get a Core i7 PC is not really worth it from a price to performance perspective versus what you have now when you can either overclock that CPU now, or grab a single part (motherboard, okay, maybe two if you need a CPU cooler) to enable you to do so and still get full speed (unless you really care about actually playing in software mode). I'm pretty sure the E6700 can hit the mid 3.0GHz range, give or take, which would be plenty. My E8400 at 3.6GHz, heck, even at stock, was fine for many (most of my) games.

Why would a certain CPU not work with Windows XP? Of course it will. I'd either get a motherboard that let you overclock your current CPU, or the E8400 and save a few bucks ($22 difference here), instead.

StriderVM said:

The nearest upgrade is the E8500. Which is quite expensive, but then with proper cooling, it can get to 4Ghz.

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Isn't it contradictory to suggest the amount of cash he'd have to spend on replacing everything for the gains he'd get versus calling replacing one part expensive, when it really isn't even that expensive (especially when you can substitute the E8400 and pretty much have the same thing)?

Yeah, that "sounds" nice and all, but the reality is...

1. The price/performance of going from what he has now to that would be terrible, given he's asking about better PC performance and not relaying that he has the money/will for a new system and a dissatisfaction with his new system. If that were true, then, yes, a new overhaul would be a good idea, but people need to stop assuming this is always the case around here. His system is still good, and I don't see the thread being made because he's dissatisfied with it. He's just looking for more performance in PCSX2, so he needs a little more CPU power. It's better from a price/performance perspective to just drop in a better CPU and/or get a better motherboard to let him overclock versus overhauling the entire whole thing with points that, while true by themselves, don't matter a single bit.

2. There would be no point going with a Q-anything over a good E8x00 now. In fact, the gains that'd bring if he wasn't going to overclock wouldn't be worth it over his current CPU as it stands. The only reason for getting more than two cores is if...

A. He has specific needs for one (yep, they're still useless versus more speed in 99% of things), which he has not stated, or...

B. you simply get the extra two cores from moving onto an upcoming standard (Core i7, Phenom II) that already has them by default for most models.

Really, I sometimes wonder if people around here know how to read into the specific situations when these sorts of questions come up, or if they just go "hardware dying, not best there is, not enough cores, etc., so avoid doing" type of responses. To suggest not going with Core 2 because "it's a dying platform" (moot since he's already on it), and then to suggest wasting money on a Q9550 versus a Core 2 Duo really has me scratching me head. I see him saying this...

Super Nest said:

I mean If I'm only going to gain a few more frames in Ps2 or Dolphin games then it's not worth the upgrade.

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...and yes, while a new PC will perform better, for the price he'd have to pay to overhaul most, or maybe all, of the whole PC compared to the increase in PCSX2 and Dolphin, it'd be a waste of a money. That's ultimately the bottom line here, and it's one that people often don't seem to get, and I'm not about to suggest him to waste his money after he just said that. Had he came in saying he wanted a new system, was dissatisfied with his current one, and/or was willing to pay for one, then it might be different...