Intel Celeron G1820 for gaming?

[viksenpai]

Yes, you heard me right. For the past couple of months I've constantly downgraded my desired PC specifications and I've come to the lowest possible (almost) spot.

I've found some perfectly perfectly working parts - GTX 275, 450W CM PSU, some HDs and a case. So, seing how the GPU is pretty old, I was thinking that even the slowest new-gen CPU won't bottleneck it at all. Also, the PC with the forementioned GTX 275 currently has an Core 2 Duo E7200 processor, so even a 42$ CPU will be a twofold (maybe less, but no less than 50% for sure) increase in computing power. The cheapest 1150 mobo (amazingly with SATA 3 and USB 3.0) is around the same price and another 70$ for 8 gigs of RAM. So a total of 150$. I'll have a discount, so it's 120-125$. I'll probably add a small SSD, but that shouldn't influence your opinion.

So, my questions:
1. Is this a viable upgrade over the E7200, 4GB DDR2 RAM configuration? Am I correct that the CPU won't bottleneck the GTX 275?
2. Do you think it's worth it?
3. I'm currently using a Acer Aspire 5740G with an i5 M 430 CPU, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 and 4GB (dunno the frequency, I'm guessing 1333Mhz) RAM. My proposed configuration should be better than this too, right (the GPU for sure, I was testing a game on both and the tower PC with the GTX 275 got over 30-40% better FPS, despite the crappy CPU)? But will I feel it?
4. Now do you think it's worth it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[logainofhades]

Considering that Celeron isn't really much faster than an E8600, I don't think getting said CPU is worth it. You would be better off picking up a used E8400 and clocking it to 4.0ghz.

 

[lmaonade200]

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/360/Intel_Celeron_Dual-Core_G1820_vs_Intel_Core_2_Duo_E7200.html

yes it is a viable upgrade, and no your CPU won't bottleneck a GTX 275 (how'd you even find one btw, those are old old old), and you're right on the mark, theoretically the celeron is over 50% stronger than the Core2 Duo in single core/thread applications.

I think it's worth it, although 120 bucks not an amount of money to be throwing around, it's still fairly inexpensive for a significant computer upgrade imo.

since you are comparing a desktop to a laptop, your Celeron will still be faster, and you'll probably feel the difference day to day because of the overall power of the system (so graphics)

it's still worth it imo, it's "only" 120 bucks after all, 100 bucks is a lot but it's not like it's hard to earn back, I got about 100 bucks for doing community service the other day so yeah

 

[CaedenV]

I would go with at least a Pentium processor. I use a Pentium G2020 at work and while it is OK for desk work it chokes enough just playing windows desktop card games even though the system has a dedicated GPU... and to think that a Celery processor would be even weaker than that...

A higher newer Pentium like the G3430 or a low to midrange i3 is really going to be the way to go.

If you are really looking at a low end game rig then look into an APU. Something with a quad core is going to make a difference in games, even if they are small gutless cores.

 

[logainofhades]

Still say not worth it. You can pick up an E8400 for like $25 on ebay all day long.

Nowhere near 50% better even in apps than an E8400.

 

[CaedenV]

Still say not worth it.

Agreed, Celery and Pentium CPUs are OK for office work and web browsing... but man are they gutless when it comes to multimedia and games. An upper end Pentium should be a minimum just to get games playable. An i3 with the better onboard graphics package may even be better than the GPU he is considering using...

 

[lmaonade200]

Go with the above 2, E8400 uses the same socket as your current one so the costs will be much lower.

 

[CaedenV]

True... should be able to find a Core2Quad for cheap online. Maybe out of a non-working system?

 

[viksenpai]

Is it really that bad?
According to tests and benchmarks (sure, sure, they don't count), the G1820 is better than the CPU in my laptop.

And yeah, I may have mislead you. By gaming I don't mean hardcore new-gen stuff, I don't need Crysis 3, just some older games like Skyrim, D3, Planetside 2. And the laptop is only a little far from that. Wouldn't a better CPU and a better GPU give me the necessary boost for a minimal amount of money? Or is the Celly just bad even in old games?

Edit: Ok, I posted before reading the previous 2 comments. I guess that sums it up. Thank you all, I'll just pick one of the comments as a solution.

 

[lmaonade200]

the Celeron G1820 is better than the CPU in your laptop, however it doesn't always translate into real gains in terms of actual performance, sure the Celeron can run so and so % more instructions per cycle than your original 2 processors, but whether or not that translates into real, noticeable difference depends on many other factors too.

and imo the best boost you can get from your money is simply the GPU

 

[logainofhades]

The CPU really isn't all that much better. You are far better off buying an E8400 and clocking it than spending all that money on a pitiful amount of performance increase. Performance/$ the E8400 wins vs an ivy or haswell celeron. I forget where the 275 sits performance wise, but I am fairly certain a $150 current GPU would stomp it easily. Actually, looking at Anandtech bench, a 285 gets beat by the lowly GTX 650 ti. This R7 260x would be even better.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffiliateid=1000031504&sku=91928&vpn=R7260X-DC2OC-2GD5&manufacture=ASUS

 

[CaedenV]

Is it really that bad?
According to tests and benchmarks (sure, sure, they don't count), the G1820 is better than the CPU in my laptop.

And yeah, I may have mislead you. By gaming I don't mean hardcore new-gen stuff, I don't need Crysis 3, just some older games like Skyrim, D3, Planetside 2. And the laptop is only a little far from that. Wouldn't a better CPU and a better GPU give me the necessary boost for a minimal amount of money? Or is the Celly just bad even in old games?

As I said, my Pentium G2020 at work (better than a Celery) chokes on majong and card games... not sure it is a prime candidate for any real games, even if they are older. A higher end Core2Duo, or a Core2Quad is probably going to be the better option... and then you don't need to buy a motherboard and stuff... though maybe 4-8GB of ram would be a worthy investment.

 

[lmaonade200]

The CPU really isn't all that much better. You are far better off buying an E8400 and clocking it than spending all that money on a pitiful amount of performance increase. Performance/$ the E8400 wins vs an ivy or haswell celeron. I forget where the 275 sits performance wise, but I am fairly certain a $150 current GPU would stomp it easily.

it will, but he doesn't have to pay any money since he already has the 275, so performance/price is infinite in this case

 

[CaedenV]

Oh, and Skyrim... very CPU intensive game. I have an i7 and it seems to manage to keep all 4 of the real cores quite busy. Can't imagine playing that game on a duel core system... much less a slow duel core system.

 

[logainofhades]

Oh, and Skyrim... very CPU intensive game. I have an i7 and it seems to manage to keep all 4 of the real cores quite busy. Can't imagine playing that game on a duel core system... much less a slow duel core system.

Skyrim can play just fine on a dual core system.

 

[viksenpai]

Yeah, it would probably be a better move to wait a couple of months and buy a better rig, something with an i3 (say 3240) and a 260x or even 270. But that's for the near future.

 

[viksenpai]

I found an E8500 for 40$. Considering that in my country the cheapest second hand E8400 that I found was 30-35$, I'm thinking of taking the deal.

Is it a nice improvement over E8400?

 

[logainofhades]

It has the potential to overclock better due to the higher multiplier. You won't hit the FSB wall quite as quickly. For the small price difference over the E8400, I say that is a good buy.

 

[Me_Shock]

It has the potential to overclock better due to the higher multiplier. You won't hit the FSB wall quite as quickly. For the small price difference over the E8400, I say that is a good buy.

I'm surprised that nobody care about old socket LGA775. I try to explain the trouble of this: I have Old PC on Windows 7x64 UpToDate, new DirectX and ForceWare for Playing Crysis Wars PS "FSP" 500Wt, MB "Asus P5K", Q6600 2,4 @3,4Ghz(asus silent knight ii, arctic cooling mx-4, 1Mb SuperPi 1,5 ~ 21sec) 2*2Gb hynix original 800Mhz, "ASUS" ENGTX560 DCII OC. And when modern than 5:5 players come on map - i'm start to feeling to much laaaaags :-( I sure, that is my old overklocked CPU (((
sry 4my english 🙂

 

[logainofhades]

Your whole system is kinda on the old side. Your CPU is slower than an i3 4130 and you only have 4gb of ram. Your GPU is about on par with an HD 7790.

 

[ITFT]

Oh, and Skyrim... very CPU intensive game. I have an i7 and it seems to manage to keep all 4 of the real cores quite busy. Can't imagine playing that game on a duel core system... much less a slow duel core system.

You don't need the i7 to run Skyrim, in fact you don't need the i7 to run ANY GAMES, the top i5 will give you exactly the same FPS as the top i7...

I would stick with the Celeron and upgade it to the i5 in the future!

iTFT Computers