Best socket775 CPU currently

[Superjackson]

Hello, I just put together an HTPC from some random parts I had come across, and am looking for a boost in the CPU department. My old AMD x2 3800 was actually faster than the Intel PentiumD 820 I have. The motherboard was from an eMachines T5224, with 4GB of DDR2 RAM, ATI HD5550, and several WD hard drives with an Antec 400W PSU. Which socket 775 processor would be best to upgrade too? I need it to run cool, and I play WoW on the big screen, and backup DVDs. I was looking at the Core2Duo E7500 or the Quad Q8300, but was also told that the Celeron E3300 was a great choice too. Any help is greatly appreciated. Snappiness and smoothness while gaming/watching videos is key.

 

[Terabyte1]

Dual core is very reliable, core 2 duo has great performance and is slightly cheaper than the quad but if I had a large amount of cash to spend I would get the quad just because it would be more future proof than the core 2 duo. Also games are starting to use multi-core. I also heard the core 2 quad was good for video encoding. Just look it up on the web and compare the two cpus performance. And make sure your motherboard is fully compatible with the cpu your gonna buy. Hope this helps

 

[pokher]

Hello, I just put together an HTPC from some random parts I had come across, and am looking for a boost in the CPU department. My old AMD x2 3800 was actually faster than the Intel PentiumD 820 I have. The motherboard was from an eMachines T5224, with 4GB of DDR2 RAM, ATI HD5550, and several WD hard drives with an Antec 400W PSU. Which socket 775 processor would be best to upgrade too? I need it to run cool, and I play WoW on the big screen, and backup DVDs. I was looking at the Core2Duo E7500 or the Quad Q8300, but was also told that the Celeron E3300 was a great choice too. Any help is greatly appreciated. Snappiness and smoothness while gaming/watching videos is key.

The CPU has nothing to do with you playing on your big screen.Thats all your video card there.Any CPU that you get thats past model E6*** needs a bios update.So anything after this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116367) will need an update.