Looking for processor upgrade. A) is it worth it B)what should I get?

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stainer711

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Here is my current setup:

E7200 2.53ghz @ 3.4ghz 3mb l2cache
gtx 260 650/1160
2 gigs ram

I'm under the impression that my low cache and core 2 duo processor is inhibiting my gameplay performance. (Especially in Far cry 2). I'm looking to upgrade the processor for around 200 dollars. I'm definitely going to overclock whatever I get, so I want something with the high cache of the upper end processors so that it will be virtually identical to them once overclocked. I have my eye on this processor:

Newegg.com - Core 2 Quad, Processors - Desktops, CPUs / Processors, Computer Hardware

What are your thoughts/opinions? Would it be worth upgrading?
 
I think Tomshardware said that a 6mb cache is about 4% faster clock for clock over 3mb (something like 4%). So not a huge difference unless you can overclock the new cpu higher (e8400 does clock high). But I would think a 3.4ghz e7200 would fair pretty well in games.
 
I'm looking at the q9300. I've found a place where I can get it for 215, but it only has a 6mb L2 cache compared to the q6600's 8mb cache. My processor does fair pretty well. The only game that it gives me problems is Far Cry 2.
 
i can max out fc2 at 1680x1050 and average about 40-60fps. my q9300 has only seen about 3.1ghz overclocking so far but i think i can get it higher
 
so do you think that it would be worth upgrading from the e7200 to the q6600? It seems like from what I'm reading there isn't much of a boost in gaming from using a quad core compared to using a core 2 duo. If i'm going to upgrade I want to see a large boost in performance. The far cry 2 benchmarks make the q6600 out to be the best deal.
 
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