T9300 a worthwhile upgrade?

I'm happy with my P6831 just as it is. I can play any game out there with decent FPS, but I was interested in getting a better CPU than the stock Core2 E5450. Not that it's bad though. The T9300 seems really expensive at well over $300, and there's a chance I might mess up the installation. Is this CPU that much better for games? Most games are GPU intensive anyway. I don't want to pay over $350 just to get another 1300 in 3DMark 2006. I run Crysis with everything on HIGH except shadows and textures which I run at MEDIUM, and it's still playable, though not exactly smooth. For those who have upgraded to the T9300, what do you guys think?

 

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2008/03/14/Zepto-Znote-3415W/p5

you can compare it to meroms here.
looks like this Zepto is very fast but worth it , I 'd say no.

 

I can see that a lot of you have read this post but nor responded to it. I assume that the vast majority here have not upgraded to the T9300. One other thought I had was how the upgrade would affect my warranty. I assume it would void the warranty on the system.

 

Well I upgraded mine to a T8300 processor and I did see quite a notable improvement in my boot time as well as performance. Yes anytime you open the computer and replace a major component such as the CPU then yes it will void the warranty. If you put the processor in wrong or damage any of the motherboard components while performing the upgrade then Gateway is not going to accept responsibility. However if you are knowledgable of computers then you shouldnt hurt anything by upgrading the processor and there is a guide on this forum to explain to you how to do it if needed.But you should be fine if you decide to upgrade or not.

 

I like to do video encoding, so yes, the t9300 was worth it. You mentioned Crysis, I did pick up few frames here and there. I think most will agree that a lot of games are GPU limited so your 5450 will do just fine.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=218971&highlight=t9300

 

I'd wait for C2Quads... Pretty sure the cheapest C2Q will smoke even a high end C2D such as T9300.

 

maybe in encoding, but in gaming not really...actually the quad will likely have a lower clock speed which will make it slower. And dropping a quad in it won't be cheap.
The T8300 is a better price/performance chip IMO 240 bucks last time I checked.

 

Well, a T9300 isn't exactly affordable itself. Pretty sure a low-end C2Q would be in the same ball park.

As for T8300, my opinion is that you might as well get a T8100; it's only 300MHz difference. I generally don't go for higher-ended CPUs unless I need the extra cache because the process speed is so insignificant of an upgrade.