Q9300 vs E8400

[dem1an]

Alright, I trust you guys and rely on your responses to guide my purchases. With the price between these 2 processors so close ($30), what would be the better long term investment? I am imagining that I may get 4Ghz out of the E8400 and 3.3Ghz out of the Q9300. Which one would be cooler @ these speeds? I also don't need a processor that runs me out of my office due to the furnace.

I'm leaning towards the Quad with Windows 7 around the corner and perhaps more games utilizing the multi-processors. I'm thinking it may have better longevity. What do you think?

 

[White_Pawn]

wat are the specs of the rest of your rig?

 

[dem1an]

wat are the specs of the rest of your rig?

Don't scold me, but I got an EVGA 780i mobo. I know that's probably not the best OC choice. I am considering stepping up to the FTW version.

I've got an EVGA 260 GTX and I'll probably go SLI after not too long. I'm running 1900 x 1200. I also got a 300GB Velociraptor. I have 4 x 1 GB of Buffalo Firestix (D9GMH).

Water cooling wise, I have yet to CPU block, but I do have a pump and Thermochill 120x3 and a big case to play in.

Btw, do you have to reinstall the OS going from a 780i to 780i FTW?