Which CPU to get for Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L mobo

[idata]

Hi,

I have been building my new PC and have a question about which processor to use with a Gigabyte GA-EP43-S3L motherboard at the following URL:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2848&ProductName=GA-EP43-S3L http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2848&ProductName=GA-EP43-S3L

My question is, I can't seem to work out which CPU will be best for this mobo that will be running Windows 7 32bit version (not 64bit):

1. Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz, 6MB L2, 1333MHz 45nm, or
2. Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz, 6MB L2, 1333MHz, or
3. Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 3.33GHz, 6MB L2, 1333MHz, or
4. Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.00 GHz, 12MB Cache, 1333 MHz FSB?

The website explains that it supports 45nm Intel Core 2 multi-core processors with FSB 1600 (O.C.) MHz

Dual channel DDR2 1200+

Other hardware components in my configuration are

• Gigabyte GTX275 GPU
• 4GB DDR2 800 RAM
• WD VelociRaptor 300GB HDD for applications and OS
• 1TB WD black HDD for data/storage

Any advice here would be greatly appreciated

[Edward_Z_Intel]

Firstly all 4 processor you listed here are 64-bit processors, meaning they can run both 32-bit and 64-bit operating system. The only difference between E8400, E8500 and E8600 is frequency, while Q9650 has 4 cores. See a detailed comparison here: http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=35428,33910,33911,35605, http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=35428,33910,33911,35605,.

Now which one to choose really depends on your application/usage. If you need a lot of computing power (image processing, video encoding, etc.) then Q9650 will definitely deliver better performance. Some performance benchmarks are available here: http://www.intel.com/performance/desktop/digoffice/index.htm?iid=perf_desktop_lhn+digital_office