Best bang for the buck CPU?

[JEDI]

i have (had) a sempron 3100 so i've been away from the cpu arena for a few years.

seems everything nowadays is dual core, with quad core coming out.

I plan to use it primarily for gaming (ie: Supreme Commander II, or whatever the expansion is)

so i guess low end dualcore/x2 is best bang?

if so, recommendations?

if not, then what type of cpu is best bang nowadays?

THX

 

[classy]

Are you overclocking?

 

[bryanW1995]

it's tough to go wrong with an e 2160. Most can creep up near the 3 ghz range on that if oc'ing. If you're not going to oc, it's a little bit more complicated. Depending on your price range you could go with either amd or intel. How much do you want to spend.

 

[Emulex]

e2140's (1mb l2) seem to go from 1.6 to 3.2 pretty easy

e4300's (2mb l2 cache was $55 recently) can go from 1.8 to 2.4ghz almost guaranteed on stock voltage/typical heatpipe cooling. i just did a xw4400 hp workstation, ran orthos all weekend and played a few high def videos that couldn't use purevideo hd so it had to chew up cpu.

Since the boxen used Royalt oem o/s it was easier to just pad mod it and be happy with what i got. Plus i've got a 3/3/3/nbd-onsite warranty so i can just undo the mod with some nail polish and if it breaks i'll be good to go.

 

[SerpentRoyal]

E2140, E2160, E4300, or E4400. Go with the cheapest chip you can get your hands on. Pair this chip with the Abit IP35-E at MWAVE...$70 AR. You have a 50/50 chance of hitting 3.2GHz overclock. See my review @ MB forum. The $22 AR 1GB DDR2 667 HP/Crucial RAM will also work well with this combo. Board will POST with four sticks.

 

[Synomenon]

Best bang for the buck in what price range?

 

[SerpentRoyal]

The major bottleneck for current games is the GPU if you can get the C2D chip north of 3.0GHz. All C2D chips use the same basic design. The cheaper models have less onboard cache.

 

[Conroe]

E2160

 

[lopri]

It's not easy to overclock E2140 (1.6GHz) to 3.2GHz. There are reports of such overclocks on the net, but it's a rare feat where everything (CPU/mobo/memory) has to be capable. Considering the price/performance gap, I should say E21x0 series aren't really the chips to go for if you overclock. E4x00 series will give you much better bang/bucks. L2 cache's role is quite big with C2Ds.

 

[geokilla]

Toms Hardware recently did an article on overclocking the E2160 from 1.8 to 3.2Ghz. They say that they got 2 E2160s and they both got almost the same result. If you can get that kind of overclock, then well, you're lucky I guess. I can only get my X2 to 2.4Ghz, but that's because I'm stuck with stock cooling...

Anyways here's the link. I think they reached 3.2 on stock cooling.

 

[jjmIII]

e2140 @ 3.2Ghz

 

[Pabster]

E21X0 series by far. IMHO, of course.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: geokilla
Toms Hardware recently did an article on overclocking the E2160 from 1.8 to 3.2Ghz. They say htat they got 2 E2160s and they both got almost the same result. If you can get that kind of overclock, then well, you're lucky I guess. I can only get my X2 to 2.4Ghz, but that's because I'm stuck with stock cooling...

Anyways here's the link. I think they reached 3.2 on stock cooling.

They used a whopping 1.5v. He never said if he was overclocking or not, I think that will determine what would be the best bang for the buck.

 

[boomhower]

I have full confidence my 2160 will hit 3.2, probably a little more. It went straight to 3.0 with only a nudge of VCORE, but I had to stop there do to temps. Right now I am stuck with the woefully inadequate aluminum core stock cooler until I can get my water gear together.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: classy
Are you overclocking?

yes, i plan to oc if i can.

how's this deal?


Inspiron 531s

Inspiron Desktop 531s Slim Tower: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 3800+ (2.0GHZ)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic (i plan ti wipe and install winXP anyway)

system Price : $249.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Operating System:Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Memory: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM 677MHz (2 DIMMs)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hard Disk Drive: 160 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modem: 56K DataFax Modem
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Certified Refurbished
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Bay
48X CD RW/DVD Combo Drive
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Software Upgrade
Microsoft Works 8.5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hardware Upgrade
USB Keyboard
Dell Optical USB 2-button Mouse

 

[JEDI]

are there any intel or amd dual core cpu's i should avoid? and why should i avoid them?

 

[HOOfan 1]

Dell locks their BIOS so you cannot overclock. My Dell 8200 with a P4 Wiallamette...had a small passive heatsink so it wouldn't OC well if they didn't...my guess is the Dell HSF if not the stock Intel is a terrible proprietary one....especially in the slim towers.

The Intel Core architecture chips OC much better than the current AMD chips.

You will want more RAM...but OEM manufacturers charge far too much for extra RAM, so if you aren't building yourself you will want to get a little as possible and replace it with your own RAM....2GB should be the modern minimum for a gaming machine...unless you are on a tighten your belt sort of budget.

Also that Slim tower might not fit a decent videocard.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: classy
Are you overclocking?

yes, i plan to oc if i can.

Here's a great way to get advice. Give us your present specs, like hard drive, video card, etc, its possible you can carry over some of those parts. Then tell us your budget and I am sure folks here including myself can give you help easily on what to buy. Piece of cake

 

[overzealot]

I've got an e2160. Running with stock cooler, it topped out at 2.7 at 1.325. At 1.425 it will run stable at 2.8, but beyond that the volts don't really help.
Still, who could complain about a free 50% clock increase?

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: overzealot
Still, who could complain about a free 50% clock increase?

A geek on AT who expects 100%? :laugh:

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: classy

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: classy
Are you overclocking?

yes, i plan to oc if i can.

Here's a great way to get advice. Give us your present specs, like hard drive, video card, etc, its possible you can carry over some of those parts. Then tell us your budget and I am sure folks here including myself can give you help easily on what to buy. Piece of cake

i want something to play supreme commander at ~30fps vs 4 players at 1024x768.

according to this ARTICLE, i need X2 4600 or Dual Core E6400?!

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: JEDI
i want something to play supreme commander at ~30fps vs 4 players at 1024x768.

according to this ARTICLE, i need X2 4600 or Dual Core E6400?!

Based on my research, the large cache impacts gaming more than GHz, not sure why. For me, a non-gamer, I can get away with an OCed E2140.

Gamers Pay.

 

[lopri]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: overzealot
Still, who could complain about a free 50% clock increase?

A geek on AT who expects 100%? :laugh:

Exactly the reason why I purchased an E2140. Unfortunately I couldn't achieve 100% OC. The thing does 2.67GHz on its default vCore (1.32V I think) with 800/1066 strap, but no matter what I do (this is with 3 different chipsets/boards) I couldn't get it up higher than 2.80GHz. I heard many similar experiences.

Besides, in my subjective opinion these E21x0 chips give some weird laggy feeling. It's hard to explain because it doesn't show in benchmarks, but it's like the feeling you get right after you install anti-virus/firewall on a system. Performance-wise it's neck and neck with my Opteron 165, but the Opteron feels much snappier. Unless you're under budget or aiming for 100% OC, I think it's better to spend a few more $$ and go with 2MB/4MB L2 CPUs.

 

[JEDI]

From this THREAD on cpu + mobo prices, which cpu and mobo do you recommend for a budget gamer that will o/c?

 

[JEDI]

Look like i'm getting this Intel mobo because it's a GREAT price:
Foxconn G965 $50

Thus i need an Intel dual core chip.

Intel CPU naming convention:
E21x0 = fsb of 800, L2 cache of 1mb - See Xbit Labs: E2140 and E2160 Review.
E4x00 = fsb of 800, L2 cache of 2mb
E6x00 = fsb of 1066, L2 cache of 2mb (with the exception of the E6600 which has a cache of 4mb) virtualization technology support
E6x20 = fsb of 1066, L2 cache of 4mb, virtualization technology support
E6x50 = fsb of 1333, L2 cache of 4mb, virtualization technology support

The E6550 is the cheapest of all the E6xxx chips @$170, and has the highest fsb + L2 cache. :Q What's the catch?