best value CPU under $130

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RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
Originally posted by: stevty2889
Originally posted by: RideFree
Originally posted by: Viditor
Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

Sorry, but are you saying you have an 805 on air at 4.014 GHz running at 45C???
What's even more amazing is that you could reach 200 MHz FSB stably at 1.46v (THG and every other OC I've seen was unstable under 1.6v past 190 MHz FSB).
Could you grap a CPUZ screenshot for us as well, I'd like to see that...

Cheers
As you wish.
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-1.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-2.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-3.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-4.bmp

At 100% load on both CPUs it hits 57° running RightMark - no throttling.


How bout a screenshot of temps at 100% load as well. Not that I don't believe it's possible to hit 4ghz on air under the right conditions, but I am hitting 57c on water at 3.7ghz.
No problem0

805AIR2 was the system shot just before loading it up...
http://2496.us/images/805AIR2.bmp
http://2496.us/images/CPU-Right.bmp
29.4 FPS in RM
http://2496.us/images/CPU-100percent.bmp
^This shot is more accurate on the volts as I have it set in the BIOS at 1.400v.

Edited: It do run right! :D:D:D
 

FelixDeCat

Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
31,014
2,683
126
Originally posted by: RideFree
Originally posted by: Viditor
Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

Sorry, but are you saying you have an 805 on air at 4.014 GHz running at 45C???
What's even more amazing is that you could reach 200 MHz FSB stably at 1.46v (THG and every other OC I've seen was unstable under 1.6v past 190 MHz FSB).
Could you grap a CPUZ screenshot for us as well, I'd like to see that...

Cheers
As you wish.
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-1.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-2.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-3.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-4.bmp

At 100% load on both CPUs it hits 57° running RightMark - no throttling.

:thumbsup:
 

bluemax

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2000
7,182
0
0
Originally posted by: Markfw900
The crusoe processor has been out for years, and won't fit in socket 775, and its a pig. Why are you recommending this ?

Conroe on the other hand appears to be a good future chip, but only one motherboard is currently certified to run it AFAIK.

Arrgh!! I've been getting those two mixed up a lot. Bah! My bad. :eek:
 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
At the risk of being scolded by a moderator, I am copying my post from the motherboard forum to give some more info on the usage and requirements. I just did not know which forum to use for a motherboard + CPU upgrade.

The primnary load on this machine is digital photo editing with Photoshop, DVD copying, and car video games. I really need something to work with the Radeon 9700 Pro video card.

Thanks.

syseng

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


a little history
I replaced a ATI Radeon LE 32 graphics card in about January 2005 with a ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 256 MB. The system never accepted the new board. I followed all the directions and the system would boot and run for 2-15 minutes and freeze up or reboot. After a while, it would only boot in safe mode. I did all the registry cleaning, driver cleaning, loading about 20 different driver versions trying to get it to work and going through all the removals and driver cleanings in between - - but nothing ever worked. After over 100 hours of time wasted on the PC, I gave up. For the last 12 months, every time the PC boots, it recognizes new hardware and asks to install it and I always say no. After closing five or six pop-ups from XP (refusing to let it install the HW), the system runs fine. XP recognizes the graphics adapter as ?default? and it works to some degree. The system has been fairly stable unless the video is challenged such as a game or movie etc. then it freezes and crashes. Recently, even loading Microsoft?s ?critical updates? has resulted in XP installing the 9700 Pro resulting in the same crashes.

upgrade time
About six months ago, the on-board Promise RAID controller went out on the motherboard so I had to move the cables to the regular HD controller. Last week, the system failed to boot several times even in safe mode. When I finally go it to start, the event viewer log was full of CDROM controller errors. The old Thunderbird is too slow for editing digital photographs with Photoshop. Now, I am looking at upgrading the motherboard and CPU. Perhaps I can even get this expensive graphics card to work!

AMD or Intel
I really don't care which brand I use. I just want the most power for the $$. This week, I read several articles about how great the Intel Pentium D 805 overclocked. Some say that it is the base deal around. At about $120, it is at the top of my budget. What do you think, is this the best bargain today?

motherboard
I need AGP 8X for the Radeon 9700 Pro and ATA100 for my disk drives to work (I have a new Seagate 160 ATA100 in box). Any suggestions on which chipset may work with this video card? There was much suspicion that it was the VIA chipset on the Soyo Dragon that caused problems for the graphics card. Any suggestions on a good reliable overclocking board for $100 or less?


Compatibility Questions
Can I reuse the 5 year old 350W Enermax power supply?
Can I reuse the Corsair RAM? If so, how will it affect CPU performance?


Priorities
ATI Radeon 9700 pro compatibility
ATA100 disk drive compatibility
$$ motherboard + CPU cost $200
overclocking features


The biggest load on this PC is Photoshop editing. If I can get the Radeon 9700 Pro to work, we would like to play the NASCAR 4 game again.

I sure could use some good advice.

syseng

Motherboard = Soyo SY-K7V Dragon
CPU = Athlon 1.4GHz Thunderbird (stepping)
RAM = 2x256 MB Corsair 2400, CAS 2.0
Video = ATI 9700 Pro 256 MB
OS = Windows XP
Magnetic Disk Drives = 2 x IBM 60 GXP 60-GB
DVD / CDROM = Toshiba SD-M1502
CD W/RW = Plextor PX-W1610A
DVD R/RW = Plextor 740
power supply = PS350EG Enermax Ultra Cool EG365P-VE 350W
 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
Originally posted by: bluemax
That's the kicker... WILL YOU NEED dual-core?

If you're 99% gaming I'd say no, and a Sempron (might as well go AM2 if you're replacing mobo and RAM anyways!) would do the trick.

nForce 6100 AM2 board = $100 Canadian. Sempron 2800+ AM2 = $80C.
Add DDR2 which is cheaper than DDR and use the integrated GeForce 6200TC video and you've got a cheap, decent system *with room to grow later!*

The 754 platform is near its end, as is 939. New stuff being released will all be for AM2.


Of course, if you're not worried about the heat, the $145 PentiumD 805 and a motherboard that can run a Crusoe processor when it comes out is also an option. More expensive, but a better processor to begin with (especially if you like multitasking) and still room to grow. Downside there is possibly needing a fancier cooler if you want to overclock, and the frustration of finding a board that will support the future Crusoe processor..... someone should make a list. ASROCK has two I know of so far...


I don't know what applications take advantage of the dual-cores. The primary application loads are from Photoshop and some DVD copying programs. Both of these really bog down the system today.

How does the integrated GeForce 6200TC video compare to the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro which I already have?

I can get a good air cooler for about $20 and would not be expecting to overclock the D 805 past about 3 GHz anyway. Can the Sempron 2800+ be overclocked to compete with the D 805?
 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
Originally posted by: the cobbler
Originally posted by: jlbenedict
the new AMD 3200+, AM2 is sitting at a nice $135 on the 'Egg right now.


if you want a nice budget board for this chip, check out Biostar TForce 550 ~$80



It has no AGP slot so I could not use my new video card.
 

bluemax

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2000
7,182
0
0
Originally posted by: syseng
I don't know what applications take advantage of the dual-cores. The primary application loads are from Photoshop and some DVD copying programs. Both of these really bog down the system today.
And both of those applications would benefit from a dual-core machine. The 805 is looking like the winner so far.
How does the integrated GeForce 6200TC video compare to the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro which I already have?
It doesn't. Good news, though! Lots of great socket 775 boards support the 805 (and beyond) still use 2-4x DDR400 RAM slots and AGP 8x. If you choose carefully, you can even snag an ASROCK board that can support the Conroe chip if you want one next year. :)
I can get a good air cooler for about $20 and would not be expecting to overclock the D 805 past about 3 GHz anyway. Can the Sempron 2800+ be overclocked to compete with the D 805?
Probably... but those applications would still perform better with the dual-cores. You'd have to overclock the Sempron to the MOON to beat the dual-core benefit.

For you - I'm thinking the 805 is a clear choice.

**BEAR IN MIND!** Intel is dropping prices tomorrow/monday. You might be able to snag a great deal on the faster & cooler 920 or 930 processor.
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: syseng
The primnary load on this machine is digital photo editing with Photoshop, DVD copying, and car video games. I really need something to work with the Radeon 9700 Pro video card.

Thanks.

syseng
Motherboard = Soyo SY-K7V Dragon
CPU = Athlon 1.4GHz Thunderbird (stepping)
RAM = 2x256 MB Corsair 2400, CAS 2.0
Video = ATI 9700 Pro 256 MB
OS = Windows XP
Magnetic Disk Drives = 2 x IBM 60 GXP 60-GB
DVD / CDROM = Toshiba SD-M1502
CD W/RW = Plextor PX-W1610A
DVD R/RW = Plextor 740
power supply = PS350EG Enermax Ultra Cool EG365P-VE 350W

Certain versions of photoshop, and a lot of dvd encoding software, as well as DVD shrink will take advantage of the dual core, so the 805 does look like your best choice in that price range. You could get the Asus P5P800-SE, which has AGP and DDR so you would be able to re-use your 9700 pro. I wouldn't use your current ram though. Photoshop can be a real ram hog, if it's in your budget you would likely benifit by going to 2gb of ram. The 350w enermax is a great PSU, but might not quite be enough for a power hungry dual core.
 

RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
stevety, syseng,
Won't the 940D drop to the $130-140 range in the next couple of weeks?
If so, this would probably make the safest O/C and be the undisputed bang-for-the-buck... at least for a while. Of course, the 805D is supposed to go sub $100 at the same time.
I know I 'got lucky' on this 805D and could not recommend it for anyone unless they followed TomsHardware's recipe to the letter. And that took $871 as I recall (what with the exquisite Lian Li 65 w/the window, & all). I was planning to go with water and already have the Apogee but will not implement it at this time.

It's a really great time to be in the biggest-bang-for-the-buck buying business. :D:D:D
AMD & Intel appear to be "girding their loins for war".

Edited:
A Better Bargain Coming In A Week

On June 4, Intel is going to slash prices on its dual core processors, not only Smithfields, but Preslers, too.

The price most worth of note is that for the Pentium D 940: $133, or just about the same as today's prices for the 805. That's a 3.2GHz, 65nm dual-core CPU.
Lifted from
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00971/
 

evenmore1

Senior member
Feb 16, 2006
369
0
0
Originally posted by: RideFree
Originally posted by: Viditor
Originally posted by: RideFree
I ordered the 805D from Newegg along with the same M/B and RAM as they used at Tom'sHardware and here is the result with a Zalman7700 4.014 on air
Super PI to 1m = 24sec.

Sorry, but are you saying you have an 805 on air at 4.014 GHz running at 45C???
What's even more amazing is that you could reach 200 MHz FSB stably at 1.46v (THG and every other OC I've seen was unstable under 1.6v past 190 MHz FSB).
Could you grap a CPUZ screenshot for us as well, I'd like to see that...

Cheers
As you wish.
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-1.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-2.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-3.bmp
http://2496.us/images/cpuz-4.bmp

At 100% load on both CPUs it hits 57° running RightMark - no throttling.

Nice! Although you are using a i975X mobo, which cost a ton! So it is not an option for the budget people. (or the cheapos, like me :))
 

RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
Over the years I've found that "Asus" and "budget computer" are seldom found in the same sentence.
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: RideFree
stevety, syseng,
Won't the 930D drop to the $130-140 range in the next couple of weeks?
If so, this would probably make the safest O/C and be the undisputed bang-for-the-buck... at least for a while. Of course, the 805D is supposed to go sub $100 at the same time.
I know I 'got lucky' on this 805D and could not recommend it for anyone unless they followed TomsHardware's recipe to the letter. And that took $871 as I recall (what with the exquisite Lian Li 65 w/the window, & all). I was planning to go with water and already have the Apogee but will not implement it at this time.

It's a really great time to be in the biggest-bang-for-the-buck buying business. :D:D:D
AMD & Intel appear to be "girding their loins for war".


The only problem with the 9xx series, is that you need a more expensive motherboard to get a good OC. The 945 chipset boards get stuck at 225mhz FSB unless you overclock the PCIe bus, and the NF4 chipset boards seem to be getting stuck around 230mhz FSB. It doesn't happen with the single cores on those boards, just with dual cores. Need a 955x or 975x to get a good OC with the 9xx series.
 

RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
Originally posted by: stevty2889
The only problem with the 9xx series, is that you need a more expensive motherboard to get a good OC. The 945 chipset boards get stuck at 225mhz FSB unless you overclock the PCIe bus, and the NF4 chipset boards seem to be getting stuck around 230mhz FSB. It doesn't happen with the single cores on those boards, just with dual cores. Need a 955x or 975x to get a good OC with the 9xx series.
I just did a search on the Abit site and found a substantial list of boards that will support D9xxs
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/intel-pd-9xx.php

Edited: I wasn't sure how to do a search for this info across all the manufacture's sites so I just did a brute force type of search that originated with the Newegg site.
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
Originally posted by: RideFree
Originally posted by: stevty2889
The only problem with the 9xx series, is that you need a more expensive motherboard to get a good OC. The 945 chipset boards get stuck at 225mhz FSB unless you overclock the PCIe bus, and the NF4 chipset boards seem to be getting stuck around 230mhz FSB. It doesn't happen with the single cores on those boards, just with dual cores. Need a 955x or 975x to get a good OC with the 9xx series.
I just did a search on the Abit site and found a substantial list of boards that will support D9xxs
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/intel-pd-9xx.php

Edited: I wasn't sure how to do a search for this info across all the manufacture's sites so I just did a brute force type of search that originated with the Newegg site.

It's not that other boards don't support them, it's that they get stuck at 225mhz FSB, drasticly limiting the overclock.
 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
Originally posted by: NeonAura
Blah. Don't get the 805D, too hot.

It is fairly obvious that the D 805 could not be overclocked over 3 GHz with the existing power supply. It just draws too much current at the higher frequencies.
 

RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
Originally posted by: stevty2889
Originally posted by: RideFree
Originally posted by: stevty2889
The only problem with the 9xx series, is that you need a more expensive motherboard to get a good OC. The 945 chipset boards get stuck at 225mhz FSB unless you overclock the PCIe bus, and the NF4 chipset boards seem to be getting stuck around 230mhz FSB. It doesn't happen with the single cores on those boards, just with dual cores. Need a 955x or 975x to get a good OC with the 9xx series.
I just did a search on the Abit site and found a substantial list of boards that will support D9xxs
http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/intel-pd-9xx.php

Edited: I wasn't sure how to do a search for this info across all the manufacture's sites so I just did a brute force type of search that originated with the Newegg site.

It's not that other boards don't support them, it's that they get stuck at 225mhz FSB, drasticly limiting the overclock.
I see, so in order to get the D940 (with mult x16) to 4xxx, it has to do 250 FSB. I thought the multiplier was not locked in the D9xx???, just in the D8xx (& others) for example??
 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
Originally posted by: RideFree
stevety, syseng,
Won't the 940D drop to the $130-140 range in the next couple of weeks?
If so, this would probably make the safest O/C and be the undisputed bang-for-the-buck... at least for a while. Of course, the 805D is supposed to go sub $100 at the same time.
I know I 'got lucky' on this 805D and could not recommend it for anyone unless they followed TomsHardware's recipe to the letter. And that took $871 as I recall (what with the exquisite Lian Li 65 w/the window, & all). I was planning to go with water and already have the Apogee but will not implement it at this time.

It's a really great time to be in the biggest-bang-for-the-buck buying business. :D:D:D
AMD & Intel appear to be "girding their loins for war".

Edited:
A Better Bargain Coming In A Week

On June 4, Intel is going to slash prices on its dual core processors, not only Smithfields, but Preslers, too.

The price most worth of note is that for the Pentium D 940: $133, or just about the same as today's prices for the 805. That's a 3.2GHz, 65nm dual-core CPU.
Lifted from
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00971/

That sounds great but also hard to believe they will drop prices 35-40% in a couple of weeks. It looks like the D920 & D 930 are about $220 today.
 

RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
Did you read the Overclockers article?
They said war officially opens tomorrow.. :D:D:D
 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
Originally posted by: RideFree
Did you read the Overclockers article?
They said war officially opens tomorrow.. :D:D:D

Yep! It says the wholesale price of D930 will go to $178 on 6/4 and the D 940 will go to $133 on 7/23. The whole paragraph make no sense to me. They have the D960 going from $224 to $316 on 7/23 and calling it a decrease. Heck, I don't know what they are trying to communicate.


Intel is planning, if the slides published are to be believed, a price slash on the 4th of June, when it will lower the whole-sale cost of Intel Pentium D 960 to $224, whereas the models 930, 920 and 820 will cost $178. On the 23rd of July, Intel will decrease the pricing of Intel Pentium D 960, 950, 945, 940 and 820 to $316, $224, $163, $183, $133 and $113, respectively. Meanwhile, its Pentium D 805 will cost only $93, starting from that date. http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20060525154847.html

 

syseng

Member
Aug 2, 2001
42
0
0
It appears that the Pentium dual-cores get the vote for best performance on Photoshop and DVD movie copying. The 805 will probably draw too much current if overclocked much. The 9700 Pro takes several amps and I have 5 drives total (1 CD, 1 DVD, 2 HD, and 1 external USB DVD writer). The concensus is that the memory should be replaced. Buying more memory means the existing power supply must suffice though this power supply is very tempting:

Rosewill RD600-2DB-SL ATX 12V (V2.2) 600W SLI ready Power Supply 100 - 240V CSA,UL,TUV - Retail
newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182040

Now if the Pentium dual-cores will just come down in price.

 

Markfw

Moderator Emeritus, Elite Member
May 16, 2002
27,264
16,119
136
Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
Originally posted by: NeonAura
Blah. Don't get the 805D, too hot.

Wrong.
No, you are wrong.

The 805 retail that I bought was running 70c and shutting down with the retail HSF OC'ed to 3.1. The best I could get was just under 3 ghz with the case cover open. and then it was 68c.

THATS HOT ! And at 3.5 it still gets beat badly by my 3800's @2.5 and thats after exspensive memory, a 550 watt power supply and a $50 aftermarket HSF. So no savings at all still.