best way to spend $170 on intel c2d's?

[n8thegr8]

I was originally planning on getting an E4500 ($130) along with an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 ($30-40 with shipping) and overclocking to 3.0ghz and up, like I've seen a lot of other people have been able to do.

orrr...would it be better to get an E6550 for $169 and use stock heatsink? (with minimal or no overclocking)

 

[Build it Myself]

I picked up a 2180 and OC'ed to 3.0Ghz ($90) with a scythe Kama-Cross heatsink ($30) = $120 then go spend the other $50 on a game :gift:

 

[boomhower]

What are your other components. You are going to need a good supporting cast to get a high overclock on that 6550 due to the lower multiplier.If you have the equipment to support the higher FSB required to OC the 6550 go with it and upgrade the HS later, you should still be able to hit 3.0-3.2 on the stock cooling. If you don't have the ability to hit high FSB go with the 4500 or even a 2180, depending on what you are doing you will never notice the difference between those two.

 

[n8thegr8]

Actually lets say zero overclocking for the 6550. I think I'm more interested in how an overclocked 4500 would compare.

Components:
Gigabyte P35-DS3L
Forton 400W PSU
2GB of DDR2 800 (havent decided yet what brand to use)
Radeon Hd 3850

 

[996GT2]

man you just missed out on the $200 C2Q combo at frys...I managed to sell the mb for $40 and basically get a Q6600 for $160...

but in your case an OC'd E4500 would definitely be the way to go, especially since you can more than make up for the lower cache with a faster clock speed. Also, the E4500 has a lower FSB and higher multiplier, which makes it more suited to OCing, esp on motherboards that cannot do uber-high FSB speeds.

 

[badnewcastle]

E6750... you can get one for $189 from the egg...

 

[tigersty1e]

My mobo and ram is similar to yours and I bought my processor for 108 at fry's.

It was an open box, but still had the 3 year warranty, so I picked it up anyway.

3.15 MHZ easy. And I'm not even at the limit with stock volts all around. I'm just sitting here super stable and will go up even more when I have the time to run stress tests. Did I mention every component is at stock volts?

So yeah, the C2D chips with the 7 multi can go up to 3.2+ with a high FSB.

I would spring for the cheapest C2D chip with the 4 MB of L2 cache you could get...

 

[zach0624]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
man you just missed out on the $200 C2Q combo at frys...I managed to sell the mb for $40 and basically get a Q6600 for $160...

but in your case an OC'd E4500 would definitely be the way to go, especially since you can more than make up for the lower cache with a faster clock speed. Also, the E4500 has a lower FSB and higher multiplier, which makes it more suited to OCing, esp on motherboards that cannot do uber-high FSB speeds.

yeah the q6600 was a great deal and if you would have asked sooner it would have been recommeneded but having upgraded from a e4500 I would have to say that the e4500 is an excellent buy and a great overclocker.

 

[n8thegr8]

thanks guys, i think im leaning towards the e4500. this way i could justify upgrading to a newer CPU within a year or two and have a good heatsink to accompany it.

any 775 heatsinks people tend to favor?

 

[zach0624]

for a heatsink either artic cooling freezer or tuniq tower

 

[bryanW1995]

get the arctic cooling if you're going to stay with a dual core on your upgrade, get the tuniq if you're going quad.

I did a similar trick in july, getting an e6750 with a plan for a Q9450 in january. I got the tuniq

 

[Build it Myself]

i love my scythe Kama-Cross, it looks like a big V-8 engine on my mobo not to mention my CPU is less than 30C when under load!!!

 

[n8thegr8]

would the arctic freezer fit the gigabyte board? i've read some reviews of the sideways fan getting in the way

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: n8thegr8
would the arctic freezer fit the gigabyte board? i've read some reviews of the sideways fan getting in the way

It will overhang your RAM, but that isn't a big deal, because the fan just clips on, and only takes about 2 seconds to get off.

 

[Tempered81]

i have a 4300 @ 3.2ghz. i would reccomend 4xxx series core2duos

 

[996GT2]

Scythe Ninja Rev B is another good heatsink for LGA775; performance is up there with the best of them and the price is surprisingly good lately...I got mine for $30 shipped recently, just $5 more than a Freezer 7 Pro

 

[boomhower]

Originally posted by: Build it Myself
i love my scythe Kama-Cross, it looks like a big V-8 engine on my mobo not to mention my CPU is less than 30C when under load!!!

What us your vcore and ambients? What are you using to get your temp reading? That seems way to low.

 

[Build it Myself]

I'm using speedfan and the ambient temp is...I dunno around 65F? that's something like 13C or so? The math is a little foggy, sorry. As for vcore, is that the chip voltage? that's still stock (1.345 i think?)...you've got to see the way my case is set up too, i've got an intake fan, an outtake fan directly next to the CPU heatsink, my 8800GT blows down but I removed 1 of the rear expansion slots so that my intake fan blows some of the air that crosses the 8800GT directly out that port, and i've got the air that's going to the CPU heatsink fan funneled directly from outside the case throught one the two side vents. In other words, it's got great airflow and minimum wire clutter.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Scythe Ninja Rev B is another good heatsink for LGA775; performance is up there with the best of them and the price is surprisingly good lately...I got mine for $30 shipped recently, just $5 more than a Freezer 7 Pro

The Ninja B's are nearly as good as the Ultra 120 Extremes: 58C load temp @ 3.2 Ghz on my Q6600. And that's with a 72F room temp.

 

[bfdd]

I agree with some of the other guys that the 2180 is the better buy over the 4500, 30 bucks cheaper has a 10x multiplier which is excellent and most people seem to be getting a lot out of them. Also, I really like the Scythe Ninja Rev B too, I have 2 on two seperate machines, one is fanless even with a 4300 oc'd to 3ghz and even underload it keeps it cool and the only fan I have in the machine is a top exhaust low db. I built it for my brother to keep in his room it's a really nice heatsink and cheap. Downside is it's huge