Budget CPU: e2220 or x2 4850e?

[taltamir]

I am looking for components to build my brother a budget computer to replace a 3 year old laptop...
I am looking at the E2220 (65w) @ 2.4ghz and the x2 4850e (45w) @ 2.5ghz
Both cost the same, and I am wondering how they compare in terms of performance.

They will likely be paired with either a 780G or a equivalent nforce onboard graphics (capable of hybrid SLI). He is not a gamer, but it seems like a good idea to have the option if needed.

EDIT:
Target board for AMD (90+7$): ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131273

Target board for intel (75+8$): ASUS P5N-EM HDMI LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 7100/nForce 630i HDMI Micro ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131229

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'd go with the 780G/4850e solution myself.

Boycotting gigabyte boards though, so I can't recommend them.

 

[bryanW1995]

e2220 is ~ 2.9 ghz on a brisbane core. amd's integrated graphics is superior, however.

 

[taltamir]

well... my brother does not game. AT ALL.
So nvidia's IGP wouldn't be a problem.

that is quite a disparity for identically priced CPUs (87$ and 89$ actually, 2$ difference.. but I will look around at more places then just the egg)...
I thought AMD might actually compare in the low end. I guess intel it is.

 

[quadomatic]

I would go get the E2200 and BSEL+vCore mod it on a crappy motherboard. Goes to 3ghz pretty easily that way.

 

[taltamir]

I am building a computer to ship to my brother who lives in another state.
So I highly doubt I will oc this one at all. but thanks for the suggestion.

How does the wolfdale E7200 compare to the E2220?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115052

It is 130$ instead of 89$, how much faster is it?

 

[kotrtim]

is X2 4800+ cheaper? X2 4850e should be slightly more expensive bcoz of 45W TDP. Anyway you can also go nvidia chipset + Intel CPU, for HD decoding. Why spend more on CPU if he is not gaming? Just use the extra money to increase HDD size and also RAM

 

[ther00kie16]

nvidia 8200/8300 chipsets aren't out for Intel yet. So you'll have to go with the older 7150, which does not support hybrid SLI.

 

[taltamir]

I was already looking at nvidia chipset + intel CPU, thanks for the suggestion though... I wasn't going to touch intel IGP, I know it is not good. (i am having reservations about nvidia IGP when compared to AMDs drivers... but thats really all the options I have for an intel CPU)

If he isn't gaming than i should spend the MOST on the CPU, not less... Daily activities are almost entirely CPU bound (if you have enough ram, and I plan on putting 4GB of DDR2-800 ram).

Any idea when the 8200 chipsets will arrive?

I talked to him and he said "maybe I would game, it sometimes happens that I see a nice game and pass it over because I know I can't run it).
So that kinda changes the picture.

 

[bryanW1995]

I just read the g45 article...it looks like it's going to be several months before anyone comes out a decent igp solution for intel. I'd go with the 4850 + 780g solution b/c he'll still have good performance but will also be able to game pretty well on that. remember, you're not going to be there when nvidia f***s up his drivers if you go the intel route. realistically, your best intel alternative is the e2220 + a cheap p35 mobo + a $25 gpu. I saw a 2600 pro for $29 at newegg the other day, so there are deals out there.

 

[taltamir]

excellent points bryan... very excellent..

And actually, I have a 7900GS sitting here right now... I plan on buying a GTX280 when it comes out in two weaks, which will leave me with my 8800GTS 512... mmm... either one will fit the bill for "VERY occasional" gaming... he is stuck with nvidia, but at least those are discreet card drivers, not IGP drivers (that, from nvidia, just scares me)

 

[ther00kie16]

i've read late summer for nvidia 8200 chipsets for intel so right around back to school sales in august.
weird thing is that they are showing all these 9200, 9300 and 9400 igp boards for intel at computex with no mention of the 8200/8300 chipsets.

 

[taltamir]

maybe those are for nehalem?
maybe they are the same IGP renamed to 9 because we are now at geforce 9 and they will sell less if people thought their IGP is "obsolete"?

 

[kotrtim]

Nope, intel has'nt given nvidia the specs to do chipset for nehalem. Intel won't give it to nvidia according to rumors.

 

[ther00kie16]

Originally posted by: taltamir
maybe those are for nehalem?
maybe they are the same IGP renamed to 9 because we are now at geforce 9 and they will sell less if people thought their IGP is "obsolete"?

yea, thought of that cuz the 7150 was intel only but 6100 was intel and amd i think.
strange that there's no info on any 9000 series chipset though.

 

[golem]

Does the 7900gs accelerate video? Would that be important to your brother?

 

[taltamir]

I completely forgot about that, it does not decode 264 or VC1... I need to ask him about that.

 

[Dravic]

I'm looking at a similar situation. I need a new office PC that wont be used primarily for gamng, but may have a kids game or two on it.


The 780G with the 45w cpu looks really tempting

Build thread

 

[taltamir]

What exactly are the benefits of buying a 130$ full ATX board compared to a 70$ mini ATX with IGP? Both of them can have a seperate video card. I could just disable the IGP on the mini ATX one and use the discreet graphic.
I guess that maybe the IGP one will not OC as well, but I don't really plan to OC anyways...

Any input on this?

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: taltamir
well... my brother does not game. AT ALL.
So nvidia's IGP wouldn't be a problem.

that is quite a disparity for identically priced CPUs (87$ and 89$ actually, 2$ difference.. but I will look around at more places then just the egg)...
I thought AMD might actually compare in the low end. I guess intel it is.

That isn't really their low end processor, it is their low power processor. Here is the equivalent 65W variant. (which is $10 cheaper) If you actually care about power consumption the AMD should consume less since it has a lighter chipset to the Intel solution. As for performance, I couldn't find a review to compare the two processors

 

[bryanW1995]

I had a drawn out discussion about relative performance between pentium dual core and athlon x2 about a month ago. a 2mb L2 cache x2 is about 300-400 mhz behind , and a 1mb L2 cache x2 is closer to 500 mhz behind the pent dual core for equivalent performance. I did all of the research on tom's b/c I didn't believe what was being told to me; if you doubt me please feel free to do your own research and come to the same conclusion.

 

[taltamir]

i believe you

Thanks for the link martimus...
interesting:
20 watts x 24 hours/day x 365 days/year x 0.001 kilowatt / watts x 0.14 $/kwh = 24.528 $/year power savings if it is really 20 watts less on all the time and maxed out (aka, a folding farm or some such)... how much more is it in idle though?

I wish ANYONE would have actually bechmarked the e2220... and compared it to other chips at that price points, and newer chips like the wolfdale, that would have made the decision much easier.

 

[vexingv]

Originally posted by: taltamir
i believe you

Thanks for the link martimus...
interesting:
20 watts x 24 hours/day x 365 days/year x 0.001 kilowatt / watts x 0.14 $/kwh = 24.528 $/year power savings if it is really 20 watts less on all the time and maxed out (aka, a folding farm or some such)... how much more is it in idle though?

I wish ANYONE would have actually bechmarked the e2220... and compared it to other chips at that price points, and newer chips like the wolfdale, that would have made the decision much easier.

so what did you go with? X2 or pentium dual core? and why?

I'm actually wondering for myself whether a cheap "side-grade" from a s939 X2 4200+ to a cheap pentium dual core would provide a performance boost in games.

 

[taltamir]

My brother decided he DOES want gaming. so I am waiting until the 4850 comes. And then decide what to pair it with.
I am heavily leaning towards intel though, the X2 was great when I first bought mine some years ago, but it is just not enough in 2008.

But I have decided to replace the mobo on my ZFS raidz2 server... its an X2 3800+ with an nForce 570 ultra mobo and a 7900GS video card.
I will replace the mobo and video card with a 780G. There are only 3 780G with 5 phase power, which means they can handle a 125w CPU without EXPLODING mosfets.
Gigabyte, Jetway, and AsRock...

Jetway:
+ has 6 internal SATA ports.
- No display port
- No HDMI
- No firewire
- no display port
- 4 USB2 ports

Asrock:
+ has 6 internal SATA ports.
+ firewire
+ rumored more stable BIOS than gigabyte's
+ Display port (via an adapter that takes the 16x PCIe slot unfortunately)
+6 USB ports
- HDMI is through an adapter on DVI
- no optical SPDIF

Gigabyte:
- Has only 5 internal SATA ports because one has been moved to be eSATA
+ firewire
+ HDMI
+ eSATA port
+ optical SPDIF
- 4 USB ports
- no display port

The gigabyte is nice, but I need 6 internal SATA ports... so I would like to get the ASRock instead.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overv...=A780FullDisplayPort&s

The gigabyte IS available used on ebay, so depending on final cost I might buy it there and figure something out.

 

[aigomorla]

for a cheap system which wont do a lot of gaming.

Nothing can beat an AMD setup. Sorry, AMD boards are just better overall. :\

If you want a little more UMPH! id say add another 50 to that, and grab a E7300.

OVerclock it, and you got Uber UMPH!