Celeron E1200 vs Dual Core E2140

[Andrew1990]

Well I plan on buying either one of these processors and was wondering which one is better for gaming. I am not into crysis or any other high end game, just some simple BF2 and CSS while listening to music. I am hoping to get a light overclock on either one of them but am not expecting a 3GHz clock on them, possibly around 2.4GHz.

Does the extra cache make a very large difference in games? I mean it is only 512K but some people say that the cache is a must in gaming? I am coming from a Pentium D 805 2.66GHz here so all I want is a little bit more power than that at a lower temperature.

Right now I can get the E1200 OEM for $40 and the E2140 for around $55 if I can find one.

Is the E2140 worth the extra $15?

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Is the E2140 worth the extra $15?

IMO yes. Now, if you wait until the latest price drops trickle into the market, then you should be getting the E2160 or E2180 for the price of the E2140. The E2180 should be an easy overclock (maybe with BSEL mod) to 2.66GHz in your board.

 

[harpoon84]

BF2 and CSS are actually both quite CPU bound, so an E2140 is definitely worth the extra $15 over the E1200.

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Is the E2140 worth the extra $15?

latest price drops

Since the E2160 & E2180 are going down in price, will the E2140 also go down a few dollars? I do plan on overclocking so I might as well get the E2140 and save some cash rather than getting a higher E21xx.

I guess I will forget the E1200 then.

 

[zach0624]

The core 2 duo design is very cache hungry especially in games and 1/2 the cache is equal to a 5-15% drop from 2mb to 1mb and is even more pronounced at 512kb. IMO the E2180 is the best choice because it will reach an easy 3.2ghz on an ip35.

 

[harpoon84]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Since the E2160 & E2180 are going down in price, will the E2140 also go down a few dollars? I do plan on overclocking so I might as well get the E2140 and save some cash rather than getting a higher E21xx.

I guess I will forget the E1200 then.

Nah, the price cuts only apply to the higher end E21x0 chips, in fact only the E2180 and E2200 have price drops.

In terms of overclocking the higher end E21x0 chips will be a bit easier to overclock due to the higher multiplier, but it all depends what your target overclock is. If its only 2.4GHz as indicated in your earlier post then any E21x0 chip will hit it easily, but if its 3GHz then the E2160 or E2180 may be better options.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Since the E2160 & E2180 are going down in price, will the E2140 also go down a few dollars?

Probably be discontinued.

 

[v8envy]

The celeron will be pretty comprable with an AMD x2 chip clock for clock. That may be a cheaper option if you're scraping the bottom of the barrel that hard -- I haven't checked lately, but a $46 3800x2 and $60 board may be the way to fly.