Core 2 Duo Questions

[SoylentG]

Alright, planning a system as a wedding present for me. At the moment, I'm planning to keep my 7800GT, and ditch the old mobo/cpu/ram (3500+ s939 setup), and go for the Core 2 Duo. I was thinking about doing the E4300 (I've just purchased water cooling for my old rig, and I'll be transferring to my new one), and was wondering a few things.

1. When is the next price drop? I've heard end of april I beleive?
2. Since I plan to overclock, would I get more of a bang for my buck by jumping on a higher level CPU? I could probably swing the higher budget, but would like to avoid it if I can. I'd probably be willing to go up to $300 for the CPU if it's a sizable performance difference from the ultra cheap E4300.
3. I'm planning on getting the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 mobo, with Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 @ 4-4-4-12 timings. I saw this setup used to great success by anand in his article about e4300 overclocking.
Is this an ideal setup? Could I get more bang for my buck with another pairing? What kind of overclocking can I expect watercooling, and would a Chipset block be useful in attaining a higher OC?

 

[Conky]

The prices are scheduled to go down soon(second quarter which starts in April) and there are a couple of newer C2D's coming out that you might want to wait for.

The new E6420 is one I think will be a winner.. it is similar to the E6400 only with 4mb of L2 cache like the E6600 and higher chips which is obviously better and also assures you will get a true Conroe chip and not the Allendale which is currently used for the E4300 and some of the newer E6400 and E6300's. There will be no price increase for this new E6420 chip which is scheduled to be the same price as the E6400, which is also scheduled to drop to $113 if I recall correctly.

The E4300 is a good overclocker but some people have trouble getting really good overclocks out of them. Same goes for the Allendale-based E6X00's.

I have the DS3 and the same RAM you listed and it indeed works very well overclocking my Conroe E6400. I run at 3.2GHz 24/7 with only 1.3125v on air and no other voltage adjustments. With water I am sure it would do much much higher although I've spent all I intend to spend on my system for a while.

Anyway, I think you are on the right track towards a good overclocking experience. The E4300 will work but you might consider the upcoming E6420, E6420, and possibly an E6600 to ensure a better overclocking Conroe (although overclocking is always luck of the draw).

Good luck. :beer:

 

[Cardio]

Well said !

 

[SoylentG]

What would be a reasonably expectation of overclocking on water for the E4300 and a E6600? ie- How much would upping a 4300 to a 6600 increase my overclock ceiling?

 

[The Sauce]

Originally posted by: SoylentG
What would be a reasonably expectation of overclocking on water for the E4300 and a E6600? ie- How much would upping a 4300 to a 6600 increase my overclock ceiling?

It's really impossible to say. If you can assure a certain processor batch then your ceiling would be much better. For instance the older "A" and "B" batches on the E6600 are good for 3.4 to 3.6 with extra volts. The newer batches, "F" and "G" seem to be good only for 3.2 tops. I hear that the 4300's are only good for 2.8 to 3.0 tops.

If you check the forums you might be able to find an "A" or "B" used for about $260-$300. Some people are selling them to upgrade to quad cores. Personally, I would wait and get a E6420, as mentioned above.

 

[SoylentG]

A quick (who am I kidding, hour or two) look around on forums showed me that the overclocked frequency is about the same (~3.5 on water) for both. The main diff. would be that you can get these higher frequencies with cheaper RAM on the e4300. To save money, I'm probably going to go this route. Thanks for the info. I would wait as you've advised, but I think my patience will wear too thin by that point.