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E2XXX vs. E4XXX for the budget gamer

T

TheMagnificentCheese

Member
Basically as the topic states. I am looking to pull the trigger on an intel system mainly for gaming for the next year or so and I don't plan on really fiddling with Crysis at all. My question is, will it make a huge difference in stepping up from, say, an E2160 (overclocked to a cool 3.2ghz) versus an E4500 (overclocked to a cool 3.2-3.4ghz)?

Right now I'm looking at a price point difference of 40 dollars. Seems like chump change, but if the difference isn't staggering, I'm the kind of guy that will just go with the cheaper of the two parts.

Opinions? Rants? Etc?

Thanks.
 
The difference is really small, I'd save the forty bucks.. I mean if you wanna spend 40 dollars more there would be better ways to do it.

2140 and 2160 vs e4xxx-e6xxx
Here is an article too btw, it points out that there is up to a 10% performance increase in games specifically. If you gonna spend a bit more get the 6320 imo tho..
 
I don't think the extra cache is worth the money. If you have both CPUs overclocked to 3.2ghz, you will be CPU limited even with a GTX.

Put the $40 you'll save towards a better graphics card or more memory.
 
Core speed is KING. You're in good shape if you can get the CPU north of 3.0GHz. E21x0 between $60 and $70 is ideal, unless you can get an E4xx0 on clearance for $75.

My E2140 purchased from Micro Center last week ran +3.3GHz with only 1.46Vocre with Abit IP35-E. I couldn't tell any difference between this CPU and my other P35-E/4300 @ 3.49GHz.
 
spend the extra money on the e45xx chip. the extra cache is worth around 200mhz. It is reasonable to expect a couple hundred mhz higher oc with the higher multi, so lets say you get to 3.3 vs 3.1 with an e2160. an effective 400 mhz higher is not chump change. plus, you'll get much better resale from e4500 than from e2160, possibly enough to cover the cost of the more expensive cpu.
 
Abit IP35-E + e2180 + 2x1GB DDR2 for $213 + $10 shipping - $20MIR = $203
CoolerMaster 600W power supply for $40 after MIR

Don't worry about the cache: this benchmark compares a stock e4600, e4600 @ 3GHz, and e4600 @ 3.3GHz versus a stock e6850 @ 3GHz combined with an 8800GTS-640. Note that there is almost no difference at all between the 2MB e4600 @ 3GHz and the 4MB e6850 @ 3GHz.

Buy the e2180, OC to 3GHz and spend the extra bucks on a better video card.
 
to expand this thread a little, would it be worth it to get the 4500 for things other than gaming. like CAD, a little gfx creating/editing
is the only difference between the two 1mb of L2 cache and with or without virtualization?
 
E4xx0 is a worthless series.

Either go for the E6 series or stick with the E2 series.

Intel will be discontinuing the E4xxx series as they are not selling all that great.
 
ya, but I'm looking into the future whenever I build a new one.
I do drafting and web applications as side work, and the system I have now can barely run the latest Architecture 2008 from autodesk without crashing. But, I built it 5 years ago 😱
So, is spending another $40 to get a 11x multi vs a 10x multi and 2mb vs 1mb L2 cache going to be worth it 3 years from now
 
Originally posted by: Thund3rb1rd
ya, but I'm looking into the future whenever I build a new one.
I do drafting and web applications as side work, and the system I have now can barely run the latest Architecture 2008 from autodesk without crashing. But, I built it 5 years ago 😱
So, is spending another $40 to get a 11x multi vs a 10x multi and 2mb vs 1mb L2 cache going to be worth it 3 years from now
Click to expand...

No.

If you are going to spend more money spend the extra $60 and get the E6550.

Otherwise get the 2XXX series.
 
*includes shipping
2180 = $90
4500 = $130
6550 = $170
$80 from 2180 to 6550....almost double
if you can find a cheaper 6500 let me know 🙂
 
Get the 2180. It's guaranteed M0 stepping (runs cooler, usually better OCs). It's the BEST price/perf. of any processor out there right now when overclocked.
 
Originally posted by: Yoxxy
E4xx0 is a worthless series.

Either go for the E6 series or stick with the E2 series.

Intel will be discontinuing the E4xxx series as they are not selling all that great.
Click to expand...

Not really, they fill the gap between the 84US and double the price gap of 163 USD quite nicely.

They aren't being discontinued, there is a E4700 coming out in January 2008, with the successor the E5xxx Series with 3MB LV2 and 1066FSB coming out in April 2008.
 
Originally posted by: Spartan Niner
Get the 2180. It's guaranteed M0 stepping (runs cooler, usually better OCs). It's the BEST price/perf. of any processor out there right now when overclocked.
Click to expand...

E4500 or higher are guaranteed M0 Steppings as well, if that is what your looking for.
 
Originally posted by: TheMagnificentCheese
Basically as the topic states. I am looking to pull the trigger on an intel system mainly for gaming for the next year or so and I don't plan on really fiddling with Crysis at all. My question is, will it make a huge difference in stepping up from, say, an E2160 (overclocked to a cool 3.2ghz) versus an E4500 (overclocked to a cool 3.2-3.4ghz)?

Right now I'm looking at a price point difference of 40 dollars. Seems like chump change, but if the difference isn't staggering, I'm the kind of guy that will just go with the cheaper of the two parts.

Opinions? Rants? Etc?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

If that 40 can be used to get the next tier of GPU then by all means save it.
 
Originally posted by: coldpower27
If that 40 can be used to get the next tier of GPU then by all means save it.
Click to expand...

Agreed. $40 spent on more GPU power will have a much larger impact on gaming performance than $40 spent on CPU power, especially if you plan to OC to 3GHz or so.

Here's another thought: buy the e2140 instead (saving another $20) and make sure you get a good video card and a motherboard that will support Penryn quads. Late next year upgrade to a Q9xxx when the prices are cheap (around the Nehalem launch) and you are set for several years on cpu.
 
proud new owner of an e2140, abit ip35-e and 2gb N5 kingston.

only had enough time to play with it a little. at 3.1ghz right now. 3.0ghz was rock solid.

came from an amd 3800 x2. will never go back.

get the 2xxx series and OC it. i got mine from new egg(m0 stepping).

 
proud new owner of an e2140, abit ip35-e and 2gb N5 kingston.

only had enough time to play with it a little. at 3.1ghz right now. 3.0ghz was rock solid.

came from an amd 3800 x2. will never go back.

get the 2xxx series and OC it. i got mine from new egg(m0 stepping).

 
I bought my E4400 before the E21XX series came out. I would agree that for now, the E4XX series is not the best buy - better off going for the E2XXX series.
 
Originally posted by: Denithor
Originally posted by: coldpower27
If that 40 can be used to get the next tier of GPU then by all means save it.
Click to expand...

Agreed. $40 spent on more GPU power will have a much larger impact on gaming performance than $40 spent on CPU power, especially if you plan to OC to 3GHz or so.

Here's another thought: buy the e2140 instead (saving another $20) and make sure you get a good video card and a motherboard that will support Penryn quads. Late next year upgrade to a Q9xxx when the prices are cheap (around the Nehalem launch) and you are set for several years on cpu.
Click to expand...

thats why i have a E2140/IP35-E, when i purchased it 2mos ago i knew i wanted to get a 45nm quad next year so i didn't spend much on my setup and only upgraded from my opty 165 @ 2.8ghz since it was cheap.
 
Look at this:

http://www.overclock.net/intel...figuration-thread.html

So it seems both the e2xxx and e4xxx can usually hit 3.0GHz with no trouble and similar temps (e2xxx has a cheaper cooler)? From benchmarks I've seen, there is practically zero difference in performance between 2MB and 1MB cache @ 3.0GHz. The benefits of extra cache are reduced at higher frequencies.

For 4MB cache e6xxx's, you get about 200MHz extra speed in *some* benchmarks @ 3.0GHz, but you probably won't notice the difference until all C2Ds start reaching the end of their gaming lifetime.
 
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