Help with Decision 6600 or E4300 to buy for O/C

[DPOverLord]

So I waited until the price cuts for the E4300 to go down to 118. Its 125 and I was ready to just say buy it. Then the unthinkable happened. Why not just get a 6600 now? The ONLY reason I thought of this was due to the promotion with Supreme Commander coming for free. Granted your now saying well you can get it on Ebay for 25$ but hell I would like to buy a game for free it makes me sleep better. Then I also am thinking of, ?Shizzles my nizzles? but what happens if I can get an even higher O/C than the E4300 with a 6600? Hmmmmm.... I say So in essence this is my break down:
Tell me what you think:

E6600:
Pros:

• ( Supreme Commander Game ( I know your scowling at this reason)
  *Potential Higher O/C on air (over 3.2Ghz)
  *Naturalization code (not sure if I got that right)
  *4mb of cache

Cons:

• 
  *100$ more
  *100$ more
  *100$ more
  *Are there any other than the increase money really?

E4300
Pros:

• *100$ cheaper, while still O/C fairly high
  *Gives room to use that extra 100$ towards a Quad to Core later on
  *Get that nice bubbly feeling that you saved 100$ and got a kick ass O/C
  *O/C at higher Multi I believe

Cons

• 
  *Does not have that extra bit of Code
  *2MB (is it really a con?)

Cost Breakdown:

• 
  A
  C2D E6600: $235
  ThermalRight Ultra 120: $60
  SilenX IXTREMA 120: $22
  Price: $317
  
  B
  C2d E4300 $125
  ThermalRight Ultra 120: $60
  SilenX IXTREMA 120: $22
  Supreme Commander $50
  Price: $257

So the difference ends up being around 60$ the kicker is I would love to save that extra $100(w/o game) if I will not see a Huge improvement between these two processors. So my question is, Do you feel it is worth buying the for the C2D 6600 over the 4300? Do tell I am open ears.

Note: I am considering waiting for the Thermalright Extreme for a better Heatsink / Fan Combo. Do you think it makes sense?

EDIT
The build is the following:
RAM: OCZ Platinum Rev 2 2x1gb
MOBO: DFI Infinity 975
Case:Case 1
Case 2
GPU: Sapphire 1950XT 256mb
PSU: OCZ PowerStream 600 watt

 

[zephyrprime]

I thought that the 4300 could overclock just as well as the 6600? I'm facing the exact same dilemma as you. I think I will be getting the 4300 because there is a very high probability that I will be upgrading my cpu to a quad core in a year anyway so the extra $100 investment may not be worthwhile for me. That extra $100 only buys me 5% extra performance on average according to some benches I saw.

 

[f4phantom2500]

If you plan on overclocking anyway, I'd grab the E4300. I was wondering, why did you put the game in the list for the E4300 but not the 6600?

 

[alaricljs]

Personally recommend the e6420 over the 6600... but dunno if you get SC with that.

 

[Diogenes2]

So the difference ends up being around 60$ the kicker is I would love to save that extra $100(w/o game) if I will not see a Huge improvement between these two processors. So my question is, Do you feel it is worth buying the for the C2D 6600 over the 4300? Do tell I am open ears.

What about the 6420 ? Hearing good things about it being good overclocker...

 

[yuchai]

Originally posted by: Diogenes2

So the difference ends up being around 60$ the kicker is I would love to save that extra $100(w/o game) if I will not see a Huge improvement between these two processors. So my question is, Do you feel it is worth buying the for the C2D 6600 over the 4300? Do tell I am open ears.

What about the 6420 ? Hearing good things about it being good overclocker...

6420 is $197 without Supreme Commander. So you're essentially getting a free upgrade to 6600 at $235 with the game for free.

 

[DPOverLord]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500
If you plan on overclocking anyway, I'd grab the E4300. I was wondering, why did you put the game in the list for the E4300 but not the 6600?

If you buy the 6600 the game comes free. Thats really one of the main reasons as to why I even considered the E6600 since I will be purchasing that game either way. So I can get the for free if I purchase a 6600 or I can go ahead and spend 50$ for it if I purchase the E4300. That?s why I put it into the equation.

Originally posted by: Diogenes2
What about the 6420 ? Hearing good things about it being good overclocker...

Any News as to what the 6420 has been getting? The thing is the E6420 is selling on average for 190-200$. If I am going to spend that much I will lean towards the 6600 since it will also have a higher multi.

Decisions I say Decisions. You are right about saving the 100$ to use down the road for a better chip. I will be O/C the chips either way so what I would find interesting is, would the 6600 give me a higher O/C at the end( 3.5-3.9ghz?). I know the 6800 can hit 3.95ghz on air but I do not know how the 6600 performs. Anyone?

 

[yuppiejr]

Well, the e6600 gets you guaranteed B2 stepping plus twice the cache and virtualization - with a 9x multi. The 4300 (and 4400) also gets a 9x multi, however it is going to be the L2 stepping which is known to run hotter and overclock poorly compared to the original B2's that people had so much success with.

The 6420 is an interesting option, however with the free game and higher multiplier I'd rather get the faster 6600. Since they are the same core/stepping I have a feeling the 6320/6420 is going to end up being binned-down 6600/6700's which could limit their overclocking headroom.

There's a great post over at HardForums citing documenting overclock success with various CPU's including the 4300 and e6600's you're looking at: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1138241

The 4300's range from 3 ghz to 3.4 ghz with an average in the 3.1 - 3.2 range while the e6600's start in the 3 ghz range and run as high as 4 ghz with an average around 3.4 - 3.5. If I were going to slap an $82 fan & heatsink on a CPU I'd be looking at the e6600 for the extra overclocking potential, no question. The data says it all...

 

[DPOverLord]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
Well, the e6600 gets you guaranteed B2 stepping plus twice the cache and virtualization - with a 9x multi. The 4300 (and 4400) also gets a 9x multi, however it is going to be the L2 stepping which is known to run hotter and overclock poorly compared to the original B2's that people had so much success with.

The 6420 is an interesting option, however with the free game and higher multiplier I'd rather get the faster 6600. Since they are the same core/stepping I have a feeling the 6320/6420 is going to end up being binned-down 6600/6700's which could limit their overclocking headroom.

There's a great post over at HardForums citing documenting overclock success with various CPU's including the 4300 and e6600's you're looking at: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1138241

The 4300's range from 3 ghz to 3.4 ghz with an average in the 3.1 - 3.2 range while the e6600's start in the 3 ghz range and run as high as 4 ghz with an average around 3.4 - 3.5. If I were going to slap an $82 fan & heatsink on a CPU I'd be looking at the e6600 for the extra overclocking potential, no question. The data says it all...

The Survey says.... " Sold "
Really thanks a lot for that really informative post, you know how it is when it comes buying time and you want the best bang for the buck. I really appreciate your help!

 

[Bobsled]

The Survey says.... " Sold "
Really thanks a lot for that really informative post, you know how it is when it comes buying time and you want the best bang for the buck. I really appreciate your help!

Sooo, was it the e4300 or e6420?

 

[DPOverLord]

6600 Makes perfect sense at the end.

Potential to O/C higher than 3.5ghz
Free Supreme Commander Game
2mb more cache(minor +)
More efficient architecture
9x multiplier
1066 FSB over 800

 

[Bobsled]

You may want to check Mwave's prices for the e6600 (or all CPUs for that matter).

 

[DPOverLord]

Mwave has it @ 227$ for the E6600 with a 3$ Cashback from Fatwallet. However they Charge shipping and are not giving a free game now for some reason. If you go to Newegg you pay 235$ and you don?t pay shipping plus you get the free game so I am going to go do that. I am going to get the ThermalRight 120 Extreme and a SilenX fan through Google checkout so I get another 10$ off that price. It should work out.

 

[aclim]

well I have a 6300 and I just ordered the 6600 for the extra cache plus hopefully a good O/C. For me it didnt make any sense to get a 4300 because it wouldn't really be an upgrade.

 

[defiantsf]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
Well, the e6600 gets you guaranteed B2 stepping plus twice the cache and virtualization - with a 9x multi. The 4300 (and 4400) also gets a 9x multi, however it is going to be the L2 stepping which is known to run hotter and overclock poorly compared to the original B2's that people had so much success with.

The 6420 is an interesting option, however with the free game and higher multiplier I'd rather get the faster 6600. Since they are the same core/stepping I have a feeling the 6320/6420 is going to end up being binned-down 6600/6700's which could limit their overclocking headroom.

There's a great post over at HardForums citing documenting overclock success with various CPU's including the 4300 and e6600's you're looking at: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1138241

The 4300's range from 3 ghz to 3.4 ghz with an average in the 3.1 - 3.2 range while the e6600's start in the 3 ghz range and run as high as 4 ghz with an average around 3.4 - 3.5. If I were going to slap an $82 fan & heatsink on a CPU I'd be looking at the e6600 for the extra overclocking potential, no question. The data says it all...

Yuppie, you sure current batch of E6600s is guaranteed to be of B2 stepping? Lots of people on Xtremesystems reported getting F and G steppings recently which don't overclock as well as the B stepping.

 

[PClark99]

outpost has the e6600 for $200 right now.

 

[yuppiejr]

According to Intel's processor finder, all e6600's belong to the B2 stepping family:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ProcFam=2558&sSpec=&OrdCode=

Mine arrived from ZZF, it's a 4/12/07 pack date - L649G979 - I'll have to put it through some paces tomorrow night when my RAM & mobo arrive to see how far her legs will stretch. I wish I'd noted the eSpec ID off of the box (it's at home, I'm at work)since I'm curious if it's one of the two identified on Intel's site or if there is truly a new version of the processor out there to go with the April 22 price cuts.

I believe the L/A/G indicator in the 5th position of the model number has some other relevance though I'm still searching for an explanation.

 

[DPOverLord]

the 4300 can be O/C'd to 3ghz with a good cooler too

 

[magreen]

Originally posted by: yuppiejr
According to Intel's processor finder, all e6600's belong to the B2 stepping family:

http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ProcFam=2558&sSpec=&OrdCode=

Note they don't have the e4400 on their processor finder, so it might not be up to date.

 

[troutinator]

One thing to note, I've been reading that there is a good likelihood that the e6420s will OC better than the e6600 as they are newer batches and intel has made some progress on the construction techniques. For now its mostly speculation as there haven't been enough e6420s reviewed to say anything statistically significant. It would be sad if the e6420s are just binned down e6600 but so far people haven't been noticing any poorer preformance from the e6420s compared to e6400 or e6600. The e6420s that I have read about being OC'd hit 3.5Ghz most of the time.

 

[yuppiejr]

Yea, we'll have to see - it's exceedingly muddy water these days since Intel fabs the wafers in one of their 65mm facilities then ships them off to one of their Asian assembly plants (this is the country stamped on the chip itself) where they are cut, binned and put into the BGA package. Even though a given chip may say "Malaysia" on it, the silicon could be coming from any of their 4 - 65nm fabs in the US, Ireland or Israel which could create a lot of variance from chip to chip churned out of the same production line.

It's plain to see that Intel over-engineered the original C2D design (before the price cut) and has taken cost-saving production measures in their lower-cost Allendale design. It's possible they found a way to cut production costs to lessen the impact of the price cut on their bottom line with the 4-meg parts as well which could mean newer Conroes simply won't ever overclock as well as the higher-priced originals. It could also be that the increased demand for the 4 meg parts has forced them to push production to a 65 nm fab that hadn't built Conroes before and their yields simply aren't as good as the more established fabs yet.

If anyone's ordered one of the 6600's since late last week it would be interesting to see what the country of origin and eSpec number are just to see if there is a new part in the channel that could explain the overclocking variances lately.

 

[AnotherGuy]

@ OP : Here is another way of saving more than $50 on the e6600 setup... Dont get the thermatalright with the fan combo... but get this cooler which does a pretty good job for its price ( best bang for the buck cooler on the net ) The Artick Cooler Freezer 7 Pro http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-AC7PRO for 30$ shipped

Newegg has it too so u can read its reviews there... more than 500 of em...

 

[mushroom3]

so does the e6600 have more OCing potential than the e4300? and can someone please give an example of using virtualization?

 

[DPOverLord]

I ordered the 6600 and debating on that cooler you mentioned and the Thermalright Extreme

 

[imported_burningrave101]

Originally posted by: troutinator
One thing to note, I've been reading that there is a good likelihood that the e6420s will OC better than the e6600 as they are newer batches and intel has made some progress on the construction techniques. For now its mostly speculation as there haven't been enough e6420s reviewed to say anything statistically significant. It would be sad if the e6420s are just binned down e6600 but so far people haven't been noticing any poorer preformance from the e6420s compared to e6400 or e6600. The e6420s that I have read about being OC'd hit 3.5Ghz most of the time.

I've seen several users that received e6420's at xtremeystems that did not overclock very well. Check the threads in the Intel section. There were a few high overclocks though. I'd say the E6600 is still your best bet if you're going for maximum overclock.