Input on a DDR C2D build

[Shadow Conception]

Alright, so I'm interested in upgrading my computer once more, if the sufficient cashflow comes in soon enough.

I'm trying to be on as tight a budget as possible (total no more than/around $200). The main purpose of the system would be gaming on a 1440x900 monitor, recent games like UT3, Crysis, and so on. Of course I wouldn't be able to max Crysis with this setup, but just play at a medium graphics level. I also do a bit of video work, encoding, ripping, and such.

Newly bought:
Abit IP-95 Core 2 Duo/ P4M890/ DDR2&DDR/ SATA/ A&V&L/ MATX Motherboard
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php...ae22dff5f29171aaaa959#
($52.27) ----- debated

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor ? Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115030
($169.99)

Carry-overs:
2GB DDR400 RAM
Radeon X1950GT
Sound Blaster Live! 24-bit
Windows XP Pro + Windows Vista Business
Hard drives, DVD drives, and the rest

The discrepancy I notice is this. The motherboard doesn't have 1333MHz FSB listed; only 1066MHz. But the CPU I want is a 1333MHz FSB. Would it work at full speed, or would it be throttled down to work at a slower speed? Or would it not work at all?

And would the DDR1 RAM being used affect the performance of the CPU noticeably? It's 2x 1GB sticks (but not running in dual channel).

Also, I'm having a tough time deciding between these following CPUs:

- Core 2 Duo E6550 ($169.99)
- Core 2 Duo E4500 ($119.99)
- Pentium E2200 ($89.99)

I'm trying to be as economical as possible. I'd love the C2D, but the price is really high. The only difference between the E2200 and the E4500 seems to be the cache; 1MB vs 2MB; and the brand. Otherwise, they're the exact same clockspeed and FSB. I'm attempting to be as economic as possible, so would the E2200 be a good buy? Does the 1MB step up in cache really matter for gaming and occasional video encoding?

Edit: Also I could consider overclocking, but I'm not really an expert on it... and it breaks the warranty, which makes me uneasy about doing it. :S

 

[JackMDS]

You are much better off getting, http://www.newegg.com/Product/...16813127031&Tpk=IP35-E

Sell your DDR and get DDR2.

 

[DSF]

I agree with Jack. Get the IP35-E and some DDR2, and sell your DDR to help offset the cost. Overclocking the E2200 will be pretty straightforward. There's a good guide on the subject stickied in the CPU forum.

As tight of a budget as you're on, the E6550 isn't a good value. The E2200 should overclock to 3.0 GHz, at which point it will be at least as fast as the E6550 anyway.

If you do decide to sell your DDR I've been looking to pick up a pair of 1GB sticks.

 

[themisfit610]

DDR2 is stupid cheap. Shooting yourself in the foot now so that you can avoid spending $90 on 4 GB is silly. Save up until you can afford that, and then do it right!

~MiSfit

 

[Shadow Conception]

Thing with the IP-95 is that it accepts both DDR and DDR2 RAM; there's two slots allocated for both. I thought I'd upgrade to DDR2 later, and use DDR for the short term. But if I were to go with the IP-35E, I'd have to go with the E2160 instead; and that seems to be a pretty good overclocker as well.

Will I notice a big difference going from a P4 3.0GHz to a E2160?

 

[JackMDS]

The problem is that the Mobo that you posted above is "Lame".

It is like you are trying to buy a Shiny car with rusted frame.:shocked:

 

[VivienM]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception
Thing with the IP-95 is that it accepts both DDR and DDR2 RAM; there's two slots allocated for both.

Thing with the IP-95 is that it has a VIA chipset.

DDR2 RAM is dirt cheap, honestly. (I just ordered 2x1 gig DDR2-667 for like... $36 CAD. I'm sure it's cheaper in the US) Preserving the use of your old DDR RAM is NOT an excuse to burden yourself with a board with a crap chipset from what I think is unquestionably the worst chipset manufacturer in the past decade...

 

[bigsnyder]

Since you already have a PCIe video card, definitely go the DDR2 route. I would however recommend the the higher cache of the e4500, but that is just me.

 

[Shadow Conception]

Yeah, I think I'll go with that. I'm going to sell my RAM last, however, to recoup for the DDR2. I don't have a Heatware account to sell by in the FS forum, so nobody'll probably wanna buy from me anyway.

And the lovely thing about getting a 775 w/a low-end processor is expandability. Even if 775 dies out, there will always be a Q6600 I can upgrade to sometime down the road.

 

[mazeroth]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception

Will I notice a big difference going from a P4 3.0GHz to a E2160?

Night and day.

To address what you asked about speed: My brother just pieced together a very cheap C2Duo build with an E2180. Over the phone, in 30 seconds, I had him running 3.0 ghz. and he's been running stable for about 2 months now. The C2Duos are great overclockers. My E4300 is 1.8 ghz stock and can run 3.3 ghz 24x7 no problem on the stock cooler. I've had it up to 3.45 ghz. but that forced me to up the stock voltages (yes, my 3.3 ghz is on stock voltages) so I just put it back down to 3.3 ghz and called it a day.

I really don't see the need to spend $150+ on a Core2 chip when you can get 90% of the performance for less than 50% of the cost. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Gaurav Duggal]

Originally posted by: Shadow Conception

Will I notice a big difference going from a P4 3.0GHz to a E2160?

Even at stock an E2160 would be twice as fast as a Pentium 4
See this:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/...6&model2=883&chart=419

 

[Denithor]

Best suggestions:

abit IP35-E $67 after MIR
e2180 (2GHz, 1MB cache) $76
Corsair 2x1GB DDR2-800 $28 after MIR

Total parts cost: $171 after MIR

System should easily overclock to around 3GHz at which point it will destroy the P4 3GHz system you are upgrading from (even at stock it will be faster than a 3GHz P4).

Sell your old innards to offset this cost. I would even suggest selling the x1950gt card and upgrading to an 8800GS ($126) or 9600GT ($150).

 

[Shadow Conception]

Holy crap at some 9600GT benches I just saw. o__o

I'm really leaning towards this upgrade now.