Is going from an E6300 to Phenom II 555 a substantial upgrade?

[bupkus]

I currently have an Intel rig with an E6300 Conroe overclocked from default 1.86GHz to about 2.6 or 2.8GHz.
The motherboard is a GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard with 4GB of DDR2.

Will I notice a big speed jump upgrading to a Phenom II X2 555 3.2GHz default? Unlocking and overclocking is not a given but I figure I can depend on a reasonable OC of maybe 3.6GHz.

Mind Wander: Hmmm... I wonder what kind of OC I can get with a retro fitted Thermalright XP-90?

 

[richierich1212]

Going with a Microcenter/Frys deal?

 

[bupkus]

Going with a Microcenter/Frys deal?

Did you even read my post?

 

[F1N3ST]

Do what I did, pick up a Q9550 for $170 and drop it in and be done with it.

400x8.5 is 3.4ghz and faster than that phenom.

 

[bupkus]

Do what I did, pick up a Q9550 for $170 and drop it in and be done with it.

400x8.5 is 3.4ghz and faster than that phenom.

Newegg has the Q9550 for $279. However, MicroCenter has it for $179 + tax, pickup only.
Maybe when I get back to Minneapolis, but right now I'm buying from AZ for a relative.

 

[fffblackmage]

I had an E6320 overclocked to 2.8GHz and upgraded to an unlocked PhII X2 550BE.

Even with two extra cores, I don't really notice that's it's substantially faster. I was able to hit 3.6GHz for fun, but I've been leaving it simply unlocked at default clock speeds.

For gaming purposes, my upgrade from a 4830 to a 4890 was much more significant than upgrading the cpu. I upgraded the cpu anyways because I found an awesome deal.

 

[soccerballtux]

I had an E6320 overclocked to 2.8GHz and upgraded to an unlocked PhII X2 550BE.

Even with two extra cores, I don't really notice that's it's substantially faster. I was able to hit 3.6GHz for fun, but I've been leaving it simply unlocked at default clock speeds.

For gaming purposes, my upgrade from a 4830 to a 4890 was much more significant than upgrading the cpu. I upgraded the cpu anyways because I found an awesome deal.

Yeah, see I think we're at the point where CPU upgrades don't make a big difference, and won't, for a while. That's why I'm hanging onto mine and just doing graphics upgrades for a while.

OP-- I went from an e8400 @ 3.9ghz to my current setup, and loved the transition (4 cores woot woot). I think it would be worth it just for the fun, especially since you might get yours to unlock.

I would get this cooler instead-- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...namitedata.com
because if it does unlock, you're going to want a 120mm fan not a 92mm to keep it cool.

 

[gaidensensei]

Seems like anything within the mid/bottom range of page1 on cpubenchmark.net are all within arm's length of each other.. I'd doubt that the E6300 conroe to 555 would feel substantial. I guess it really depends on what you are doing, appwise you might see it, but gamewise probably not.

 

[nyker96]

I say no. I went from a e4300 to a PII x2 on a rig with 785g board, no difference. maybe OC a bit higher like 3,25 vs 3. but honestly no diff.

 

[alyarb]

yeah you probably won't see a difference in games. if you do other compute intensive apps, then that's another thing.

 

[bupkus]

I think I'll get an Athlon II X3 and save $25. Maybe I'll be able to unlock the 4th core, maybe not. It may not be able to overclock as well as a Phenom II but I don't want to bother with a bigger HSF either.

When reality sets in I'm compelled to buy by price first.

 

[alyarb]

the reality is that you'll need at least 3 GHz on your K10 to match the performance of your conroe at 2.8 GHz. Are you also migrating from DDR2 to DDR3? are you selling your old stuff? i'm having a hard time seeing the value in this upgrade when you can drop in a 45nm pentium that costs $60 and get it running near 4 ghz with your XP90.


so many people are leaving P35/P45 because they are bored but they don't understand it's a all preparation and no h. it's just an expensive anticlimactic sidegrade and it's going to stay that way until we see new architectures.

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

I had an E6320 overclocked to 2.8GHz and upgraded to an unlocked PhII X2 550BE.

Even with two extra cores, I don't really notice that's it's substantially faster. I was able to hit 3.6GHz for fun, but I've been leaving it simply unlocked at default clock speeds.

For gaming purposes, my upgrade from a 4830 to a 4890 was much more significant than upgrading the cpu. I upgraded the cpu anyways because I found an awesome deal.

Err, what extra cores?

Upgrading from a dual core to a dual core is stupid.

OP - Find a quad to drop in your current board.

 

[bupkus]

Ok, I guess I'm gonna have to fess up.

 

[bupkus]

the reality is that you'll need at least 3 GHz on your K10 to match the performance of your conroe at 2.8 GHz. Are you also migrating from DDR2 to DDR3? are you selling your old stuff? i'm having a hard time seeing the value in this upgrade when you can drop in a 45nm pentium that costs $60 and get it running near 4 ghz with your XP90.


so many people are leaving P35/P45 because they are bored but they don't understand it's a all preparation and no h. it's just an expensive anticlimactic sidegrade and it's going to stay that way until we see new architectures.

Ok, I guess I'm gonna have to fess up. I'm not really replacing my Conroe, but building a system for my nephew. I must admitt I was getting caught up in the excitement and was considering building myself a new system, too, but back to reality.

Uhhh... alyarb, just which cpu were you referring to for $60? I'm intrigued in an upgrade for myself. I think I'm currently using a MasterCooler HSF 92mm Hyper TX2. My XP-90 would require a 92mm fan and maybe an adaptor for my Gigabyte P35 mobo. SVC.com offers the pair for about $14 but for around $13 more I could get a newer 120mm Master Cooler HSF from Amazon. <Shakes head> Nope, that Hyper TX2 is good enough... right?

 

[bupkus]

Err, what extra cores?
Upgrading from a dual core to a dual core is stupid.
OP - Find a quad to drop in your current board.

I think the loose useage of the word "unlocked" can sometimes be confusing.
Perhaps he was talking about the cores and not the BE factor.

 

[alyarb]

my bad. i was certain the XP-90 would work with 775 but I guess it was made for 478. The Hyper TX2, however, is more than adequate for an overclocked wolfdale. You are right about amazon's heatsink deals. For the time being they are tempting, but what you have is already enough.

The Pentium E5300 and E5400, for almost the entire run of wolfdale production, have been the gold standard in cheap 4 GHz duals. They are $67 and $70 respectively. If you want more cache, you could easily find a used E8400 for probably even less money. The point is that no one really gives intel credit for what lightweight overclockers these chips are. They will hit high frequencies with low volts, they don't require heavy duty power ICs let alone heatsinks for them. I know your motherboard has the DDR2 667 memory multiplier that will strap your RAM down so I can't think of anything that would sabotage your OC.

socket 775 has fallen out of favor because there is no more development going on, so it doesn't make any sense in the year 2010 to do any new 775 builds. However, if you find yourself with a decent P35 board, then you have something with the potential to be much faster per-thread than any AMD CPU coming out any time soon. It just won't be new. This difference is not noticeable; it is only measurable and that's why I recommend AMD for new builds. They are cheaper and 99&#37; of the time perform within 97% of the corresponding intel product. Your case is an exception to the rule because you only play games, you have no hope of ever doing very much encoding/compression or any multithreaded heavy lifting, and already have a really good P35 board, so in your case Intel is both higher performance and lower cost, and with the E5300 you can get the very-high-frequencies you need for games without blowing hundreds on a platform swap.

 

[gaidensensei]

920's are already taking over the 150-170-200+ range, lower being used or oem

You can try to snag a Q9XXX series for 120-160, better bang for your buck imo. At least with those you will notice an increase.

I actually downgraded from a Q6600 to E6300 wolfdale, and 4gb>2gb while I prep the i7 rig. I honestly do not notice the difference, other than my idle wattage went from 75w to 65w, but I don't game.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I like to play CS source with 30 bots and PII X2 @ 3.8GHz is vastly faster than my 2.8GHz E6300. Old single-threaded game I know.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ok, I guess I'm gonna have to fess up. I'm not really replacing my Conroe, but building a system for my nephew. I must admitt I was getting caught up in the excitement and was considering building myself a new system, too, but back to reality.

Uhhh... alyarb, just which cpu were you referring to for $60? I'm intrigued in an upgrade for myself. I think I'm currently using a MasterCooler HSF 92mm Hyper TX2. My XP-90 would require a 92mm fan and maybe an adaptor for my Gigabyte P35 mobo. SVC.com offers the pair for about $14 but for around $13 more I could get a newer 120mm Master Cooler HSF from Amazon. <Shakes head> Nope, that Hyper TX2 is good enough... right?

Probably something like an E5300. Those OC to somewhere north of 3.5Ghz pretty regularly, and if you get a spectacular chip, you can hit 4Ghz (KenMitch's E5200 did that).
CoolerMaster HyperTX2 is a fine cooler for an overclocked dual-core, I have on on my friend's E5200 @ 3.625Ghz, 1.42v (BIOS), 1.4v (load), and it stays cool enough. Don't know about that cooler and quads though. Probably need something better. Although I have another friend with a Q8200 @ 2.8, Artic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro working fine on that chip.

 

[InfoTiger]

I say no. I went from a e4300 to a PII x2 on a rig with 785g board, no difference. maybe OC a bit higher like 3,25 vs 3. but honestly no diff.

No diff? You are not play games?

 

[bupkus]

I say no. I went from a e4300 to a PII x2 on a rig with 785g board, no difference. maybe OC a bit higher like 3,25 vs 3. but honestly no diff.

I don't see a profile of your rig. Are you saying that your only video is on the north bridge?

 

[OBLAMA2009]

honestly, going from intel anything to amd is a DOWNGRADE!!!!!

 

[spdfreak]

I bought one of the Fry's PII X2 555/MSI 785GM-E51 deals last week (90.00) and I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I currently have a Q6600 on a MSI P6N SLI board (650i chipset) that won't let me OC past about 2.8. So I'm thinking about switching to the AMD system if it unlocks-which is a pretty good bet on these 555BE chips. That will let me use ddr3 and hopefully get somewhere in the 3.4GHz range very easily. Also, I think with the crossfire x board it will use the onboard graphics for normal 2D stuff and not use the graphics card unless you are gaming. I think I can sell the Q6600 for more than the entire AMD MB/cpu price. But, I really doubt I will actually be able to tell any difference in speed. Everything is so fast now that it just doesn't matter for 99&#37; of the things I do. Kind of a lot of work for no real benefit but it might be a fun project. Or maybe I'll just ebay the stuff...

 

[jtisgeek]

No not much and don't count on being able to unlock all the cores.

I say getting them all to unlock and getting a good OC is kinda rare.