Looking for a cheap CPU+Mobo - Got 2 options.. what is better?

[imported_Prentice]

At frys this week they have these on sale. I need a pc for light gaming ( CS Source and TF2 sometimes )


I will get something like a 2600XT or 7800GTX card for it. I have 2 gigs of ddr and a antec neo he 550 already.


I wanted to get something used but so far no one has anything cheaper that is as good or better.

These are both at FRY's here in Webster, Tx

***AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 6000+ & ECS NFORCE6M-A Motherboard $159.99


***Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E4500 & ECS 945GCT-M Motherboard $118.99



What is best bang for buck on these and is there anything better I can get for less. I wanted to spend around 100$ for the combo.

 

[nonameo]

Core2 combo is better IMO.

edit: it's also about 50 bucks less. Sounds like a no-brainer to me!

Plus you can pinmod it if you want to get a bit of overclock out of it.

 

[imported_Prentice]

Thank you.. I am going to pick it up tomorrow!

 

[watek]

I have the ECS and E4500 at the moment, just got done building it. So far it's okay. No problems. This board has NO options to raise the FSB. It's there but does not work.

But I'm sure right out of the box performance, the AMD would be better.

 

[imported_Prentice]

ok, so now im back on the fence!

 

[abs0lut3]

get e4500, sell the board on fleebay and get a better board.

that's what I did!

Now, if I only have time to build them all...*sigh*

 

[watek]

Well performance wise, with an AMD X2 6000+ and either of those cards, well do your lighting gaming needs. If you're going to replace the motherboard, get the e4500 and you can get atleast 3 Ghz easily. If you're not into overclocking just get the AMD, stock performance should be better than the e4500.

 

[htne]

I just picked up a similar combo at Fry's, the ECS 945GCT-M(V1.0) motherboard, and a Celeron 430, for $59.99. I have to agree with "watek" (above). There is a setting in the CMOS setup for the CPU FSB, but it does NOT work. No effect whatsoever. However, the BSEL mod does work. I have my Celeron overclocked from 1.8 ghz to 2.4 ghz. As I type this, it has been running Prime95 blend for about 12 minutes. Coretemp shows the cpu at 61 degrees Celsius, and cpu speed as 266x9, 2394 mhz. The problem with doing this on the E4500 is that you will most likely have too much of a good thing. The E4500 has an 11x multiplier, with the BSEL mod raising the FSB to 266, then 11 x 266 == 2926 mhz.

I would estimate that the odds are against your cpu running at 2926 on default voltage. The E4300 would probably be a better candidate for overclocking on this motherboard (9 x 266 == 2400 mhz), or even the E4400 (10 x 266 == 2660 mhz). But then, you have to deal with what is available to you, not what you prefer.

ON EDIT: "watek" is also correct about the AMD 6000 being faster at stock speeds. Checking the benchmarks here:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/...3&model2=917&chart=419

You can see that the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 scores 2231 on 3DMARK06 cpu test. This particular graph doesn't have the E4500, but it does have the E6300 (very close, 2133 mhz versus 2200 mhz), and the E6300 scores 1858. Even the E6600 only scores 2094. So if you can't overclock, then the AMD will win.