new system time - need some advice

[shlemielo]

I've been 'out of the game' for a while, but I'm looking to get back to PC gaming, and this 3200+ just isn't cutting it for me.

pretty standard build so far:
8800GT
22" Viewsonic (already have)
Lian Li PC-60 (1st gen)
DDR 800 (probably 2 gig since I just have 32bit Vista)
Corsair 550VX (just bought)
abit ip35-e
CPU??

The most processor intensive tasks I'll be doing outside of gaming are video playback and music sequencing programs, so I'm not sure I'll make full use of a quad core.

I really want the best bang for the buck CPU. The e2200 is around $90, and I hear it's a decent chip. However, I also want this CPU to last for a while, which means I'm a little hesitant to overclock much (but if this means I'll see a significant jump in performance, I'll do it).

Is the e4500 worth an extra $45? I'm not really interested in the e6xxx's because at the price, I might as well wait to buy the e8400.

Basically, what's the best CPU for the money right now? I'm willing to spend more if it means I'll see a noticeable speed increase, but if not, should I just stick with the e2180/2200?

 

[DSF]

As long as you're reasonable in your overclock, your chip will last a long time.

Edit: And an overclocked 2-series should do you just fine.

 

[brencat]

If you are going to be using the PC 65 - 75% of the time for gaming, I agree the way to go is E2160/E2180 and OC to 3.0 - 3.2ghz. But if you are not willing to OC or don't want to take the time to figure out how, then I'd suggest the E8400. IMO, the E4500 is not worth the extra money over the E2xxx series when you can step to the 6M cache of the E8400 (and a whole new world of OCing upside) for another ~ $60 over that.

 

[Idontcare]

Naive question here, hope this isn't considered a thread-jack, but do X2's figure into the equation when discussing sub-$100 chips?

I thought price/performance of X2's was still competitive in the dual-core market segment in the budget bin.

Feel free to school me, or ignore me if this isn't the time or place to ask such questions.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
Naive question here, hope this isn't considered a thread-jack, but do X2's figure into the equation when discussing sub-$100 chips?

I thought price/performance of X2's was still competitive in the dual-core market segment in the budget bin.

Feel free to school me, or ignore me if this isn't the time or place to ask such questions.

Sure they do at stock speeds. One other advantage of AMD in the budget arena is that their motherboards tend to offer extras like firewire, eSATA or SLI at lower price points than comparable Intel motherboards.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: DSF

Originally posted by: Idontcare
Naive question here, hope this isn't considered a thread-jack, but do X2's figure into the equation when discussing sub-$100 chips?

I thought price/performance of X2's was still competitive in the dual-core market segment in the budget bin.

Feel free to school me, or ignore me if this isn't the time or place to ask such questions.

Sure they do at stock speeds. One other advantage of AMD in the budget arena is that their motherboards tend to offer extras like firewire, eSATA or SLI at lower price points than comparable Intel motherboards.

Athlon 64 X2 5400+ 2.8GHz AM2 Brisbane 65W $95

The e2200 is my 'other' favorite $100 cpu but probably need a 15-20% OC to catch the x2 5400+ ( but then you could OC the 5400+ ... blah blah ...)

As noted - find a mobo you like. Don't spend the 'extra' money on your cpu. For $100 you are going to have one fine cpu regardless of maker.

You can invest it in a better vid card, another 2gb of ran, a front panel card reader, more hdd storage, an ATSC tuner card, another optical drive, wireless mouse/keyboard, fancy game controller, etc ...

 

[shlemielo]

I decided against AMD for the time being because I want the option of upgrading to a e8400 or q6600 later on down the road when prices go down.

As for overclocking, it's not that I'm not willing to figure out how (I was actually obsessed with it back in the Thunderbird days). I just think that it's way more trouble than it's worth at times.

If I end up going with the e2200, should I buy a 3rd party cooler?

 

[COPOHawk]

From the price to performance perspective...overclocking on the Core 2 processors is the way to go.

In fact...to me...the overclocking is what makes them worth the money.

It would be a necessity to get an aftermarket cooler when overclocking...especially the higher percentage of overclock you go. With the E2200...this is a large percentage OC to get to 3.0 ghz.

 

[shlemielo]

thing is, a good aftermarket cooler would cost around 40 bucks. shouldn't i be spending that money on a speedier processor?

 

[COPOHawk]

For me...it would be a requirement either way...reason being that any Core 2 processor I buy would be overclocked.

If finances allow...definitely consider either the E8400 or the Q6600. Your mobo should support 45 nm (maybe with the a bios update). That way, you could keep either processor stock for now and add a better HSF down the road as finances allow.

Of course, keeping the PITA factor down means adding the better HSF now since the mobo is out of the case

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: shlemielo
thing is, a good aftermarket cooler would cost around 40 bucks. shouldn't i be spending that money on a speedier processor?

Depending on when you bought the Abit IP35-E, the shipping Bios is either v11 (the original) or v15 (recent boards). If you buy the E8400, I believe it will only POST with v13 or higher so you are taking a chance unless you have another 65nm CPU laying around to put in there just to be able to flash from v11 to the latest 16 Beta 01 version.

If you go Q6600 or E2XXX, you're fine either way.

Finally, to your question, an aftermarket heatsink is not necessary if you won't be OCing. If you think you might want to go that route at some point though, definitely consider it. The Tuniq fits the IP35-E fine (I have it), but something like the AC7 Freezer Pro will not without some trimming.

 

[shlemielo]

yeah, i'm really tempted by the e8400 and q6600, except getting my hands on one right now would cost me triple of what i'm paying for the e2200. i'm not totally sold that it's 3x the processor.

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: COPOHawkIt would be a necessity to get an aftermarket cooler when overclocking...especially the higher percentage of overclock you go. With the E2200...this is a large percentage OC to get to 3.0 ghz.

The 2-series chips run pretty cool. You can safely overclock them up to or near 3.0GHz on stock cooling.

 

[shlemielo]

i went ahead and ordered the parts, minus CPU cooler for now.

brencat, do you see a big difference in performance going from 2 gigs to 3 gigs of memory? 2 gig packs of RAM are so cheap these days...about the same price as a 1 gig stick.

 

[busmaster11]

If you went out of your way to get an 8800GT and a P35 mobo, spending an extra 50-100$ for the heart of your build isn't asking too much - and it would last you much longer... Get an e8400, with stock cooling you can easily get 3.6GHZ or higher, something that ought to be at the dual core high end till nehalem... Microcenter should have them in stock periodically at 200$ plus tax...

 

[brencat]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
If you went out of your way to get an 8800GT and a P35 mobo, spending an extra 50-100$ for the heart of your build isn't asking too much - and it would last you much longer... Get an e8400, with stock cooling you can easily get 3.6GHZ or higher, something that ought to be at the dual core high end till nehalem... Microcenter should have them in stock periodically at 200$ plus tax...

I think you're missing a critical detail. He's clearly price sensitive so he's better off buying an E2XXX series chip and OCing the snot out of it, than taking a chance his board shipped with a bios version that can't run the E8400 out of the box.

There's a 50/50 it won't work -- pretty high odds. Which means unless he's got a buddy with a E2XXX or E6XXX 65nm part laying around, he'll need to go out and spend more money just to be able to flash the bios so he can use his E8400.

@shlemielo -- I'm using Vista-32 and my system runs smooth as silk with 2 x 1gb + 2 x 512 sticks at the stated timings and divider in my sig. Sorry, but outside of having to boot with only 1 stick whenever I had to clear CMOS during OC testing, I've been running 3gb from day 1 so can't tell you how 2gb would be vs 3gb. Remember that Vista-32 cannot address more than ~ 3.3gb of RAM so if you decide to go to 4gb or higher, just bear in mind you'll need Vista-64 to be able to see it all.

 

[shlemielo]

Right on. I actually mentioned in the OP that I already have Vista 32bit, which I got for 7 bucks from my school .

I ended up getting 1 gig x 1 gig of the Ballistix, so with any luck, I hope to get the CPU up to 3.0 ghz.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: brencat

Originally posted by: shlemielo
thing is, a good aftermarket cooler would cost around 40 bucks. shouldn't i be spending that money on a speedier processor?

Depending on when you bought the Abit IP35-E, the shipping Bios is either v11 (the original) or v15 (recent boards). If you buy the E8400, I believe it will only POST with v13 or higher so you are taking a chance unless you have another 65nm CPU laying around to put in there just to be able to flash from v11 to the latest 16 Beta 01 version.

If you go Q6600 or E2XXX, you're fine either way.

Finally, to your question, an aftermarket heatsink is not necessary if you won't be OCing. If you think you might want to go that route at some point though, definitely consider it. The Tuniq fits the IP35-E fine (I have it), but something like the AC7 Freezer Pro will not without some trimming.

they will ship you a chip. You pop out the existing chip, and pop in the new one.

flashing isn't the only way to upgrade the bios.

 

[shlemielo]

Well, I just ordered the mobo, so hopefully it already has the newest BIOS on there. I should be OK regardless since I don't have a Penryn.

I actually found my old Koolance Exos water cooling system lying in my closet. I'd love to use it again, but I'll probably have to buy a new CPU block unless I can find an adapter or something. Does anyone actually still use these things? I have the original Exos, btw.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: DSF

Originally posted by: Idontcare
Naive question here, hope this isn't considered a thread-jack, but do X2's figure into the equation when discussing sub-$100 chips?

I thought price/performance of X2's was still competitive in the dual-core market segment in the budget bin.

Feel free to school me, or ignore me if this isn't the time or place to ask such questions.

Sure they do at stock speeds. One other advantage of AMD in the budget arena is that their motherboards tend to offer extras like firewire, eSATA or SLI at lower price points than comparable Intel motherboards.

amd boards have sli?

 

[DSF]

Originally posted by: jaredpace

Originally posted by: DSF

Originally posted by: Idontcare
Naive question here, hope this isn't considered a thread-jack, but do X2's figure into the equation when discussing sub-$100 chips?

I thought price/performance of X2's was still competitive in the dual-core market segment in the budget bin.

Feel free to school me, or ignore me if this isn't the time or place to ask such questions.

Sure they do at stock speeds. One other advantage of AMD in the budget arena is that their motherboards tend to offer extras like firewire, eSATA or SLI at lower price points than comparable Intel motherboards.

amd boards have sli?

AMD boards with Nvidia chipsets can.

Edit: Here's an example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131011

I may have been wrong about the SLI boards being less expensive though. Definitely firewire/eSATA/RAID are available for less money on AMD boards than Intel boards.

 

[Tempered81]

ah thought u meant amd boards aka amd chipsets.

you mean asus boards, all brands of boards that are socket AM2