upgrading frm noisy pentium d820, which one better e6600 wol. or AMD A6 3500

best perfomer among following, and future proof for next 3 yrs? (kinda impossible)

  • AMD 3.2 GHz AM3 Athlon II 260

  • AMD 2.7 GHz FM1 uPGA A4 3400

  • Intel 3.06 GHz LGA 775 Dual Core E6600

  • AMD 2.1 GHz FM1 uPGA A6 3500


Results are only viewable after voting.

lukhie

Member
Mar 18, 2012
25
0
0
hello hi,

recently i raised an issue in forum, regarding my processor & thought of upgradin my noisy Pentium D 820.

i was suggested Pentium duo E6600 wolfdale

I want to use it as HTPC, with mild to moderate gaming.
i have no issue buying motherboard, for AMD, if E6600 is noisy.

i care most for, quit processor.

so no more noise,

guys which one is best among

1.AMD 2.1 GHz FM1 uPGA A6 3500
2.Intel 3.06 GHz LGA 775 Dual Core E6600 (it will save my few bugs on mobo i have recently purchased MSI G41M-P26)
3.AMD 2.7 GHz FM1 uPGA A4 3400
4. AMD 3.2 GHz AM3 Athlon II 260

i wouldn't mind buying a costly FM1 mobo, cause in future i can upgrade my cpu, so that's y m not goin for costly cpu, this one proposed only for next three yrs, but i can spent upto $100 on cpu, provided i don't regret it that oops i should have waited


my present HTPC specs
1. pentium d 820
2. msi G41M-P26
3.4GB DDR3 1333MHz Strontium (EVM) RAM
4.HDD (160GB, 1TB Seagate 7200rpm)
5.SSD Kingston SSDNow V100 64 GB SSD
6.Asus HD EAH5450 1GB silent
 
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Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
4
81
The newer AMD chips you list are clearly the best performing and quietest of this bunch. I would also consider something around an i3-2100. You don't list a video card, but you mention gaming. "Moderate" gaming isn't possible on anything you list except for maybe the AMD chips. I prefer the Intel setup with a dedicated video card.

Toms Hardware just did a test recently on the gaming performance of a $140 AMD 3870 compared to an intel G620 with a dedicated video card. Check it out. It's right in line with your question.
 

jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
5,493
3
81
Describe your gaming.....

IF you do "moderate gaming", I wouldn't go any less than a A8 personally.

Out of those choices, the A6 is the best
 

Fornax Eridanus

Junior Member
Nov 12, 2007
8
0
0
Hi Adam,

I voted Intel E6600 since you already have a motherboard to put it in and I asume you will aquire it cheaply. For your HTPC you will want to use a seperate graphicscard, do you have one in your current Pentium-4 system you can reuse (PCI-Express)?

In my household we have 3 PC's with Core2Duo's running between 2.5 and 3.0GHz (Mild overclocks on a E2180, E4400 and E7200 all with 2G memory and windows XP) and along with a NVidia 450 and 2 x GTS250 those work well for our 'moderate gaming', they work well on things like SWTOR, Sims3, DAoC, DarkFall, Skyrim and other games on medium resolutions (Lowest is 1280x1024). If you are on a low budget you have another measure of 'works well' than with a budget $1000,- north of that obviously.

The E6600 you mention only has 2 cores which is perfectly fine for many games still, often preferrable above more cores that are slower each.

As a drop-in replacement in your current PC with it's current cooler (and without the need to reinstall your operatingsystem at all)(Do apply some fresh thermalgoop though!) you will get 2-3 times better performance in games at an instance. Bonus here is that you just have to exchange the CPU and you are done.

If you do not have a discrete videocard and are just using onboard video currently, you could add a budget videocard of choice, something in the $50-$80-range if you are in the US and enjoy a noticable improvement.

Upgrading out of the Pentium-4 here is your first priority here.

With kind regards,
Fornax.
 

lukhie

Member
Mar 18, 2012
25
0
0
hello everybody,

i forgot to mention, i have Asus HD EAH 5450.

actually i don't play games, (played till i was student :), my 4 yr old niece does play some kiddish games like POP, NFS)


i am just lookin a processor, good enough for next 3 yrs.

any more info, i am all ears!!
 

Fornax Eridanus

Junior Member
Nov 12, 2007
8
0
0
You currently have a Pentium-4 based CPU.
When I replaced my P4 2800MHz with hyperthreading with an E4400 Conroe (2000MHz) my computer was twice as fast instantly (single-core applications/games) when everything else was the same (Asrock Conroe motherboard: only swapped the CPU, same RAM, no reinstall of windows, same discrete GF8600).
Your proposed E6600 running at 3.06GHz will even do better.

-BUT- with your booting with your current P4-d820 taking almost 3 minutes you appear to have a different, underlying, but severe problem. A faster CPU is not going to solve that. And you reinstalling windows 3 months ago didn't solve it either.
You have some other problem there that we need to pinpoint, otherwise you are not going to enjoy any upgrade.
 

Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
4
81
The E6600 with the 5450 should be fine as an HTPC. I wouldn't spend any money on it until you've tried that combo. My primary HTPC is an E8400 and it works very well. The E6600 should run somewhat cool.

That 160gb hard drive is probably very slow. Get rid of it.

OS is running from the SSD?
 

blckgrffn

Diamond Member
May 1, 2003
9,502
3,820
136
www.teamjuchems.com
The E6600 with the 5450 should be fine as an HTPC. I wouldn't spend any money on it until you've tried that combo. My primary HTPC is an E8400 and it works very well. The E6600 should run somewhat cool.

That 160gb hard drive is probably very slow. Get rid of it.

OS is running from the SSD?

I agree whole heartedly with this analysis.
 

Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
4
81
Another question - do you already own the E6600, or are you buying one? If you don't own it, I would suggest a wolfdale core CPU instead. Look at your board CPU support list, and try to find any of the wolfdale core CPU's. They run cooler than the Conroe CPU's since the wolfdale is a 45nm chip, and the conroe is a 65nm chip.

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/G41M-P26.html#/?div=CPUSupport
 

IntelEnthusiast

Intel Representative
Feb 10, 2011
582
2
0
I know the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 is a great processor but it is almost 5 years since it was released. At 65w TDP you really shouldnt have any issues with it in a HTPC but I don't know how something that old would stack up with the other processors. With the Intel Core 2 Duo you are looking at a "3" or "4" series board most likely "G41" board. Newegg only has 1 Gigabyte G41 board right now.
 

blckgrffn

Diamond Member
May 1, 2003
9,502
3,820
136
www.teamjuchems.com
Another question - do you already own the E6600, or are you buying one? If you don't own it, I would suggest a wolfdale core CPU instead. Look at your board CPU support list, and try to find any of the wolfdale core CPU's. They run cooler than the Conroe CPU's since the wolfdale is a 45nm chip, and the conroe is a 65nm chip.

http://www.msi.com/product/mb/G41M-P26.html#/?div=CPUSupport

He is talking about the Wolfdale already, based on the clock speed. Silly Intel, recycling processor names...
 

Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
4
81
Oh, well then, the 45nm E6600 is like half an E8400. That's a pretty good CPU for an HTPC and it should run very cool.

I run my E8400 (almost) fanless with a Ninja Mini cooler. The case has 120mm fans pretty close to the cooler, so it gets good airflow. Even with no direct fan, my quad core always runs at less than 50C.
 

lukhie

Member
Mar 18, 2012
25
0
0
with your booting with your current P4-d820 taking almost 3 minutes you appear to have a different, underlying, but severe problem. A faster CPU is not going to solve that. And you reinstalling windows 3 months ago didn't solve it either.
You have some other problem there that we need to pinpoint, otherwise you are not going to enjoy any upgrade.

thanks for goin through my old thread.
booting problem was solved by installing OS on SSD, i also changed all the cables in mobo, i read somewher that, SATA cables shouldn't be bent too much.
i couldn't figure, what was the exact coz for 3 minute delay but now its less than 45 seconds.

That 160gb hard drive is probably very slow. Get rid of it.

OS is running from the SSD?

old 160gb HDD serves as storage drive nothing else.
yes OS is running from the SSD.

They run cooler than the Conroe CPU's since the wolfdale is a 45nm chip, and the conroe is a 65nm chip.

Yeah m talking about Pentium duo E6600(code name WOLFDALE )
most important does Pentium duo E6600(WOLFDALE) make noise???

you have a gpu?

get the Llano that has gpu disabled

i have Asus HD EAH5450,
I didn't get, when u say LIano with gpu disabled??
could you elaborate???

I wouldn't do anything weaker than an A6 w/4 cores, personally.

i wouldn't mind spending money on that, but i heard that, they are soon goin to be phase out, and intel is coming with 22nm cpu, in next month..
 

Abwx

Lifer
Apr 2, 2011
11,674
4,566
136
A6 should be good enough but FM1 socket is already EOL
since it will be replaced in a month or so by FM2 , wich is
probably not compatible CPU wise with FM1 , so the only
possible upgrade will be to switch to an A8 38xx , if ever
they can be found in a year or two , wich is unlikely
to be the case.
 

nenforcer

Golden Member
Aug 26, 2008
1,767
1
76
The most futureproof platform I think is the AM3 Athlon ][ 260 as long as you get an AM3+ motherboard, but that may be too costly.

Since you already have the G41 motherboard the Pentium E6600 fits your needs exactly for a HTPC with light to moderate gaming and is the least costly.
 

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
Any of those will run circles around the Pentium D. Get the E6600, drop it in and you are done. IMHO it's a no-brainer. With the AMD's you need a new board and a new Windows install as Fornax mentioned.

My concern for you is that 160 gig drive. No drive should take 3 minutes to load Windows. That is a problem. It may be ok for storage for another 5 years or it could crap out on you tomorrow.
 

sm625

Diamond Member
May 6, 2011
8,172
137
106
If you have G41 mobo already then get the E6600. I never hear mine running. Or better yet, go on ebay and find a BX80557E6600. (E6600 conroe). It will easily overclock to pentium E6600 speeds. I guess it really depends on what you can get for cheap. The pentium version of the E6600 will also overclock.

FWIW I would take a conroe 3GHz dual core system over a llano 2.1GHz quadcore any day. (Especially when I throw in a HD4850 and still keep the price lower than the llano). For an HTPC you may want to get a cheap video card. G41 is enough for most users though. Try it first, just keep an eye on video performance. I'm actually surprised by what my 4500MHD chipset in my notebook can do.
 
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