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What do you pick - E21xx OR E7200 OR Others, and what RAM?

W

WaiWai

Senior member
What do you pick - E21xx OR E7200 OR Others, and what RAM?

I'm a budget overclocker. I'm also a price/performance geek.
My current pick is E21xx which is very cheap and can overclock to 3.0Ghz easily with stock cooler. I'm also interested in the new E7200 but it's 100% expensive at my local stores (I don't buy online!).
My choice of the coming motherboard is Foxconn P35A-S.

1. What's the difference between E21xx and E7200?
As far as I know, the only differences are cache size and clock multiplier. Anything else?

2. Normally speaking, how far can E7200 go on stock cooling? How good is the overclockabilty of E7200?
I plan to use its stock cooler only. I don't plan to spend extra bucks on aftermarket coolers unless it's proved to be worth it, price/performance-wise.

3. How much RAM should I get? My choices:
3GB: 1GB + 1GB + 1GB
3GB: 2GB + 1GB
4GB: 2GB + 2GB
Does it hurt if I mix different RAM brand, or different size/timings of RAM?

I'm using Windows XP Pro.
I need to receive a lot of streaming data (10+). I may do occasional video & audio editing/recording. I don't often play games.

DDR2 should be obsolete in 1-2 years. I believe I have to dump DDR2 when I upgrade after 3 years or so. So I don't think it's worth buying too much RAM even it's cheap.

Dual channel shouldn't be a concern. Memory seems not to be the bottleneck. Hardly any application needs so much bandwidth.

What do you think?
 
E7200 and 2GB X 2 GB. 3GB causes some problems with dual channel. You could do 1024x512x1024x512 in your ram slots if you wanted to though.
 
another big difference between the 21xx and 7200 is the size of the die. The allendale procs are 65nm and the wuffs are 45nm so we're talking about power usage and heat here. I would go the e7200 route, actually I just did this. If you have a fry's reasonable near you then you can usually get the combo deal from the for $120. Do you have an aversion to ordering online? I've done it for a very long time and there's really no worries. As for ram, you're best getting a 2x2gb kit. Matching ram tends to lessens the chances for issues, specially in overclocking.
 
The E7200 gives you more cache, more headroom for overclocking, new instructions.

On the stock intel HSF,... going from the stock 2.53 to 3.16 (25% overclock) is very very standard and doable,... maximum I would push it would be about 3.6 (42% overclock) and only if you have good temps already in the case.

If you want 3.6-3.8 range on a cheap HSF setup, you might want to look at the artic freezer 7 or the xigmatek S1283 (the xigmatek could have some clearance issues), both come with fans and are $25-$40 range

I would also say get a matched set of ram, 2x2 for 4 gb or 1x1 for 2 gb, the 4gb won't be fully seen unless you are using a 64 bit operating system, however it should see around 3.25gb give or take. The extra ram can be worth it for some of the latest games, multitasking and video editing.

If you are overclocking mildly most DDR2-800 will be fine, but I would say if you can get some DDR2-1066 for a similar price it would be worth it as you "should" then have more overclocking headroom. I won't say specific ram modules since there are so many that can fit your needs,... also keep in mind that the high end ram a lot of times won't get you anything more unless you are really trying to hit high overclocks or they have and keep great timings when doing mild overclocks,... so you can have a quicker response.

Many good 1066 2x2, 4 gb kits can be had for under $100, going on the lower end I have seen some 800 1x1, 2gb kits for $50 with $25 rebates that would be fine for mild overclocks.
 
Op, hands down E7200! Price(s) just dropped today and sounds like it is at the $113.00 range. As others have mentioned, the wolfdale is 45nm, Runs cooler and less power. I have both and The E7200 is by far the better chip.
 
Originally posted by: Yoxxy
E7200 and 2GB X 2 GB. 3GB causes some problems with dual channel. You could do 1024x512x1024x512 in your ram slots if you wanted to though.
Click to expand...

Apart from dual-channel, what problems do I face if I mix and match different RAMs (in size/timings/brand)?

BTW I don't buy online.
 
Originally posted by: Drsignguy
Op, hands down E7200! Price(s) just dropped today and sounds like it is at the $113.00 range. As others have mentioned, the wolfdale is 45nm, Runs cooler and less power. I have both and The E7200 is by far the better chip.
Click to expand...

What's the Intel official price of E7200 after the price cut?

It's still selling at US$122 in my local stores. Has it already reflected the price cut?

This is the only chart that I can find:
http://www.techpowerup.com/img/07-05-15/Inte.jpg

(How can I show the chart directly on the post?)
 
On the stock intel HSF,... going from the stock 2.53 to 3.16 (25% overclock) is very very standard and doable,... maximum I would push it would be about 3.6 (42% overclock) and only if you have good temps already in the case.
Click to expand...

Achieving 3.6Ghz mark with Intel HSF is interesting. But how can I know if my case will have good temps (like what range of temps)?
I would guess the evils of the heat stems from CPU and graphic card. The rest should be pretty cool, aren't they?

Mobo: Foxconn P35A-S, Intel P35 chipset, two PCI-Express x 16
CPU: E2180 O/C to 3.0Ghz, or E7200 O/C to 3.6Ghz (possible?)
RAM: cheap DDR2 800
Graphic card:
A) HD 2600 Pro (will O/C), Dual DVI outputs
B) HD 2400 Pro, Dual DVI outputs [not for Crossfire]
Monitor: 20-22", 1680x1050, * 4
SATA HDD * 1
DVDRW * 1

I can buy a cheap case (maybe sub-US$15) with some fans if it's useful to achieve 3.6Ghz mark. Otherwise I may simply use my old and fanless cases.

I don't have powerful fans, but does my build match the requirement of "good temps"?

If you want 3.6-3.8 range on a cheap HSF setup, you might want to look at the artic freezer 7 or the xigmatek S1283 (the xigmatek could have some clearance issues), both come with fans and are $25-$40 range
Click to expand...

Getting extra 200mhz for at least $25 is uninteresting to me (I'm a price/performance geek 😉
I wonder if it's ok to get a ~$10 cooler, and how much it can help.

I would also say get a matched set of ram, 2x2 for 4 gb or 1x1 for 2 gb, the 4gb won't be fully seen unless you are using a 64 bit operating system, however it should see around 3.25gb give or take. The extra ram can be worth it for some of the latest games, multitasking and video editing.
Click to expand...

AFAIK, Windows XP gives max 2GB RAM for applications. All the rest go for system. So the extra 0.25GB is a waste (Windows XP itself doesn't need 1.25GB RAM).

I would like to know more about the problems/disadvantages of mixing RAM. So far it seems the only loss is dual channel but the real gain is small (so I'm okay to lose it):
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...ROCESSING,1705-11.html

Take a look at the above. The result is so close that it's within the margin of error. So it seems to prove that while dual-channel apparently sounds so great, it's actually not. Also those tests usually stress the tester so much to draw a difference on the chart. It means even less when it comes to normal usage.
 
Originally posted by: WaiWai
I can buy a cheap case (maybe sub-US$15) with some fans if it's useful to achieve 3.6Ghz mark. Otherwise I may simply use my old and fanless cases.

I don't have powerful fans, but does my build match the requirement of "good temps"?
Click to expand...

Far, far from it. You aren't going to be able to overclock much, if any at all, using a fanless case, especially with the crappy stock heatsinks, unless you don't mind never attachimg your case's side panel.

AFAIK, Windows XP gives max 2GB RAM for applications. All the rest go for system. So the extra 0.25GB is a waste (Windows XP itself doesn't need 1.25GB RAM).

I would like to know more about the problems/disadvantages of mixing RAM. So far it seems the only loss is dual channel but the real gain is small (so I'm okay to lose it):
http://www.tomshardware.com/re...ROCESSING,1705-11.html

Take a look at the above. The result is so close that it's within the margin of error. So it seems to prove that while dual-channel apparently sounds so great, it's actually not. Also those tests usually stress the tester so much to draw a difference on the chart. It means even less when it comes to normal usage.
Click to expand...

You don't lose dual-channel when running three or four sticks of RAM (with any of the Intel chipsets for LGA775), you just lose overclockability. With your lack of cooling, though, I don't think you'll need to worry about losing overclocking potential.
 

One question:
Is single or double-sided RAM still a concern in today's world? If so, how can I know if it's single/double-sided and which one should I get?
 
Whether the RAM you buy is single or double sided makes no difference, unless it has some of Micron's D9 IC's on it. In that case, you want double sided. There are very few instances of single sided RAM available to the end user, though, and performance is the same, either way.
 
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