Which Processor? Amd or Intel

[jcarson]

Choices are:
AMD 6000+
AMD 7750
Intel e5200

All nearly the same price.

Vairables:
I do not game, just mainly use pc for web / email / windows media center (vista). I have an nVidia 9600 PCIe card that I will use.

Will I notice any difference in these? I am coming from an AMD 3400+ with 2 gigs of DDR1! Looking for a little more speed with Vista.

Any thoughts, or other suggestions? Or, are there any other things I need to be concered with on any of these?

I am just looking for the cheapest / fastest combination that I can get right now.

 

[Roy2001]

I would say it's no brainer to pick E5200. Reason is simple. If you don't OC, they perform similar, E5200 eats less power. If you OC, E5200 would leave them in dust.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I think that at stock speeds, the 7750 is the fastest out of that bunch.

But if you OC, the E5200 wins, no questions asked.

 

[jcarson]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I think that at stock speeds, the 7750 is the fastest out of that bunch.

But if you OC, the E5200 wins, no questions asked.

I might OC, but only with stock cooling. Me experience is only getting 5% increases is usually not worth it.

 

[Ratman6161]

For the tasks you mentioned, it really makes no difference performance wise as none of your tasks are at all demanding.

Beware on the Athlon 64 x2 6000. The one I'm seeing on NewEgg now is a 3.1 Ghz with 521K x2 L2 cache, 65 nm and 89 watt. But there was an an earlier x2 6000 that was 3.0 Ghz 1MB x2 L2 and 90nm. That was a 125 watt processor like the x2 6400 and I've read that a lot of AM2 motherboards, particularly the cheaper ones, had trouble with the 125 watt cpus. If you go that route, make sure you know what you are getting.

For overclocking, definitely the 5200 - but there again, for your usage the extra speed would probably be going to waste anyway.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Not really a bad choice in the bunch - your highest cpu reading in Task Manager will be "System Idle Process"

Might want to throw a 45w X2 4850e into the mix ...

 

[ther00kie16]

7750 will beat 6000+, which has almost no overclocking overhead. 7750 is a decent enough architecture that it will match e5200 in pretty much everything. Only downside is cache size. e5200 will also overclock a bit more so it's definitely better.
However, negatives for e5200 are that a decent motherboard will cost more than an AMD motherboard (AM2+ will also support Phenom II) and that e5200 doesn't support SSE4, which won't matter to you if you don't know what it means.
So in the end, if you want to save a few extra $, go with an AMD setup.

 

[NoSoup4You]

e5200 uses significantly less power, from reviews I've seen. Seems like a slam dunk in that case since all the processors you mentioned perform similarly at stock speeds.

 

[JMapleton]

The e5200 overclocks so easily it would be a crime not to overclock it. Just raise the fsb and done.

 

[Lemon law]

If cheap is the criteria, your old system would more than meet your needs. And as your wallet has already discovered 2 gigs of DDR1 you can no longer use was not cheap. Because all your list of processors will require DDr2 ram which is far cheaper.

If something broke on your old system, there is probably many components off the old rig you can reuse, with older socket mobo's still on the market.

And hold off on getting an e5200, I hear it supposed to drop $20. in price in the next few weeks.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

^A multicore processor makes the Vista experience much better, so I would say a 3400+ is not sufficient and doesn't meet his needs - especially since he is saying it currently doesn't.

I think the choice should be among the Athlon 4850e, Athlon 5050e, or E5200. These will handle Vista well, run cool, and use less power than either the 6000+ or 7750. But if power and heat isn't a concern, the 7750 will definitely be the fastest of the bunch.

 

[RaptureMe]

Yeah go for amd x2 7750 its a new core and cheaper vs. the others you are looking at are getting out dated..
The 7750 has 3 levels of Cach vs. the other 2 which only have 2 levels of cach.
The 7750 also has sse4 which the other 2 dont and you are going to need it more then you know..

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: heyheybooboo
Not really a bad choice in the bunch - your highest cpu reading in Task Manager will be "System Idle Process"

Might want to throw a 45w X2 4850e into the mix ...

+1

X2 5050e $63
Foxconn A74MX-K $40AR
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR2-800 $40

Perfect for your needs & probably the lowest power setup you will find today.

 

[pepsimax2k]

For basic use, whatever's cheapest is usually best

See http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...e7300-pdc-e5200_5.html for bench comparison of 6000+ and e5200. They're both about the same though 6000+ better in gaming, e5200 better with media/gen purpose. I'd go with the e5200 if it really was the same price, but I'm sure the 6000+ will be had significantly cheaper enough to mean it's a better choice.

But... AMD boards will likely be much cheaper.

Oh and:
ADA6000IAA6CZ = 6000+ Windsor, 3000 MHz, 2x1Mb, 89w
ADX6000IAA6CZ = 6000+ Windsor, 3000 MHz, 2x1Mb, 125w
ADV6000IAA5DO = 6000+ Brisbane, 3100 MHz, 2x512, 89w

Again, both are very similar when benched, but the Windsor is generally faster in more real-world aps. If you can't get an 89w though, may wanna think about the bris for overclocking pottential or less heat/noise. See Tom's Q1/08 guide for comparisons, though you'll have to do with 4800+ as there's no later windsor + brisbanes included.
http://www.tomshardware.com/ch...008/benchmarks,16.html

 

[BlueBlazer]

I'd go for the E5200... overclocks easily to 3.2GHz on stock volts, even with stock cooler.. A better cooler would let it reach 4GHz..

 

[BurnItDwn]

Between those 3, if you overclock, the E5200.
What budget do you have for your motherboard?
How much RAM are you going to pick up?

I would honestly look for a good combo deal ....

On 12/26 I spent $217 for a Phenom 9600 (Agena 2.3ghz quad core), a Biostar 790GX motherboard, and 4GB of Crucial DDR2. The CPU was on sale for $99, and the mobo+cpu combination gave $40 to sweeten the deal.

Instead of picking a very specific CPU model first, instead, look for where the deals are.

I am upgrading from a socket 939 Athlon 3800 x2 with 2GB of DDR1.

 

[jcarson]

I now have the ram 4 gigs. I am trying too stay under 150 for mb + CPU if possible. The e5200 is 84 at newegg and several nice Asus boards are in the 50s. That's about 150 shipped.

 

[Qbah]

Why would the OP need OCing for the stuff he does? I've seen power consumption numbers and the e520 system took less at load than the X2 7750 at idle. So I'd say get the e5200 with a decent mobo and you're set.

Link to Xbitlabs with power consumption

 

[SickBeast]

The e5200 looks to be overall better.

That said, you can get an A64 5000+ for dirt cheap these days, and it might work out well for the OP if he doesn't overclock.

 

[gdextreme]

I'd recommend E5200 for sure:

1) It consumes so less power
2) I overclocked one to 3.15Ghz without increasing CPU voltage and its really stable. Thats good considering its my first overclock.
3) At 3.25 Ghz its a little bit faster than a stock E8400
4) It's really cheap.

If you are looking for a mobo for E5200 then don't take a G31 mobo cause it doesn't have enough memory dividors. When I overclock my CPU to 3.25Ghz my PC5300 RAM (667mhz) is running at 720Mhz.

 

[Leyawiin]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
The e5200 looks to be overall better.

That said, you can get an A64 5000+ for dirt cheap these days, and it might work out well for the OP if he doesn't overclock.

Yup. Any are fine for a budget, non-gaming rig. An X2 5000+ Brisbane is running for less than $50 on Newegg.