Like many, I am going through the ritual of "damn, have to replace my 4 yr old setup".
I thought I'd share my analysis of why x2 3800+ (939 socket) is better than low end conroe for the common person on a budget who wants a new cpu/motherboard that is not bleeding edge, yet works great for the next few years.
Reasons:
1) Performance/Price.
No short term price inflation. Conroe chips cost more due to insane short term demand. (Valid for the next couple months atleast). I don't see x2 3800+ being super inflated at major online retailers. Additionally, they are in stock in most places.
Suppose we take the conroe prices from this page...
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802
Clearly, this is the best case because actual prices are definitely higher than this out in the real world.
And suppose we take today's x2 3800+ price from newegg of $154
And we take motherboards that are capable of fully overclocking each chip:
asrock 939 dual sata2 (ddr) and gigabyte ds3 (ddr2). Prices are taken from newegg.
e6400 cpu + gigabyte ds3 costs $224 + $150 = $374
e6300 cpu + gigabyte ds3 costs $183 + $150 = $333
x2 3800 cpu + asrock 939 dual sata2 costs $154 + $67 = $221
Now, to be performance/price competitive. an e6400/ds3 combo would have to be atleast
374/221 = 1.69x faster ~ approx 1.7x faster
e6300/ds3 combo would have to be 333/221 = 1.5x faster
After all setups are overclocked on stock heatsink/fan (without any extra costs...or if u want, justify the extra cost), is the x2 3800+/asrock not more performance/price efficient? Show me proof.
I've read this recent article:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802
Are the overclocks in this article too conservative? Let me know.
I assume that x2 3800+ can easily attain an overclock equivalent to the performance of a x2 4600+ on stock heatsink/fan. (If I'm wrong, somebody correct me).
2) The Unjustified expense of excess performance.
For most people, an overclocked e6300 or e6400 has performance that is often unutilized. Even an overclocked x2 3800+ will be mostly unutilized (to a lesser degree). When was the last time your cpu usage exceeded 5% more than 95% of the time? (for those utilization fanatics). When was the last time your cpu usage exceeded 95% more than 5% of the time? (for those response-time fanatics). Save the $100 to $150 difference today. Spend it in 2 years where that same money will be worth more. Better yet, let it grow. Only very few people will ever notice a performance difference between x2 3800+ and a low end conroe (until at a later date when applications are more demanding).
3) Upgrade paths.
Yes, if you buy conroe today, you have more upgrade choices in components. I point out that you saved $100 to $150 towards your next system, and that you can always sell your old system for something. Things always get cheaper and faster in the future. Always have been, no reason to think it'd stop yet.
Also, this asrock board in particular allows you to use your existing ddr memory (although I can't say there was any good ddr memory 4 yrs ago...) and your agp card (I spent way way too much on my used-to-be-state-of-the-art AIW radeon 9700 pro). Oh well, lesson learned.
Don't rely on "future upgrade paths" as nothing is certain. Instead, invest in an existing upgrade path (If you know what I mean...).
--------------
These ideas are also discussed in this thread but I thought I'd start a new one.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1902047&enterthread=y
Does anyone have better suggestions for a great cpu/motherboard setup on a similar budget ($200 - $400 for cpu/motherboard)? (with real prices and places to buy them from). I'd like to know, I'm buying one afterall.
Also, does anybody know what/where to buy fast and cheap ddr memory?
Newbie question: Are there any adverse effects to overclocking with 4 dimms instead of 2 dimms?
I thought I'd share my analysis of why x2 3800+ (939 socket) is better than low end conroe for the common person on a budget who wants a new cpu/motherboard that is not bleeding edge, yet works great for the next few years.
Reasons:
1) Performance/Price.
No short term price inflation. Conroe chips cost more due to insane short term demand. (Valid for the next couple months atleast). I don't see x2 3800+ being super inflated at major online retailers. Additionally, they are in stock in most places.
Suppose we take the conroe prices from this page...
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802
Clearly, this is the best case because actual prices are definitely higher than this out in the real world.
And suppose we take today's x2 3800+ price from newegg of $154
And we take motherboards that are capable of fully overclocking each chip:
asrock 939 dual sata2 (ddr) and gigabyte ds3 (ddr2). Prices are taken from newegg.
e6400 cpu + gigabyte ds3 costs $224 + $150 = $374
e6300 cpu + gigabyte ds3 costs $183 + $150 = $333
x2 3800 cpu + asrock 939 dual sata2 costs $154 + $67 = $221
Now, to be performance/price competitive. an e6400/ds3 combo would have to be atleast
374/221 = 1.69x faster ~ approx 1.7x faster
e6300/ds3 combo would have to be 333/221 = 1.5x faster
After all setups are overclocked on stock heatsink/fan (without any extra costs...or if u want, justify the extra cost), is the x2 3800+/asrock not more performance/price efficient? Show me proof.
I've read this recent article:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802
Are the overclocks in this article too conservative? Let me know.
I assume that x2 3800+ can easily attain an overclock equivalent to the performance of a x2 4600+ on stock heatsink/fan. (If I'm wrong, somebody correct me).
2) The Unjustified expense of excess performance.
For most people, an overclocked e6300 or e6400 has performance that is often unutilized. Even an overclocked x2 3800+ will be mostly unutilized (to a lesser degree). When was the last time your cpu usage exceeded 5% more than 95% of the time? (for those utilization fanatics). When was the last time your cpu usage exceeded 95% more than 5% of the time? (for those response-time fanatics). Save the $100 to $150 difference today. Spend it in 2 years where that same money will be worth more. Better yet, let it grow. Only very few people will ever notice a performance difference between x2 3800+ and a low end conroe (until at a later date when applications are more demanding).
3) Upgrade paths.
Yes, if you buy conroe today, you have more upgrade choices in components. I point out that you saved $100 to $150 towards your next system, and that you can always sell your old system for something. Things always get cheaper and faster in the future. Always have been, no reason to think it'd stop yet.
Also, this asrock board in particular allows you to use your existing ddr memory (although I can't say there was any good ddr memory 4 yrs ago...) and your agp card (I spent way way too much on my used-to-be-state-of-the-art AIW radeon 9700 pro). Oh well, lesson learned.
Don't rely on "future upgrade paths" as nothing is certain. Instead, invest in an existing upgrade path (If you know what I mean...).
--------------
These ideas are also discussed in this thread but I thought I'd start a new one.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=1902047&enterthread=y
Does anyone have better suggestions for a great cpu/motherboard setup on a similar budget ($200 - $400 for cpu/motherboard)? (with real prices and places to buy them from). I'd like to know, I'm buying one afterall.
Also, does anybody know what/where to buy fast and cheap ddr memory?
Newbie question: Are there any adverse effects to overclocking with 4 dimms instead of 2 dimms?