X2-4200+ to E5200 budget upgrade

[Arkaign]

Hey, I'm upgrading my home system, and was wondering what kind of gains this will give, and any other feedback from persons who have made similar moves.

Old :

Asus K8N-E Socket 939 Mobo
AMD X2-4200+ (mildly overclocked to ~2.3Ghz or so)
4GB (4x1GB) PC3200 DDR1 (CL 2.5)
500GB Seagate SATA HDD
Nvidia 9600GT 512MB PCI-E

New :

Asus P5KPL-CM Mobo
Intel E5200 Retail (SLAY7) with Asus Triton Tower Heatpipe Cooler
4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2 (Crucial Ballistix, 4-4-4-12)
same HDD/DVDRW/Video/Case/Etc.

The cooler is pretty decent, will probably set my sights on a ~3.2Ghz overclock? Nothing too crazy, I rarely play games, mostly the box sits there collecting dust, but I do use it for watching movies and recorded TV.

What % difference will there be in moving from the ~2.3Ghz X2 to a 2.5Ghz / 3.2Ghz E5200?



*punts out of the Video forum*

- AmberClad (Video Mod)

 

[Arkaign]

Crap wrong forum, sorry guys this was meant for CPU / Overclocking section.

 

[Arkaign]

Okay, went for a quick OC, and this is what I set :

Changed Memory from automatic to manual (was running at 800mhz, 5-6-6-15 wtf lol), to 667mhz, 4-4-4-12.
Changed FSB from 200 to 250.
All stock voltage, rebooted.

System seems stable at 3.15Ghz. Running Prime95 right now.

 

[hans007]

i would figure this would be a good amount faster .

i havent had an e5200...but i have a be-2350 machine (which is more or less an x2 4200) and I had an e7200 before (which is .03 ghz faster than an e5200) so i'd say that depending on what you are doing with the machine it will be a huge difference (like say encoding or newerish games). for browsing and stuff i doubt you'll be able to tell the difference.

Pretty good upgrade though. If you are an ebayer, those older dual core 939 cpus sell for quite a bit of money (i would not doubt you could more or less sell your 4200+ old board, and 4 gb ddr400 ram for more than you paid for new board + 4gb ddr2 and e5200)

 

[Arkaign]

Thanks! Am I right in backing off the memory speed to 667, so that when I raise the FSB, it doesn't raise the memory speed beyond the 800-4-4-4-12 spec? Or is it linked? It's been so long since I was really into overclocking.

 

[n7]

Memory frequency is tied to FSB speed + ratio used.

If you lowered RAM to DDR2-667 while FSB was at 200, you are using the 3:5 ratio, which means RAM speed is 1.66* your actual FSB speed.

So your RAM is at DDR2-833 right now actually.

Or if it's at DDR2-667 actually with the FSB @ 250, that's the 3:4 ratio.

Use CPU-Z to see that.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: n7
Memory frequency is tied to FSB speed + ratio used.

If you lowered RAM to DDR2-667 while FSB was at 200, you are using the 3:5 ratio, which means RAM speed is 1.66* your actual FSB speed.

So your RAM is at DDR2-833 right now actually.

Or if it's at DDR2-667 actually with the FSB @ 250, that's the 3:4 ratio.

Use CPU-Z to see that.

Thanks!!! I will check it out. Seems to run beautifully so far. I think the Intel SATA controller must be a lot better than the one on the NF4 Ultra, because Windows boots a lot quicker, apps seem to launch quicker too.

 

[SonnyDaze]

I recently went through the same dilemma. I built a budget rig with an X2 5400 for myself and then a few weeks later built an EP43/E5200 rig for a friend and the difference in speed/responsiveness is definitely noticeable and amazing. I saw the difference and had to invest. Looking back, I think the X2 rig just felt like it had a lag/drag feel to it. Keep in mind I've never owned an Intel in the 15+ years I've been in computers. The new Intel build is speedy and responsive. I've started pushing the FSB (@ 240 now) and it holds well so far with the stock cooler. Don't think I'll go much farther as this suits my needs (light gaming, surfing, etc.)

 

[Arkaign]

Gah. Set FSB to 333, booting and stable at what reports to be 4166mhz. Is this normal? It's crazily fast, but I had to set my ram timing back some more.

 

[angry hampster]

Is it prime95 (2 instances) stable? That's pretty damn impressive. Mind posting a CPU-Z screenshot?

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: angry hampster
Is it prime95 (2 instances) stable? That's pretty damn impressive. Mind posting a CPU-Z screenshot?

Well, if it hasn't bursted into flames while I'm at work, I will It's at home at the moment in Frisco. I wanted to stay at home and play with it, but damn bills need paying and won't pay themselves lol.

I do have a really good cooler on it though

It's this one : http://www.slashgear.com/asus-...ool-and-simple-106698/

92x92x25 Sunon fan, the only thing I don't like about it is the stupid push-pin mounting system.

I'm really surprised my cheapo mobo was capable of booting with that FSB.