Which budget cpu will be the best buy?

[JBravo]

Hi

I'm looking to upgrade.

I'm wondering which budget cpu will do the job. I'll be doing some gaming, but not at very high graphics. I do want to oc though.

What do you think of the E2160? I've heard that they can oc quite well but only has a 1MB cache.

How good is the E6550?

How big a difference does the cache memory make on a cpu? what does it affect?

Any info is welcome

Thanks

[Mussels]

I'd say E2160, or E7200.

the cache affects everything, but usually 10-15% worst case. Because the 2160 clocks so well, the cache doesnt matter as much.

The E6550 has a 7x multiplier meaning its going to take a lot more effort to OC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115052 nuf said.

Edit:Mussels beat me, bah im tired.

[Mussels]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116052


or the E2180 for $40 less, depending on your budget. 2160 and 2180 only differ in the stock multiplier.

Originally Posted by Mussels

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116052


or the E2180 for $40 less, depending on your budget. 2160 and 2180 only differ in the stock multiplier.

Cant recommend the e2180, only because i have had 2 and not been able to reach 3.2ghz. Threw my e8400 in there(DD's old one ) and it ran up to 4.4 without a hitch. Maybe they were too picky :/

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by Duxx

Cant recommend the e2180, only because i have had 2 and not been able to reach 3.2ghz. Threw my e8400 in there(DD's old one ) and it ran up to 4.4 without a hitch. Maybe they were too picky :/

good info. the E7200 seems the best bet then.

[JBravo]

thanks guys!

You said that the stock multiplier is higher on the 2180. But can the multiplier on the 2160 be adjusted?

I'm going to oc on air only, but I'll have 4 or 5 fans on the gigabyte posidon chassis.

Would you say that the 2160 would still be a good bet?

[Mussels]

multipliers can only be lowered, and only to 6x on core 2 processors.

For example, an E2160, E6600 and Q6600, all with stock 9x multipliers can use 6x,7x,8x and 9x.

i've managed 3GHz off a 2160 on the stock cooler with no problems, but the 7200 is going to OC a lot higher. really depends on your budget.

[P4-630]

I just upgraded from an E2200 to an E7200 and I'm quite satisfied with it's overall performance also it is a good overclocker compared to my previous E2200.

De E7200 is 45nm, it runs cooler than the 65nm processors.

Or what about a budget Celeron E1200 1.6GHz $45 to $66
or a E1400 2.0GHz dual core processor $64 to $75

[JBravo]

thanks

i'll probably go for the e7200 then.

also, what do you know of the gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L mobo? i want to be able to oc relatively well. also budget but thats the best that i can afford.

[P4-630]

Originally Posted by JBravo

thanks

i'll probably go for the e7200 then.

also, what do you know of the gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L mobo? i want to be able to oc relatively well. also budget but thats the best that i can afford.

It's about the same as my board, the DS3L is just without Raid support.

[Mussels]

board has a good rep for OCing, but a bad rep on the bios front. There has been a few reports of boards suddenly dying, as well as boards needing CMOS resets fairly often.

[P4-630]

Originally Posted by Mussels

board has a good rep for OCing, but a bad rep on the bios front. There has been a few reports of boards suddenly dying, as well as boards needing CMOS resets fairly often.

Also depends on the cpu and how far you overclock it.
With the latest bios and my e7200 I did a few CMOS resets because I was using GB C.I.A.2 and that is not very stable when your cpu is already overclocked, unless you set a high core voltage.

Personally I would say that gigabyte makes affordable overclocker boards.
And I like their "Ultra Durable".

[ShadowFold]

Originally Posted by Mussels

board has a good rep for OCing, but a bad rep on the bios front. There has been a few reports of boards suddenly dying, as well as boards needing CMOS resets fairly often.

Im a victim of it.. E7200 is a great buy but not the DS3L. I never buy Gigabyte now cause so many people had that board just randomly die on them like I had mine do.. Never taking that chance again.

[P4-630]

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

Im a victim of it.. E7200 is a great buy but not the DS3L. I never buy Gigabyte now cause so many people had that board just randomly die on them like I had mine do.. Never taking that chance again.

Well if my GB board would die I'll just RMA and get a new one, 3 years warranty..

[ShadowFold]

Originally Posted by P4-630

Well if my GB board would die I'll just RMA and get a new one, 3 years warranty..

HAHA good luck with that. I ended just getting my money back from newegg for it after 5 days of no response to their RMA department.

[JBravo]

i also had a look at the even more budget GB GA-G31M-S2L. I had a look at the bios, and it looks as if I'll be able to do the oc'ing that i would like to. any advice on those? it has a nice high-ish fsb of 1333.

[JBravo]

which board would you rather recomend in more or less the same price range? ASUSM-P5KPL
maybe?

[Mussels]

Originally Posted by JBravo

i also had a look at the even more budget GB GA-G31M-S2L. I had a look at the bios, and it looks as if I'll be able to do the oc'ing that i would like to. any advice on those? it has a nice high-ish fsb of 1333.

when considering these things, remember there is 'real' and 'quad pumped' FSB.

1333 'quad pumped' is 333MHz as reported in most motherboard bioses. Almost all CPU's available atm are 266 or 333Mhz stock (1066/1333) so that board would leave you very little OC headroom in its 'stock' range.

[P4-630]

Originally Posted by ShadowFold

HAHA good luck with that. I ended just getting my money back from newegg for it after 5 days of no response to their RMA department.

I bought it at a local store and it has a 3 Years Platinum Service

- Super Swap
- First Aid
- Test Drive
- Free Delivery

[Andy_007]

You could wait for the E5200 (45nm replacement for the 2XXX series) it runs at 2.5GHZ with a 12.5 multi. With a 333FSB max it would be possible to overclock to 4.1ghz if the CPU can run at that speed. It is supposed to be out end of August.

[P4-630]

Originally Posted by Andy_007

You could wait for the E5200 (45nm replacement for the 2XXX series) it runs at 2.5GHZ with a 12.5 multi. With a 333FSB max it would be possible to overclock to 4.1ghz if the CPU can run at that speed. It is supposed to be out end of August.

The entry level E5200.
This CPU is the first 45nm CPU with 2MB L2, default FSB keeps 800MHz.

http://en.expreview.com/2008/07/07/f...e5200-preview/

[JBravo]

Originally Posted by Mussels

when considering these things, remember there is 'real' and 'quad pumped' FSB.

1333 'quad pumped' is 333MHz as reported in most motherboard bioses. Almost all CPU's available atm are 266 or 333Mhz stock (1066/1333) so that board would leave you very little OC headroom in its 'stock' range.

Say were looking at the 1333fsb mobo. Would that then mean if the cpu's fsb is 300mhz standard, that i would only be able to oc it by 33mhz?

I've been wondering about this alot, coz my current GB mobo only supports up to 800mhz fsb. but the cpu is set to 200 standard! so if i oc it to say 230...that would result in a 920mhz fsb. how would that affect the mobo?

thanks for all the info, it really helps

[ShadowFold]

If you have a 800FSB board it probably doesnt have a bios that supports 266/333 anyway. But if you get a board that says "800-1066FSB" you will have to OC it to 333fsb to get 1333. 266 = 1066fsb.

[Mussels]

as an example, the E2160 is 200x9 (1.8GHz) 266x9 is 2.4GHz, and 333x9 is 3.2GHz. This is why its a popular choice, as its easy to reach 333FSB with modern (yet cheap) mobos and ram.

The only stock FSB's are 200 (E21x0, P4's, E4x00) 266 (E6x00 Q6x00) 333 (E6x50, most 45nm) and a few extreme editions at 400 FSB.