1 last time: E6420, E6600 or E6850 (July 22nd)?

Just trying to finalize my CPU decision for my new gaming rig which will consist of:

- ASUS P5B Deluxe or P5k Deluxe -or- Gigabyte 965p or P35 DS3 (that's another decision!)
- G.skill DDR2 800
- 8800 GTS 640
- Thermalright 120 extreme
- P180b
- 19" Samsung widescreen (1440x900)
(just to name a few components)

I'm new to OC'ing, and only plan to OC enough so that my Thermalright will keep my system cool. I also want to OC at 1:1 with the ram I have. I want to spend some time OC'ing and having fun, but I don't want to have to mess with memory all too much or different ratios and all that, as it's still over my head. I just basically want to increase and FSB and boom away I go (to a degree).

The E6850 is 3ghz stock, so wouldn't I be able to overclock that more (without water/extreme cooling) than the E6420 and E6600?

Would the E6600 overclock easier and higher than the E6420 with my cooling?

And do games really need more than 3/3.2ghz anyway? Especially at my resolution (1440x900) ?

I thought I was set at the E6420, which I kinda am, because of the price.

Thanks!

It would be unlikely that a E6600 would O/C higher than an E6420. The "diehard" overclockers would say that 8x450=3,600 is better than 9x400=3,600.

It is difficult to say what the E6850 would O/C to. Having a 1333 bus isn't better per se. What is exciting about the E6850 is that it is a new Intel stepping (G0). There is some posts at XS forums. Engineering samples so take everything with a grain of salt. There isn't a large sample size either so remember that as well.

I'm in a similar boat and I'm thinking of grabbing on of the new Celerons for $45. Sure it's a single core CPU but it should O/C well. Once the new steppings are out you could grab one of those or one of the quads (if you don't mind the heat).

I'm not sure a quad is a great idea for a new oc'er. While it's the same in general as far as physical setup there is more to do because of the heat output to get the most out of it. E6600 or E6420 may oc the same, as long as you get decent Ram capable of 900-1000, while the e6600s may be better when surveying broad numbers of CPUs for the individual it comes down to the chip you get and 3.2-3.6 is an expected range for either one.

Go for the 6420 to save money, or the 6850 to get the 'newest' stepping but make sure you've got good Ram for the latter especially. I'm not sure a 6600 makes sense after the price drops unless it drops too. A quad might be good if you're in to heavy multitasking but otherwise

MadMan007 said:

I'm not sure a quad is a great idea for a new oc'er. While it's the same in general as far as physical setup there is more to do because of the heat output to get the most out of it. E6600 or E6420 may oc the same, as long as you get decent Ram capable of 900-1000, while the e6600s may be better when surveying broad numbers of CPUs for the individual it comes down to the chip you get and 3.2-3.6 is an expected range for either one.

Go for the 6420 to save money, or the 6850 to get the 'newest' stepping but make sure you've got good Ram for the latter especially. I'm not sure a 6600 makes sense after the price drops unless it drops too. A quad might be good if you're in to heavy multitasking but otherwise

Click to expand...

sums it up right there. I second the 6420

MadMan007 said:

I'm not sure a quad is a great idea for a new oc'er. While it's the same in general as far as physical setup there is more to do because of the heat output to get the most out of it. E6600 or E6420 may oc the same, as long as you get decent Ram capable of 900-1000, while the e6600s may be better when surveying broad numbers of CPUs for the individual it comes down to the chip you get and 3.2-3.6 is an expected range for either one.

Go for the 6420 to save money, or the 6850 to get the 'newest' stepping but make sure you've got good Ram for the latter especially. I'm not sure a 6600 makes sense after the price drops unless it drops too. A quad might be good if you're in to heavy multitasking but otherwise

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Yeah, not into heavy multitasking, just a simple gaming rig that needs to be updated.

Cool, thanks for this info! It helps me reaffirm my thoughts about going for the 6420 in the first place.

Loving my E6420 , does 3.8 stable on water , and 4ghz for benching

well the 6x50's are gonna run much cooler then current c2d's imo thats worth waiting and the money.

Evilsizer said:

well the 6x50's are gonna run much cooler then current c2d's imo thats worth waiting and the money.

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People just don't want to wait I guess.

i'd probably go with the e6420 now.

as for P965 vs P35:
p965 - relatively cheap, overclocks well
p35 - relatively expensive, overclocks well, room for future

both will overclock the e6420 nicely.

Evilsizer said:

well the 6x50's are gonna run much cooler then current c2d's imo thats worth waiting and the money.

Click to expand...

how much cooler?

If you're using a resolution of 1440x900 then you should probably get the 320 MB version of the 8800.

How high could/should I OC the E6850 with a Thermalright Extreme 120, P35-DS3R mb, 2x1gb G.skill DDR2 800 (P180b case) ?

I think that's the answer I am looking for in all of this and if I can OC it easily higher than 3.2 with 1:1 on that Thermalright 120 then I'll get it instead of the E6420.

MattsterMH said:

If you're using a resolution of 1440x900 then you should probably get the 320 MB version of the 8800.

Click to expand...

Really? Even for games like Crysis? Hmm...

splat said:

i'd probably go with the e6420 now.

as for P965 vs P35:
p965 - relatively cheap, overclocks well
p35 - relatively expensive, overclocks well, room for future

both will overclock the e6420 nicely.

Click to expand...

not really the cheapest p965 is what $99? the cheapest p35 is $109, biostar and msi.

Morvak said:

how much cooler?

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not really sure but from the looks it could be 10c cooler.
as for you video card , get the 640mb over the 320. simply cause when it come to DX10 games the extra mem will be worth it.

Comparing the 6850 to the 6600:

- newer stepping (G0 vs. B2)
- 6850 is rated higher (3.0 vs 2.4)
- runs at lower voltage

Isn't this worth the ~$40 premium to get the newer chip? It will overclock better on air, won't it?

MadMan007 said:

I'm not sure a quad is a great idea for a new oc'er. While it's the same in general as far as physical setup there is more to do because of the heat output to get the most out of it. E6600 or E6420 may oc the same, as long as you get decent Ram capable of 900-1000, while the e6600s may be better when surveying broad numbers of CPUs for the individual it comes down to the chip you get and 3.2-3.6 is an expected range for either one.

Go for the 6420 to save money, or the 6850 to get the 'newest' stepping but make sure you've got good Ram for the latter especially. I'm not sure a 6600 makes sense after the price drops unless it drops too. A quad might be good if you're in to heavy multitasking but otherwise

Click to expand...

Why do you need especially good RAM for E6850? It has a 9x multi so if you run at 400 FSB you get 3.6ghz. Unless I'm missing something it seems any decent DDR 800 should be good enough unless you think 3.6ghz is not fast enough.

Remember, a good OC isn't guaranteed! I got a bum 6420 stepping/batch from newegg a 3 weeks ago. I couldn't get above 3Ghz in the same mobo in my sig where my e6400 can do 3.5Ghz! For reference, the batch was L644G451.

Pomegranate said:

Why do you need especially good RAM for E6850? It has a 9x multi so if you run at 400 FSB you get 3.6ghz. Unless I'm missing something it seems any decent DDR 800 should be good enough unless you think 3.6ghz is not fast enough.

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because from the look of the first few 6X50 they are overclocking far beyond 3.6GHz, so you gotta make sure that your DDR2-800 can go beyond that. Of course that doesn't mean they will all be doing that later on.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=147890&highlight=E6550