Best Bang for Buck

[HaGa11aZ]

Okay, so I'm building a new PC for a friend of mine, and I'm trying to get the best bang for his buck sort of thing, with a special emphasis on overclocking ease, since the system will be water-cooled.

I remember reading on this forum several months ago that many of you agreed that the E6420 was much more worth getting than the E6600, arguing that it's cheaper and that it can actually tolerate a higher clock speed.

Now that I revisit Newegg, I see several new dogs in the pack, with stock speeds high and prices lower than even the E6420. For example, the E6750 is ten dollars cheaper than the E6420, and the E6550 is thirty dollars cheaper as well, and all their stock speeds faster. Am I missing a factor here?

I'd also like to take into account the mobos I'm considering as well. Most of them have the higher FSB of 1333/1066. It seems that only the Exx50 CPUs are 1333 enabled, while the Exx20 and Exx00 are 1066. Is this a significant factor to consider?

What do you all recommend for the best bang for buck multi-core processor?

Thanx!

 

[Vix]

Overall best bang for your buck: E8400 w/ 6MB cache and 1333 FSB.

 

[satandole666]

Okay, so I'm building a new PC for a friend of mine, and I'm trying to get the best bang for his buck sort of thing, with a special emphasis on overclocking ease, since the system will be water-cooled.

I remember reading on this forum several months ago that many of you agreed that the E6420 was much more worth getting than the E6600, arguing that it's cheaper and that it can actually tolerate a higher clock speed.

Now that I revisit Newegg, I see several new dogs in the pack, with stock speeds high and prices lower than even the E6420. For example, the E6750 is ten dollars cheaper than the E6420, and the E6550 is thirty dollars cheaper as well, and all their stock speeds faster. Am I missing a factor here?

I'd also like to take into account the mobos I'm considering as well. Most of them have the higher FSB of 1333/1066. It seems that only the Exx50 CPUs are 1333 enabled, while the Exx20 and Exx00 are 1066. Is this a significant factor to consider?

What do you all recommend for the best bang for buck multi-core processor?

Thanx!

Don't worry about the strap info, it seems all C2D based chips can run anything from 800->1333 fairly easily.

As far as bang for the buck goes, I think the current champ would be the $59 Celeron E1200 here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116064

If you can afford more "maybe" trying grabbing one of the E4xxx series chips. I would stay away from the 6x50 series though...as the cheapest one is $169 at the egg and the E8400 is only $50 more.

So...

E1200<E4xxx<E8400

Pick the one that fits your budget and I think you are set.

 

[HaGa11aZ]

Awesome, thanx for the replies so far!

I have not noticed the E8400 until now, and yes, it is within my budget. I just got done skimming through some other forums, and some people are OC'ing between 4 and 5 GHz with these suckers! Amazing! These chips are also 45nm as opposed to 65nm. ...quite the technological upgrade! Any comments on the Wolfdale architecture?

I think I'm sold!

 

[satandole666]

Awesome, thanx for the replies so far!

I have not noticed the E8400 until now, and yes, it is within my budget. I just got done skimming through some other forums, and some people are OC'ing between 4 and 5 GHz with these suckers! Amazing! These chips are also 45nm as opposed to 65nm. ...quite the technological upgrade! Any comments on the Wolfdale architecture?

I think I'm sold!

I wouldn't expect more than 4-4.2ghz for a 24/7 setup, but it is still beastly. As far as gaming is concerning the E8400/E8500 chips are top dawg right now unless you can afford the QX series.

I've been able to bench mine up to 4590mhz on water and ran daily for about a week and a half at 4.32ghz @1.44v.

Make sure to check mobo compatibility before you go and jump ship, most boards will need at least a BIOS update to recognize the chip.

Check out the E8400/8500 results thread here for more info:

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=544848

 

[DJ WATTS]

Intel C2D E8400 without a doubt.
As for mobo the Abit IP35E is cheap and a very good overclocker. I paid £60 for my mobo which is next to nothing.

Also with the Wolfdales you get the benefit of the SSE4.1 instruction set which further improves speed with programs that are written with them in the future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSE4