Best Cheap Intel CPU for Overclocking/Gaming Performance?

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bushwickbill

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Sep 22, 2007
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I am wondering if someone can help clear up this issue for me.

I have been out of the loop as to all the different great Overclockable Intel CPU's that have been launched since the first big wave of C2D starting with the E6400-E6600 Era.

Now I am faced with a very Tuff decision, Which CPU to get. I am only after the Gaming Performance so I don't need to worry about the other Benchmarks.

I have read a few reviews of the E8400 and E8500 but what about the other Budget C2D's.

Where is the E6400 of the new CPU's. From what I remember, The E6400 was the best Overclocker for the Price/Performance Ratio. When Overclocked on air the E6400 was able to complete with a CPU worth 1000 the X6800!! Here is a link to the article:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=2802&p=9

So I would like to know which Budget CPU does now does what the E6400 Did to the X6800

Please feel free to provide some links to support any claims. Also please keep in mind that I am on a ASUS P5B with G-skill DDR2 800Mhz Ram.
Thanx
 
E8400 is the current performance king, but if thats kinda out of your budget you can consider E7200, which would be one step down, or the E2180/E5200 which would be two steps down. All depends on how much cash you want to put down.
 
Q9400 may be the winner for budget Penryn Quads.
 
E1200/E2180 for REALLY budget.
After what elleana said, its quad core from there up.
 
i picked up an E7200 OCs great and darn cheap
im happy with it
 
The E7200 is by far the best budget C2D. They can be found for around $100 and clock significantly better than the 65nm chips while costing only slightly more than the E2xxx and E5xxx models.
 
Dang, I used to think my e6300 was good. I have it at 2.6ghz now, but probably can get it higher. I just really haven't had a need to.
 
For gaming purposes I'd recommend an E5200 minimum. Its the 45nm based E2200 replacement, and should overclock from 2.5GHz to 3.5GHz easily, and probably a bit more if you want to push it (previews have gone as high as 4GHz...).

The next step up is logically the E7200, which is pretty similar except it has a slightly larger L2 cache (3MB instead of 2MB). Like any Wolfdale it'll do close to 4GHz without much trouble.

Then finally you've got the E8x00 series, though that is getting beyond the 'cheap' category. For overclocking they would be the ultimate, especially if you can nab one based on the latest E0 stepping. Overclocks as high as 4.5GHz on air has been reported.
 
E8400 for gaming with the E0 for best overclocking experience.
even at fsb 400 u be doing 3.6ghz with 6mb cache at really low voltage.
You can max out your ram and have plenty of nice horsepower in your machine.
and since ram is cheap, its no big thing to get a faster ram at some point.
 
I love my E2180, got it running @ 3GHz and w/ the 4850 it runs great in games (even Crysis).
For possible <$50 used, you can't really go wrong.
 
I agree with everyone who said the E7200. That thing is amazing for the price... OC's like a pro.
 
I'm also running an e2180 @ 3ghz and can run any of the games I play @ 1920x1200@ with an 8800gt oc. I bought it back when they wer around $80 and couldn't be happier. It should easily hold its own in upcoming games. When I really need more performance quad cores will be way ahead and I'll pick up a Q6600 or q9650 for way cheaper along with whatever card is better then the 4870x2
 
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