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an E6420 or an E6600??

O

outlaw88

n00b
Joined
Jun 6, 2007
Messages
56
I'll be buying a new processor this week/next weekish and I had originally planned to get an e6420 (2.13ghz) and overclock it. However, I was looking at prices the other day and the e6600 (2.4ghz) caught my eye because there's only about a $40 difference and that's really nothing in the end. Being that the e6600 has been out for awhile now, I'm wondering if the new ones won't overclock as well as the older ones? My ultimate goal is to get a C2D processor running at AROUND 3ghz, it can be give or take a little bit. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated! The only reason I can't make a decision is because, obivously, a great overclock is not always gaurunteed so getting an e6420 up towards 3ghz could be quite a task without the right components. If detailing my rig will help then here will be the specs:
what im getting:
e6420 or e6600
eVGA 680i TR version mobo
2GB Crucial Ballistix pc2-6400
what I already have:
PC Power&Cooling 750w silencer quad
eVGA 8800GTX
X-fi Xtreme Music
 
An elementary school kid with a blind fold could hit 3 GHz with an E6420. :D

If that's your only goal then save your money. Either one should hit 8 x 400 MHz = 3200 MHz with pretty much default core voltage of 1.325 volts while running Orthos.
 
I agree with the above post. Very easy to hit 3Ghz on stock vcore. Save the money.
 
If your goal is 3GHz then save your money even more and just get a 4300 which will do that easily too.
 
not meaning to thread jack, but i'm in a similar situation...though i'm looking to max the baby out;)
i'm choosing ebtween an e6320, e6420, and an e6600. i know that there are new revs of the e6600s and i'm not sure how well they overclock compared to the previous ones. However, between the 3 options i'm given, which of them will potentially give me the greatest OC? I've seen some pretty damn good OCs on all of them, but i'm leaning towards the e6600 right now.
Specs as follow
Mobo: P35-DS3P
RAM: 2gb Ballistix PC2-8500 1066

thanks and gl to the op:)
 
merlingt1 said:
If your goal is 3GHz then save your money even more and just get a 4300 which will do that easily too.
Click to expand...

I looked at that model too but I want the extra cache that the 6420 offers. And yes I know that it doesn't make much of a difference...
 
There's a couple of people on the E6420 thread hitting over 3600 MHz Orthos stable so I'd definitely go with one of them. It's worth the small amount of extra money to get a 6420 over the 6320 for the 8 multi instead of the 7. The 8 is more flexible when overclocking.
 
hey i can hit 3.4ghz with my week 30 e6600 on stock 4ghz @ 1.45 volts but ive been hearing the later weeks dont hit as high but to hit 3 ghz most core2 should hit it with ease so if the extra cache is a thing u want just go for the cheapest chip with 4megs, 3ghz is an easy hit
 
I have a E6420 L712A512 that hits 3.2ghz at 1.35V load. 1.3V was not enough, 1.35V is the default Vcore of this processor (I like to go as low as possible). My early (launch CPU) E6600 is a L6xxB and it hits 3.2ghz at 1.23V idle voltage. It's default vcore is 1.25V or less, which was rare for a C2D at the time. Not many people had B processors then and this one runs nice and cool and clocks nicely. I never pushed the voltage over 1.4V, but 3.6ghz was still a no go (400x9). I like the 3.2ghz and the 8 multi, as you can get a 800mhz DDR2 ratio at 1:1, and both the G33 and 680I seem to do well at this frequency. On my G33 board, I get DDR1000 at 3.2ghz. But then again I'm running 2gb of my SFF and 8gb in my main computer. I'll be swapping to a Xeon X3220 in the next couple of weeks in my 680I system and the E6600 will be used in my SFF. This E6420 will be be traded as part of the Xeon purchase.
 
It all depends on your ram and fsb you are trying to reach, as FSB and ram is the bottleneck. If you can get 500mhz fsb, you won't need more than a 6x multiplier to get 3ghz. But 400mhz fsb is pretty reasonable, you can get nice latency ddr2-800 for cheap, so the 6420 will give you 8x (3.2ghz), the 6600 gives you 9x(3.6ghz), and the 6320 gives you 7x(2.8ghz). I personally think the 6420 offers the best easy to achieve overclock on stock cooling and voltage. The 8x multiplier is more than enough, 400mhz to 500mhz fsb will yield between 3.2 and 4ghz. Nothing is guaranteed, but I say go for the 6420.
 
[F8];1031178426 said:
It all depends on your ram and fsb you are trying to reach, as FSB and ram is the bottleneck. If you can get 500mhz fsb, you won't need more than a 6x multiplier to get 3ghz. But 400mhz fsb is pretty reasonable, you can get nice latency ddr2-800 for cheap, so the 6420 will give you 8x (3.2ghz), the 6600 gives you 9x(3.6ghz), and the 6320 gives you 7x(2.8ghz). I personally think the 6420 offers the best easy to achieve overclock on stock cooling and voltage. The 8x multiplier is more than enough, 400mhz to 500mhz fsb will yield between 3.2 and 4ghz. Nothing is guaranteed, but I say go for the 6420.
Click to expand...

my 6400 hits 4GHz ORTHOS STABLE!!! BUT! temps are too high LOL. like 70 load
 
e6420 or e6600
eVGA 680i TR version mobo
2GB Crucial Ballistix pc2-6400
PC Power&Cooling 750w silencer quad
eVGA 8800GTX
X-fi Xtreme Music[/QUOTE]

e6420, $186, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115016
abit guad gt, $169.99, $40 mail in rebate, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127019
gskill F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ (D9GMH), $104.99 special discount with cpu (normally $140), http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231065

Do you really need the 750 watt power supply? How many hard drives? I'm all about the budget overclock. and that cpu/mobo/ram combo is solid as a rock.
 
Everyone is talking like all these chips will hit these speeds. My first E6400 hit 3.2ghz at 1.3v, but my 2nd one won't break 2.4ghz without some voltage, requires 1.5v in the bios for 3ghz, and 1.575v in the bios for 3.2. 40 bucks will give you a greater chance at hitting your goal, but depending on your memory you'll be better off having an 8x multiplier so you can hit 400fsb+800mhz Ram+3.2ghz CPU.
 
I say E6420. I had an E6300, it was a kickass overclocker, I could get it to 2.8GHz at stock everything. Upgraded to an E6600, I can't hardly get it past 3GHz at 1.4v. Save the money and get the cheaper one that will overclock to roughly the same.
 
[F8];1031178475 said:
e6420 or e6600
eVGA 680i TR version mobo
2GB Crucial Ballistix pc2-6400
PC Power&Cooling 750w silencer quad
eVGA 8800GTX
X-fi Xtreme Music
e6420, $186, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115016
abit guad gt, $169.99, $40 mail in rebate, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127019
gskill F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ (D9GMH), $104.99 special discount with cpu (normally $140), http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231065

Do you really need the 750 watt power supply? How many hard drives? I'm all about the budget overclock. and that cpu/mobo/ram combo is solid as a rock.
Click to expand...

To answer your questions, I already have the 750 watt psu. I'll have 3 hard drives. 2 will be in RAID for XP and 1 will be for Vista Home Premium. I edited my original post because there's actually a difference between what I already have and what i'll be getting. To make a long story short, I had an AMD rig and now I'm swapping out CPU, RAM, and mobo for an Intel rig.
 
[QUOTE='[F8];
e6420, $186, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819115016
abit guad gt, $169.99, $40 mail in rebate, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127019
gskill F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ (D9GMH), $104.99 special discount with cpu (normally $140), http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231065


Do you really need the 750 watt power supply? How many hard drives? I'm all about the budget overclock. and that cpu/mobo/ram combo is solid as a rock.[/QUOTE]

ds3>quadGT unless you need sli
 
I remember when people were debating whether or not to get the 6400 or the 6600 and the arguement on the 6600 side is that the 4mb cache makes it more future proof. Now, the 6420 has 4mb as well, that arguement is moot. So, the real question is how high of potential OC do you wish to achieve? While all CPU are NOT created equal, under a decent board with a 965 chipset, most of the E6420 have achieved amazing clocks, easily breaking 3GHz. I would say, go with the 6420 as its much cheaper and will give you a higher FSB if your OC goal is reached.
 
Ok, I think the consensus is to go with the e6420 and that's what I'm going to do. I've just pulled the trigger on this RAM here: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1558870&sku=C19-4332

So now i've got the CPU and RAM locked down but a lot of you are throwing out motherboard suggestions and now i'm starting to second guess what I want as far as a motherboard. Coming from an sli motherboard its hard to give up that feature. Thing is, I won't be using SLi but I would like to have that option there...so really what i'm looking for is a good SLi/overclocking motherboard. I originally was looking at this: http://evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=122-CK-NF63-TR&family=20
So the question is: will that motherboard get me to around 3ghz?
 
When paired with DDR2 1066, will the E6600 offer any advantage over the E6420?

As far as overclocking goes, that is.
 
I don't see the 9x multiplier of the 6600 making a difference, if you are planning on running at 533mhz fsb, as 9x533=4797mhz, even 8x is 4264mhz. At 533, you are looking at a 7 or 6x multiplier as being a potential realistic speed.
 
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