best C2D for a noob?

[firey-eyez]

i'm an intel noob and want a cheap C2D that OCs really well. budget is $120-180. i was looking at the E4400...would that be a good choice? i could go for an E6420 but it would be close to the top end of what i'm looking to spend. would that one be either easier to OC or give noticeably better results than an OC'd E4400? this is my first Intel so i'd like a few pointers before i buy, thanks.

 

[Duro]

In that price range I'd recommend an E6550, and if you look around you can probably find an E6750 for around $190.

 

[Jaanpunjab]

In that price range I'd recommend an E6550, and if you look around you can probably find an E6750 for around $190.

I concur

 

[RayDaddy]

noob get a used 6600. best bang for the buck right now, cheaper, available, and then he can get a better something else. with all the people moving out of 6600 now and in the coming weeks used ones should be aplenty soon. i say a used 6600 is the best noob chip. then he can get into quad or something later this year or next.

 

[firey-eyez]

but if i wanted to buy new...the 6550 would be best? what kind of OC can it do?

 

[unclewebb]

An E6550 can do 3500+ MHz on a board with an Intel chipset but you'll also need some good Micron based memory to go with it. The 7X multi in these means you might have to spend more money on the other parts to get the most out of it. The 8X multi in an E6420 might save you some money overall for the same sort of overclock. Ebay is awash in people upgrading. An old E6600 isn't such a bad idea. They are pretty tough to hurt and will run just as good as a new one for the MHz you're looking for.

 

[CoW]8(0)]

Just get an E4400 and call it a day

10x multiplier, forget about it

With the same clock speed, 2MB vs 4MB L2 cache has a very small difference in performance.

 

[BillParrish]

I would suggest anything that does not have a maximum mulitplier of 7x , due to the high FSB required to get to a really decent OC it stresses the board and memory too much. They are all the same core other than the amount of cache so its not going to matter a whole lot as long as you get a mulit of 8X or more.

 

[firey-eyez]

I would suggest anything that does not have a maximum mulitplier of 7x , due to the high FSB required to get to a really decent OC it stresses the board and memory too much. They are all the same core other than the amount of cache so its not going to matter a whole lot as long as you get a mulit of 8X or more.

like i said, i'm a noob, so i don't know what models have what multiplier values. how can i find that out online? or which would just be the best one for that price range?

 

[Glow]

I'm loven my e4300

 

[gwai lo]

like i said, i'm a noob, so i don't know what models have what multiplier values. how can i find that out online? or which would just be the best one for that price range?

You can figure it out from the clock speed and given information about the frontside bus.

if the chip has a frontside bus of 1066 MHz, then divide the clock speed by 266 to get the multiplier.

if the chip has a frontside bus of 1333 MHz, then divide the clock speed by 333.

Round to the nearest whole number ( they should all be painfully obvious, e.g. 2400 MHz ÷ 266 = 9.0225563909 )

If you're wondering how I got the numbers, all of the Intel frontside buses are quad pumped, so divide them all by four. That gets you the FSB that helps determine clock speed ( FSB × multiplier = clock speed ). If you want to know why they're quad pumped...someone else here should be better at explaining that then I am.

Anyway, just because you're a "noob" does not make you incapable of researching yourself. "Noobs" don't have to stay "noobs" forever...and yes I really don't like that word.

 

[firey-eyez]

You can figure it out from the clock speed and given information about the frontside bus.

if the chip has a frontside bus of 1066 MHz, then divide the clock speed by 266 to get the multiplier.

if the chip has a frontside bus of 1333 MHz, then divide the clock speed by 333.

Round to the nearest whole number ( they should all be painfully obvious, e.g. 2400 MHz ÷ 266 = 9.0225563909 )

If you're wondering how I got the numbers, all of the Intel frontside buses are quad pumped, so divide them all by four. That gets you the FSB that helps determine clock speed ( FSB × multiplier = clock speed ). If you want to know why they're quad pumped...someone else here should be better at explaining that then I am.

Anyway, just because you're a "noob" does not make you incapable of researching yourself. "Noobs" don't have to stay "noobs" forever...and yes I really don't like that word.

thanks. i didn't want to just come in here and get answers...although i did, i wanted to learn something about why the best choice was the best so i don't have to rely on making threads every time i have a question. the multiplier business is helpful, so with that in mind, perhaps i should choose the E4400? the 4300 doesn't appear to be in stock anywhere, and the aforementioned E6550 is 7x.

 

[DrFreeze]

I'm loven my e4300

same here, running cool and stable at 2.4 at stock Vcore

i wanted to try 2.66 one day, so i upped the FSB to 1333 and wanted to try 8x333 (e6750 settings), but as it turns out my mobo didnt want to lower the multi, so it booted at 3.0 at stock Vcore . That was by no means stable, but stable enough to boot and run a <20 sec superpi run

great little cpu this thing

 

[/dev/null]

How about the new conroe-l based celerons ?

People seem to get them to 2.6-2.7ghz easily and they are $49.99 shipped at newegg.

Edit: These do not seem to be too good for gaming but should be great for other use.

 

[DrFreeze]

Edit: These do not seem to be too good for gaming but should be great for other use.

i would see that the other way around, if you are talking about the celeron 420-430 anyway, as they are single threaded, which in most games doesnt matter much, however in encoding/compression and general responsiveness they dont stand a chance against any dual core

or are the e1240-2160 suddenly shipping for 50 bucks? man that would be a deal