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which Core 2 should i go with

S

SXT14

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Messages
126
Hey all,
Im gonna be building a new comp soon and want to know which would be the best intel processor for the price.... as of know im with the e6300 but i can spend up to 215 on the processor if it is worth it...


thanks all
 
How much will you be overclocking?

If little, get an E6300
if alot get the E6400

If youve got a crappy motherboard, E6400+.
 
the higher mulitpier of the 6400 makes it worth it, you will have more headroom on your motherboard and memory as you will not have to be near 475FSB (which you have to be able to reach on a 6300) to reach its max overclock.
 
Personally, I went with the E6600, for a bit more money, because it was a) more likely to clock decently, and b) has a higher multi. This allowed me to hit 3.2ghz really easily, at very nice voltages and very cool. It really depends on your budget I guess. If you want a huge OC but are on a shoe string, go with a 6400. If you can spend the little extra and get the 6600, you will probably find it a little easier to get a nice solid 3.2+ghz OC out of it. Mine can do 3.5-3.6, I just have no need to put that kind of voltage through it all the time. If you plan to stay stack, definitely go with the E6600.

I wouldn't consider anything higher than a 6600 unless you are going to use phase and want the unlocked multi of the X6800.
 
Calefaction said:
Personally, I went with the E6600, for a bit more money, because it was a) more likely to clock decently, and b) has a higher multi. This allowed me to hit 3.2ghz really easily, at very nice voltages and very cool. It really depends on your budget I guess. If you want a huge OC but are on a shoe string, go with a 6400. If you can spend the little extra and get the 6600, you will probably find it a little easier to get a nice solid 3.2+ghz OC out of it. Mine can do 3.5-3.6, I just have no need to put that kind of voltage through it all the time. If you plan to stay stack, definitely go with the E6600.

I wouldn't consider anything higher than a 6600 unless you are going to use phase and want the unlocked multi of the X6800.
Click to expand...

I agree, also the E6600 cost alittle more but if you buy the E6400 you will have to add extra $ for a decent cooler.
 
The e6400 is a great buy. Mines OC'd to 3ghz at stock voltage 1.325. Temps idle low/mid 30's and loads mid-40's with stock cooling. Performance in CPU benches is close to a x6800. :p
 
Can you guys post what mootherboards you have.

Thanks so much guys
 
It looks like you're on a pretty tight budget, so I'd suggest the DS3 or the P5B-E. If you need some of the extra "features" of the P5B Deluxe, then get that.

If you need a board around $100-115 or so, look at the S3 or the Biostar 965PT
 
get the 6400. you will be much more likely to get 3+++ Ghz from it.

with the 6300, you might hit a motherboard or ram bottleneck that will limit your overclock. (might only hit 2.8Ghz)
 
chrisf6969 said:
get the 6400. you will be much more likely to get 3+++ Ghz from it.

with the 6300, you might hit a motherboard or ram bottleneck that will limit your overclock. (might only hit 2.8Ghz)
Click to expand...

I agree with this. 400mhz is a nice spot because you can run your DDR2800 memory 1:1 and keep them within the rated speeds (thus saving you some money because you don't have to buy expensive DDR2800 sticks). 3.2Ghz with the 6400, but only 2.8Ghz with the 6300.
 
i guess i'm going to go against the pack here and pick e6300. I was able to OC mine to 3.1 fairly easily with PC6400 RAM, however from there it's been a bit rocky. However i'm happy with 3.1..
 
the e-6300 usually overclocks very well and can be had for as low as $160. however it really needs to hit 450fsb for a good overclock so a good 965p mb and some decent ram for the 1to 1 ratio.


the e-6400 has a 8x multi runs around $217 retail and with the 8x cpu multi should give alittle more headroom on a overclock with more marginal ram/mb combos . the e-6400 still have enough fsb to get some heavy oc's like the 6300's .

there are some deals on the e-6600's floating around now some sub-$269 e-6600's . the high cpu multi should give some good overclocks below 400fsb so it could be worth a little more $$ than a 6400 or 6300 dependig on your ram/mb combo situation.

the e-4300's are going to be out in jan with a 9x multi they should be some killer OCing chips for $160ish --later (2q-07) there are some e-4400's with 10x multis--but their price is not known yet.

combine a e-4300 with (hopefully) a outstanding overclocking nf-650i/U with the ddr-400 ratio/ unlocked ram clock should give all the flexability to get the most out of a core 2 and find a easy-sweet spot for the ram .

since the e-4300's are just weeks away and the new chipsets ain't all here yet--it might pay to hold off a few weeks ?? :cool:
 
The extra L2 cache on the E6600 is kind of worth saving up for, it got my vote when I had to pick a Core 2 processor out.
 
e6400 or wait and snag a e4300 in jan. The cache in the e6600 doesn't justify the price premium.
 
KingThot said:
e6400 or wait and snag a e4300 in jan. The cache in the e6600 doesn't justify the price premium.
Click to expand...

An interesting opinion. I disagreed and bought accordingly.
 
With a e6400, you can do 3ghz with stock voltage and stock cooling. I doubt you can do that with an e6300, you would need a 3rd party CPU fan which then would bring it to about the same price (or more) as an e6400.
 
Caught something realy interesting in the post "Weird, Ultra low temps on my E6700".
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1130479&highlight=temps+e6700
Some ES's are cherry picked (run extra cool / overclock extra high).
Some ES's are unlocked!!
Some ES's are just regular chips, with Engineering Sample stamped on them.

Hopefully yours is one or both of the first two!!
If your chip is unlocked (upwards) you can just raise the multiplier to 11 or 12.
11 = 2.93Ghz
12 = 3.2 Ghz
13 = 3.46Ghz!!!

Try raising the multiplier, to see if you're stable at 11, 12, 13, etc.

Then you can play around with the FSB to max your overclock.
Click to expand...
Not that I am saying "rule out the E6700 or somthing". :D
I like cherries :rolleyes:
 
Depending on the board you are using, I'd recommend the E6400 or the E6600.

For boards with limited FSB capabilities like the P5W DH, or the Striker Extreme, I'd go with the E6600. If I were to use a P965 Express based board, the E6300 or the E6400 would be my choice.
 
Dan_D said:
Depending on the board you are using, I'd recommend the E6400 or the E6600.

For boards with limited FSB capabilities like the P5W DH, or the Striker Extreme, I'd go with the E6600. If I were to use a P965 Express based board, the E6300 or the E6400 would be my choice.
Click to expand...
Yep, P5W DH not easy to get 500MHz FSB but actually it is the other way around (On the flipside) P5B Deluxe is the ideal for the E6600!?
 
The strap doesn't adjust on the 975X boards like it does on the 965. That's why it's FSB limited around 425 or so (IIRC of course ;) ).

Either way, 425x9= 3.825Ghz or so. There aren't too many 6600's that'll do that anyway. Even 3.6 (400x9) is pushing it with most 6600's.
 
amenx said:
With a e6400, you can do 3ghz with stock voltage and stock cooling. I doubt you can do that with an e6300, you would need a 3rd party CPU fan which then would bring it to about the same price (or more) as an e6400.
Click to expand...

I just wanted to point out that with an e6300 and the 680i motherboard you can easily hit 3.1 using the stock cooler. The temps for me were maxing out around 62 or 63 under orthos. People say that's too high, but running at 3.0 usually kept my temps under or at 60.
 
bobbydole said:
I just wanted to point out that with an e6300 and the 680i motherboard you can easily hit 3.1 using the stock cooler. The temps for me were maxing out around 62 or 63 under orthos. People say that's too high, but running at 3.0 usually kept my temps under or at 60.
Click to expand...

What does core temp say under orthos load? I'll bet it's over 70C on both cores.

Personally, I'd replace the stock cooler on both of them with something like an AC Freezer 7 Pro (good bang for the buck cooler).
 
kirbyrj said:
What does core temp say under orthos load? I'll bet it's over 70C on both cores..
Click to expand...

Oooh i'm sorry.. it was around 62-63 under orthos load.. it was in the high 40's or low 50's idle.
 
kirbyrj said:
The strap doesn't adjust on the 975X boards like it does on the 965. That's why it's FSB limited around 425 or so (IIRC of course ;) ).

Either way, 425x9= 3.825Ghz or so. There aren't too many 6600's that'll do that anyway. Even 3.6 (400x9) is pushing it with most 6600's.
Click to expand...

My E6600 will do 3.93GHz, but I can't keep it cool at those speeds.
 
bobbydole said:
Oooh i'm sorry.. it was around 62-63 under orthos load.. it was in the high 40's or low 50's idle.
Click to expand...

Core temp or is that your board CPU monitor? Core temp is usually higher because it's reading right off of the CPU (and also is fairly consistent across motherboard manufacturers unlike the board CPU readings :) ).
 
kirbyrj said:
Core temp or is that your board CPU monitor? Core temp is usually higher because it's reading right off of the CPU (and also is fairly consistent across motherboard manufacturers unlike the board CPU readings :) ).
Click to expand...

Those readings are from that little Core Temp program. Intel's program displays the same temps. The nvidia temp monitor is about 3 degrees cooler.
 
bobbydole said:
Those readings are from that little Core Temp program. Intel's program displays the same temps. The nvidia temp monitor is about 3 degrees cooler.
Click to expand...

Ok...I was just checking. That's not too bad then with the stock cooler. I'll have to play around with mine a little more and see what I can squeeze out of it ;). I was running very hot at 2.8Ghz with my 6300 and stock cooler (65-70C on the motherboard temp program...core temp was probably 75C).
 
kirbyrj said:
975X board or 680i?
Click to expand...

P965 Express. It does about 3.6GHz on my P5W DH, and what it will do on the 680i will be featured in an upcoming article.
 
Dan_D said:
P965 Express. It does about 3.6GHz on my P5W DH, and what it will do on the 680i will be featured in an upcoming article.
Click to expand...

Can you compare what it will do on all 3 boards in your article? That would be helpful. If you did it with the same cooling and same voltage, it would be even more helpful :D.
 
kirbyrj said:
Can you compare what it will do on all 3 boards in your article? That would be helpful. If you did it with the same cooling and same voltage, it would be even more helpful :D.
Click to expand...

I didn't. The data isn't there. I did it on a P965 board because I had an extra one at the time, and no data was collected. That was done for me and not the [H]. I didn't do the P5W DH review, and though I own one, I didn't collect any data from it that you won't find somewhere in my forum posts.

I still have that board, but I only have one desktop PC and I couldn't take my 680i setup down as I depend on it form my work at the [H].

Theoretically, the chip should do best on the platform that overclocks the best, and provides the most stable voltage. It isn't hard to figure out which one that is off the data provided so far.
 
I found that my 6600 would actually not clock as high on my 965 board compared to my 975 board with the same CPU/RAM/voltage/cooling, so I was just wondering. Now I'm wondering what the 680i will do if I swapped the 975X out for that (still thinking about it ;) ). I guess I'll wait and see what your article says.
 
Youri Carma said:
I am a novice in this field but maybe Cool isn't :cool:

"Old" Celeron 356 4817.1 MHz Boris
muliplier 24
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=3&artpage=1805&articID=437

Cheap Pentium D 805 3906.0 MHz
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=2&artpage=1804&articID=437

Donnow why?
Click to expand...

4-5Ghz on Netburst may sound fast, but really "sucks"

My Pentium D did 4Ghz, and my e6600 at 3Ghz is twice as fast for pure CPU things like SuperPi. and about 50% faster for many other things (3dMarks) despite the P-D having a 33% clock advantage.
 
kirbyrj said:
I found that my 6600 would actually not clock as high on my 965 board compared to my 975 board with the same CPU/RAM/voltage/cooling, so I was just wondering. Now I'm wondering what the 680i will do if I swapped the 975X out for that (still thinking about it ;) ). I guess I'll wait and see what your article says.
Click to expand...

Generally speaking, It's well known that the 680i will generally overclock better than the i975x chipset based boards will. Though your mileage will vary.
 
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