Viceras

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Hello everyone, I'm currently in the process of my first build a Gaming Rig, I have heard that the E4300 is an amazing chip but at 1.8GHz how much life will this chip have as the minimum CPU requirement in games that I play is 1.7GHz?

I plan on getting 2GB of DDR2 - 800
An upgradable Mobo something that can accommodate Quad core in a year or so.
ATI X1950Pro until the prices for the DX10 cards become reasonable

Basically nothing to extreme i'd like this pc to have a long life and plan to OC (never done this but will try) as the CPU becomes dated

So I guess the main question is, is the E4300 1.8GHz C2D the best chip for me price/performance and longetivity wise?

Advice, comments and suggestions please.

Thank you.
 

qcmadness

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So I guess the main question is, is the E4300 1.8GHz C2D the best chip for me price/performance and longetivity wise?

Advice, comments and suggestions are appreciated

If you can wait, you may buy E4300 for $113 in late April :wink:
 

Viceras

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Heh cant wait that long will be ordering all the parts come pay day! ;)
Also I take it thats newegg prices? I cant wait 'till they come to europe!
 

ajfink

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Hello everyone, I'm currently in the process of my first build a Gaming Rig, I have heard that the E4300 is an amazing chip but at 1.8GHz how much life will this chip have as the minimum CPU requirement in games that I play is 1.7GHz?

I assume it says 1.7Ghz P4 or compatible or something? The E4300 would destroy a 1.8Ghz P4, mercilessly. It would be better than fine.
 

Viceras

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Ahh ok it does say 1.7GHz Pentium 4 or equivalent. But what does this mean to dual core processors, I mean if i buy a game that has a minimum requirement of 2GHz would the E4300 be able to run it?

Thanks for the replies i appreciate it ;)
 

ajfink

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Ahh ok it does say 1.7GHz Pentium 4 or equivalent. But what does this mean to dual core processors, I mean if i buy a game that has a minimum requirement of 2GHz would the E4300 be able to run it?

Thanks for the replies i appreciate it ;)

The Ghz ratings are usually in reference to P4s. The new Core 2 Duos do about TWICE as much work per Hz (clock cycle) than a P4. So a 1.8Ghz C2D has around the same amount of power as a 3.6~ Ghz P4. Give or a take, depending on benchmarks.
 

sweetpants

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I'm sure it would, though I think you're pressed to find a game the requires 2Ghz. Also I would think that requirements of a "XGhz CPU" went back to the days where CPU wars were fought with clock frequencies.

That isn't the case today.

Also, the E4300 seems like a good budget processor, and the huge appeal for it is due to the fact of it's overclocking potential. There is an article at anandtech about this little baby reachy 3+Ghz on air cooling. Also overclocked it was keeping stride with the X6800, not beating it in anything, but better than the 6700... a poor mans X6800 I think :)
 

Viceras

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The Ghz ratings are usually in reference to P4s. The new Core 2 Duos do about TWICE as much work per Hz (clock cycle) than a P4. So a 1.8Ghz C2D has around the same amount of power as a 3.6~ Ghz P4. Give or a take, depending on benchmarks.

Ahh that explains it thanks alot!

I'm sure it would, though I think you're pressed to find a game the requires 2Ghz. Also I would think that requirements of a "XGhz CPU" went back to the days where CPU wars were fought with clock frequencies.

That isn't the case today.

Also, the E4300 seems like a good budget processor, and the huge appeal for it is due to the fact of it's overclocking potential. There is an article at anandtech about this little baby reachy 3+Ghz on air cooling. Also overclocked it was keeping stride with the X6800, not beating it in anything, but better than the 6700... a poor mans X6800 I think :)

So do you think this is a cheap chip? It's certainly the cheapest C2D I can get here in Sweden at around 1550SKR / $215 but do you think the others such as the E6300 and the E6400 are worth the upgrade at 2100SKR / $300?

Thanks for the help guys! ;)
 

zenmaster

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I may be Biased, but I think the E4300 is the best Core2Duo chip available until you get to atleast the E6600.

Pls ignore all "Requires XXXX Mhz" to play. There is never such a requirement. These are performance guidelines and based on old processors.

One Nice thing about the E4300 is that it Overclocks so easily.
The 4300 will overclock from 1.8 to 2.4Ghz using simple DDR2-533 memory.

Using DDR2-667 Memory you can overclock it to 3.0Ghz in most cases.
To go beyond 3.0Ghz you will need RAM faster than DD2-667.
In your case it would be DDR2-800.

Now, you talk about longevity in your system.
Extreme Over-Clocking can impact the overall longevity of your system.
In fact, it can impact parts beyond just the CPU, especially if you really ramp up your FSB.

If you OC the E4300 from 1.8 to 2.4 Ghz, your system will be running at a standard FSB for 1066. This is why it is ideal for OverClocking.

Check your RAM prices because DDR2-667 is all you may need for quite a while since this will seriously overclock the E4300 and moderately over-clock the other chips. 667 will also run fine on the upcoming FSB1333 for new systems. If the Price is close for DDR2-667 and DDR2-800, then go for the 800. If there is a decent price gap, you may be better served to spend that $25-$50 on a slightly better GPU, PowerSupply, etc... etc....
 

Viceras

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Great information there thanks alot! The thing is here in Sweden the price difference between the DDR2 - 800 and the DDR2 - 667 is virtually non existant so the ram choice was easy! The mobo choice however is proving the most difficult as this is going to be running everything i don't mind spending more if i must but i do not want SLI or Xfire i'm not familiar with P965 or X975i they are just numbers of chipsets to me but im learning! ;) The Gigabyte DS3 has been getting lots of great reviews but it seems a bit bare i want this mobo to last an upgrade or to so if i have to spend more so be it.

Thanks for all your help!
 

cisco

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As far as motherboards go, I would consider the Evga 680i, it is an SLI board so you have the option of adding another card later and it's very very fast. I own it and it's the best board I've ever owned. It also has the ability to run at 1,333mhz front side bus which will allow you to later on upgrade your processor to the next intel processors that will run at 1,333 FSB speed without having to buy another mobo.
 

Viceras

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The eVGA 680i is a very nice board but at 2649SKR / $382US its a bit to pricey. Swedish Taxes if you were wondering why it costs so much 8O I'd like to get a mid range Mobo but its proving difficult to find the right one...

Thanks for the reply! ;)
 

locky28

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Asus P5B-Deluxe or a Gigabyte 965P-DS3, the later being the cheaper. Both are great boards with great overclocking ability. If your after SLI there is a V2 of the DS3 that has SLI for not much more $'s.
 

Bache

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Hello everyone, I'm currently in the process of my first build a Gaming Rig, I have heard that the E4300 is an amazing chip but at 1.8GHz how much life will this chip have as the minimum CPU requirement in games that I play is 1.7GHz?

I plan on getting 2GB of DDR2 - 800
An upgradable Mobo something that can accommodate Quad core in a year or so.
ATI X1950Pro until the prices for the DX10 cards become reasonable

Basically nothing to extreme i'd like this pc to have a long life and plan to OC (never done this but will try) as the CPU becomes dated

So I guess the main question is, is the E4300 1.8GHz C2D the best chip for me price/performance and longetivity wise?

Advice, comments and suggestions please.

Thank you.
The E4300 seems to be the best budget/performance CPU at the moment, but as a post reported at these forums, a AM2 3500+ SC CPU beats a E6300 at default in the latest R6 game.

In some SC games the E6300 is surprisingly not up to scratch :cry: , however when overclocked, it would be a different story as it would OC better than the AM2 3500+.

Maybe others might disagree :x
 

Viceras

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Yes in most of the reviews ive read here at toms hardware they use the DS3 as a test rig this has to say something good about the DS3! But i'm looking for something with more bells and whisles as i plan to OC this puppy! ;)
 

Datman

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Check out Gigabyte's GA-965P-DS3P (v2.0), it's looks like a DS4 without the heatpipe cooling.

Otherwise the GA-965P-DS4 (v2.0) or GA-965P-DQ6 (v2.0).
 

sweetpants

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Asus P5B-Deluxe or a Gigabyte 965P-DS3, the later being the cheaper. Both are great boards with great overclocking ability. If your after SLI there is a V2 of the DS3 that has SLI for not much more $'s.

The DS3 is a great affordable board. I use it myself. Though I had a problem with the thermal controller. It was not kicking in on time when I booted up my computer. As soon as I turned it on it would wait about 3-5 seconds before kicking on. Once in Windows I monitored the temp and it was getting up to 70+ C. I knew this wasn't right so I had to go into the BIOS and change the CPU fan controller or something similiar. I find it odd, this is the only motherboard I've ever seen that has multiple options for what controls the CPU fan speed.
 

Parge

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The eVGA 680i is a very nice board but at 2649SKR / $382US its a bit to pricey. Swedish Taxes if you were wondering why it costs so much 8O I'd like to get a mid range Mobo but its proving difficult to find the right one...

Thanks for the reply! ;)

wooohoooo! Somewhere more expensive than England!!!
 

merc14

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Check out the Asus P5N-E SLI mobo. If you cool the chipsets with some aftermarket coolers it is a perfect fit for the e4300 and DDR2 800 RAM. The board goes for $135 here in the states.
 

Viceras

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I'm sold i've read so much about this chips its just an awesome piece of kit! Now the mobo on the other hand is proving difficult with all the different companies, styles and layouts its the hardest hardware choice for sure.

Thanks for your suggestions i'm looking into it! ;)
 

cisco

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I can only imagine how much the Asus Striker Extreme must cost there. If you stay with Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, companies like that you should be pretty happy. I have had great luck with all those brands. MSI is the only board that has gone bad on me and their tech support replaced it with no hassles. Actually it was my fault why it went bad in the first place. As far as the differences in the motherboards performance, it isn't even noticeable in real world use. It really just comes down to features. If the 965 has all the features you need, you should be fine. Unfortunately the only Nvidia board available right now is the 680i in the 600 series. They are releasing a 650i in a few months but that doesn't help for a build right now. Ideally if you could wait a few months you would have a better selection of motherboards, cheaper prices on chips, and more DX10 video cards to choose from but I know how hard it is to wait. They are replacing the e6400 with the e6420 in a couple of months which has more L2 cache, I'm sure you will see some really good prices on the 6400 and 6300 at that point. And really if you can get the 6300, it's only $10.00 difference in the states and has a 1066fsb vs 800fsb of the 4300.