e4400 vs. x2 5200+ ?

[dmeyer85]

Which of these cpu's would be a the best investment for a pc aimed towards gaming? And yes money is an issue so these are my price limits, unless someone knows a better processor for $130. I've read that the C2Duo can be overclocked nicely, but I want something that is gonna be stable, and the Athlon has a higher base clock speed, not that it means much anymore from what I've read.

Core 2 Duo E4400

-or-

Athlon 64 X2 5200+

 

[zenmaster]

The Core 2 Duo E4400 is far better.

However, You can get lower end X2's for about $65 and a Nice GigaByte AM2 motherboard for about $50 which is quite a bit less than the E4400 and a Mobo. The difference can be spent on a GPU.

GPU is far more important than CPU when it comes to gaming.
Minimize CPU investment and maximize GPU investment for gaming rigs when you have limited funds.

What is your budget? It is often better to ask about a whole system not just single pieces. Also note that the E2160 is much cheaper than the E4400 and will also likely outperform X2's so long as you OC it beyond 3.0Ghz but is not as clear of a winner as the E4400.

 

[brick88]

zen master is right. i would go for a cheaper brisbane processor and a basic mobo with overclocking options. you will have a better gaming experience with a cheap x2 3600 (mildly overclocked) and a x1950xt 256mb than a e4400 (3 ghz overclock) coupled with a 7900gs. but between the two, based purely on potential processor performance, the e4400 or e4300 is a better bet than a x2 5200. an e4300 can be overclocked to 2.8 ghz with stock voltages and stock cooler.

 

[Maziar]

E4400 can outperforom X2 5200 in some apps (not all) , but it will OC alot better than x2 5200

But E2160 cant beat x2 5200 stock vs stock , but it OCs very nice too,
overall get E4400

 

[ahslan]

zenmaster is right on the money...dont try to overdo the processor if you are going to make a gaming rig. You'll be able to save a lot of dough going for a lower end X2 and a decent mobo with a nicer GPU. Just remember, for gaming, its mostly about the GPU...mostly...i'll just leave it at that...

 

[guanyu210379]

Conclusions :
Pick E4400 or E2160, if you are an Overclocker.
Pick Athlon X2 5200, if you are a nonoverclocker.

 

[lunyone]

What is your overall budget for the build? We can help fine tune the build if we know more about the other parts involved with your build.

 

[dobby]

in my humble opinion, there is no contest at all for i would choose the e4400, as it OC very easily on the stock fan.

 

[guanyu210379]

Here we go again.

Conclusions :
Pick E4400 or E2160, if you are an Overclocker (I am here).
Pick Athlon X2 5200, if you are a nonoverclocker.

 

[shadowmaster625]

even if you want to overclock, you need more than just a cpu. If you aren't overclocking you can get away with spending $50 on an AMD motherboard. But if you want to overclock, you'll need to spen $80 for an AMD motherboard, or over $100 on an intel motherboard.

 

[guanyu210379]

Is my massage too hard to understand?

Conclusions :
Pick E4400 or E2160, if you are an Overclocker.
Pick Athlon X2 5200, if you are a nonoverclocker.

Fertig. Finito. Finish.
The option is up to you.
X2 5200 or E4400/2160

OCing is fun, that all I can say. but for those who don't want to take the risk by OCing, than don't

Hey shadowmast er625, you just have to be fair!
A good AMD Mobos can also cost more than USD100 and cheap Intel Mobos cost also under USD100.

 

[dmeyer85]

Well my budget is right around 550 bucks. I am currently running a 3 year old system I built with an old Athlon 2000, so im in need of an upgrade to run programs well these days. I dont need hard-drives because I am running with 2 Barracudas (PATA interface) and I will just switch them over. Basically I am looking to get:

CPU
Mobo
GPU
Memory
DVD Burner
-and-
possibly a PSU because mine probably doesnt have the right adapters to handle the new technologies.

I was originally looking at getting the E4400, a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L, Geforce 8600GT, A-Data 2GB PC6400 Ram, Rosewill 550W PSU, and a Samsung Lite-Scribe DVD burner. When I priced it all out it came to around $550. But if you guys have some better recommendations for a gaming rig let me know, cause I have been outta the pc building game for 3 years and the techonology is of course a lot different. I dont mind overclocking but it would have to be on stock cooling for now, dont have the extra cash for a bigger fan right now.

 

[lunyone]

Well my budget is right around 550 bucks. I am currently running a 3 year old system I built with an old Athlon 2000, so im in need of an upgrade to run programs well these days. I dont need hard-drives because I am running with 2 Barracudas (PATA interface) and I will just switch them over. Basically I am looking to get:

CPU
Mobo
GPU
Memory
DVD Burner
-and-
possibly a PSU because mine probably doesnt have the right adapters to handle the new technologies.
.

So here's the best I can come up with.

CPU/Mobo combo: $145
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16819103776&SubCategory=343&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

Memory/PSU: $150 - $30 MIR = $120!!!!
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Thermaltake Purepower W0129RU ATX12V 600 W Power Supply 115/230 V CE, FCC, UL, CUL, TUV certification - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098&SubCategory=147&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1

Video Card: $287 - $30 MIR = $257!!!!
XFX PVT80GGHF4 GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported HDCP Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814150171

DVD Burner: $39 Is SATA so you can still fit HDD on the 1 IDE on mobo
LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16827106057

Total = $624 shipped - $60 MIR's = $575!!

This is over your budget by $25, if you can wait for MIR's. You could always downgrade the GPU down to a x1950pro and save about $125 or so. That would bring the system down to about $510. Your decision.

P.S. if you still want the Intel setup, could use the Allendale 2140, Gigabyte DS3L, x1950pro for about $540 or so. Not too bad either. You'll want to probably OC the 2140 to get more potential, but still a good option to think about.

 

[San Pedro]

You'll need more than the 8600GT if you want to do some good gaming. If you go with the 8800 GTS like lunyone suggested you'll probably fall in love with PC gaming all over again.

 

[dmeyer85]

Thanks a lot for going through all the trouble of putting up all the suggested parts, I will definately look into it. I really wanted to get the 8800 gts when i was trying to figure out my build originallly, but i didnt want to sacrifice the mobo and cpu so much to cram it into my budget. But if you guys think the pc will run games well for today and tomorrow you know better than I do. I heard Biostar makes pretty poor mobos...was that incorrect?

 

[dmeyer85]

Also the mobo is Micro-ATX, I've read they dont hold up as well regular ATX boards and it has onboard graphics? That isn't right for a gaming rig is it? or can the feature be disabled? And does cache affect gaming much? this has 2 - 512 cache, not the 1mb cache of the 5200+

 

[lunyone]

Last few Biostar mobo's I've built have had no issues. I was cautious as you are about them too, but I've had good luck with them (use the Tforce series, the cheaper ones have had issues, but none that I've experienced). Micro-ATX boards can have the same quality as the regular sized ones, just they don't have as many expansion slots. If you don't have to add on alot of extra cards, microATX boards will do fine. If you noticed I mentioned that you could use the Intel setup that you wanted, just that I adjusted the CPU to get the 8800gts to fit into the budget. The Allendale core should do you fine for a while, plus when you want to upgrade the CPU/GPU later you can and not have lost too much. The 8600gt isn't really a gaming video card. It does do okay with most of the dx9 games and probably doesn't do well with any dx10 games, just look at toms video charts. For the money, I just wanted to get you into a decent GPU (8800gts) and still give you a decent gaming rig for the amount of $ that you have to spend.

 

[dmeyer85]

well the mobo was my only real concern, because i have always used Asus, but as long as you say they are are stable and have had no issues I'm sure they are. MY only other concern is for future upgradeability. I dont get the extra dough around very often to put something like this together so I just want to be sure I'm maximizing every penny.

 

[lunyone]

Every brand has had some issues with their mobo's. I like ASUS too, but sometimes there are cheaper and just as good mobo's from other manufacturers. I haven't had any bad luck with ECS, ASUS, Biostar, MSI, but I did have some issues with the first Chaintech (not sure they exist any more) mobo. So you can get what you like that has your features that your looking for. Generally speaking, if you get a mobo with onboard video on it, it will not OC as much as one without it. The positive with having onboard video is that if your graphics card goes toast (and your have to RMA it) you can still use your computer for everyday stuff until you get a new one. I don't OC so having the onboard video doesn't matter to me. So you can decide. If you have any doubts, go with what feels good to you. I know it takes me days to select a setup and the mobo is the first thing I look at. Don't worry about it too much, because you can always check in here to see if someone has any bad/good things to say about a particular setup.

 

[spentshells]

Geforce 8600GT this is a horrible card dont even think about wasting your money on this garbage

7900GS or damn near anything but that I seen what they do and its not impressive

 

[lunyone]

I would minimally go with a 7900gs or a x1950pro, if you plan on doing any decent gaming. Here's a steal for a 7900gs!!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133186
And a x1950pro (which I think is a tad better performance wise)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161060
Comes with $30 MIR putting it about where the 7900gs is at!

 

[dmeyer85]

Can anyone explain whether or not cache size is important in terms of gaming, and if so how much of an issue is it?

 

[dmeyer85]

Plus anything is going to be pretty amazing to me from what I am using as a setup right now, im rockin out a AMD Athlon 2000 ~ 1.8 ghz cpu, and Asus NF7 mobo, and a Radeon 9800 pro AGP gpu. So I'm pretty sure that any of the new dual core processors are gonna blow me away. I've decided that i definately want to fit the 8800gts into my budget, I still can decide on the cpu though, either the AMD or the C2Duo E2160.

 

[lunyone]

It's up to you. If you don't overclock it, than maybe the AMD will do you. But if you think you will want some OC'ing than the Intel would be better. Plus down the road you can upgrade to a newer CPU (if you like) and not have to spend a bundle for the upgrade. I like the AMD if you keep it stock, because it has a better memory controller. Of coarse the AMD likes to have DDR2 800 memory conversely the Intel would only need DDR2 667 to run well. Not to confuse or make things more complicated, you can have either. I don't know how long the memory is going to stay cheap, so you might want to consider that. AMD = cheaper upgrade path, Intel = better OC ability which would = more CPU performance. This train of thought doesn't always benefit better game play, but at least you will have more room to improve, if the game is more CPU dependant.

To sum it all up:
AMD system = cheaper initial outlay and still have good gaming using x1950pro or 8800gts.
Intel system = a little more initial outlay, but OC potential would equal or exceed CPU power over the AMD. Still use the x1950pro or 8800gts too.

 

[dmeyer85]

Heh the more research I do the more confused I get, the further from a decision I come. I wish someone would just tell me which one to get and they know from experience that it will be stable and play games well. Obviously nobody can say whether or not I will get parts that function correctly but I just need someone to make a decision for me, I dont like playing roullette with my hard earned money, I just dont have the dough to throw around like some enthusiasts, and I will not have any opportunity to save up more money to get better parts, 550 bucks is my budget bottomline. I will be getting the 8800gts for sure in the build, as of right now thats the only conclusion I can come to. I had a build picked out but it relied on a 8600gt and everyone is crapping on those here I guess, so now Im back at square one in trying to figure out this darn build. I get pretty nervous when it comes to purchasing these pc parts so its hard for me to come to a secure conclusion until I've done enough research to prove to myself its worth my money. Unfortunately nearly every review site on the web says different things about different parts and makes it really difficult to conduct research.