OC'd E2160 vs E8400

[monkeylizard]

On one of the budget build threads, an OC'd E2160 was recommended for price/performance reasons. During the discussion, it was stated that the E2160 can be OCd to be comparable to a stock E8400.

I have my new build all set, but can't decide on the CPU. I can afford the E8400, but I don't see any point in tossing an extra $160 in if the same performance is available for less.

I guess my n00b question is this:
Does an E8400 add noticeable performance gains in gaming over an OCd E2160? By noticable, I mean in gaming, not just benchmark utilities. What about an OCd E8400 over the OCd E2160/stock E8400?

I would definately OC the E2160 and would consider it on the E8400.

If it matters, the rest of the build is as follows (comments welcome on this as well):

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
GPU - 8800GT 512MB GDDR3 700MHz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136117
RAM - 2GB DDR2 800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066
PSU - Enermax 535W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103512
HDD - Seagate 7200.10 250GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148261
Cooler - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134
DVD - LG 20x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136117

 

[wesley_huddleston1]

How much could you OC the 8400 is the better question

 

[othellomcbane]

I've been pondering the exact same thing. This is my first post here, but these boards have been a tremendous help over the last few months while I've been meticulously researching my build. I was completely set on getting the e8400 without question for a while now, but the price gouging and stocking issues are starting to frustrate me. I just can't see spending 230 on this processor when I know I won't fully be taking advantage of it (I will be playing games now that I can, but I mostly use my computer for general use and writing). I had my parents stop at Microcenter in NJ yesterday (I live in NYC and have no car) to pick up the e8400 at their supposed $189, but it wasn't in stock. I won't have that opportunity again, and it doesn't look like the online retailers will lower their prices to anything reasonable any time soon. So I'm thinking of picking up a 2160/2180 or 4400/4500 for as cheap as possible, overclocking it to around 3.0 ghz, and then just upgrading the necessary components again when Nehalem is out (motherboard/RAM/CPU). I figure with a 8800 GT and Windows XP, the minor performance hit in games won't really be noticeable enough to keep me up at night—maybe 10fps out of 70 in games. I'm not a hardcore gamer anyway, and I'm coming from a p4 2.6 ghz and an AGP 6600 GT. My new configuration is almost exactly that of the OP, except for the power supply and harddrive.

So, for myself as well as OP, any obvious flaws to this plan?

 

[akhilles]

The original price for e8400 was $184 something. Due to low stock, the retailers are charging about 25% more.

Then again, the longer you wait for a wolfie, the better products will come out. i.e. Yorkfield for $266.

To answer you question, yup, an e21x0 overclocked to 3.2ghz is about the same as a stock e8400. The 65nm dual cores top out at around 3.6ghz on air. 3.6ghz for e8400 is a GIVEN. Many of them on stock voltage to boot. Mine is at 4ghz 24/7 stable at 19'c idle (thanks to the TEC cooler & energy-saving features in bios).

Most games are still GPU-limited. If gaming performance is what you're after, upgrade the GPU. You WILL notice a difference unless you're on 19". Best wait for late March when the new geforces are out.

 

[amd_fanboi]

the cache is a LOT smaller... but then imo, it'd be better to get the 2160; legionhardware says that they can eliminate the cache issues by ocing to 3.4ghz...

(search for e2160 overclocking article on their site- i'm too lazy to link it )

not to mention, it seems pretty much a gven that the 2160 will hit 3.0ghz on stock everything...

i got the E2160^^

 

[monkeylizard]

Thanks. That's what I decided on. I also dropped the GPU to a much cheaper card. I can replace that once the next generation hits (the real GeForce 9's or whatever's next from ATI)

Thanks again for the input.

 

[amd_fanboi]

no problem, enjoy the build ^^

and slap in a quad sometime later, for some quad core lovin ^^

 

[smartel7070]

My e2160 is oc'd to 3.0ghz UNDERvolt @ 1.28 runs fine no crash at all.

 

[amd_fanboi]

for reference's sake, how long did it take you to verify the OC?