Ok Please help me pick my processor as I am undecided here. It's between the following:

Intel Pentium E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2180 - Retail
64 bit Support: Yes
FSB: 800MHz
Hyper-Threading Support: No
L2 Cache: 1MB
Model #: BX80557E2180
Item #: N82E16819116052
($79.99)

Intel Pentium E2200 Allendale 2.2GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2200 - Retail
64 bit Support: Yes
FSB: 800MHz
Hyper-Threading Support: No
L2 Cache: 1MB
Model #: BX80557E2200
Item #: N82E16819116063
($84.99)

Intel Pentium E2220 Allendale 2.4GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E2220 - Retail
Processors Type: Desktop
FSB: 800MHz
L2 Cache: 1MB
Manufacturing Tech: 65 nm
Model #: BX80557E2220
Item #: N82E16819116070
($94.99)

Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Allendale 2.2GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E4500 - Retail
64 bit Support: Yes
FSB: 800MHz
Hyper-Threading Support: No
L2 Cache: 2M shared
Model #: BX80557E4500
Item #: N82E16819115031
($119.99)

All of them are in my price range and because of that I was leaning to toward the E4500 because it has twice as much cache and is a good overclocker according to the searches I have been doing. I would like to get about 2.6-2.8GHz at maximum to be happy. I think the E4500 can do 2.6GHz with only an FSB change which I would be very thrilled with. What do you all think?

This will be used mostly for linux but I will be booting into XP to play MS Flight Simulator 2004, FEAR, counter strike source, half life 2, Nascar Racing 2003 Season, and I might pick up some newer games...but nothing brand new. It's replacing a socket 478 P4 2.4 Northwood.

The rest of the computer will be
GA-P35-DS3L
8600GT 512MB GDDR3 (note this and the 8400 are the only 8 series nvidia cards that work out of the box without tweaks in linux, so i know an 8800 or 9600 will be better but I'm still a bit of a linux noob and would like to save the frustration)
2 x 2GB of DDR2 800
Corsair 550 PSU

They all OC well, so in the 2000 category I would go for the cheapest. However, if they are all close in price, I'd probably go for the 4500 for the cache like you said. The performance difference isn't huge, but it is there.

Oh, wait. I see the prices now. I'd still go with the 4500.

Depend on your budget. If you can afford it, why not go for the fastest in your price range, which is the E45. Putting it @ 266x10 or x11 should be piece of cake.
96GT definitely would be the better choice. It sounds like you may not upgrade often. 96GT will have longer legs. Linux can be finicky, but it isn't worth it to have it limit your videocard choice.

So far it's unanimous for the E4500, so far my choice has been made quite easily. Thanks alot for all your input.

Well this project has a $650 max price limit set by me, and I really want to switch to open architecture for my home pc. I have a little UNIX training from a few years ago, eh.. it might help Anyway it's a decent build for $650 with plenty of upgrade potential such as
Quad core compatible
8GB RAM support
Can always upgrade the video card down the road

Intels new quad cores will be released soon,so it would be wise to wait untill then if you can. If not why not go with the q6600? They are cheap enough now. I always go with their extreme processors. I have two QX9650s and a dul core e6750. I also work as a reviewer/tester so i need decent test machines. As far as vidio cards, like you said you can always upgrade later on. You did mention something about upgrading to 8GBs. I am running 8Gbs of Patriot DDR2 PC8500 Vipers in one of my Vista Ultimate 64bit builds, and also 8 Gbs of DDR3 OCZ 1600MHz in the other 64bit system. The e6750 is OCed to 3.86 GHz and there is 4Gbs of PC6400 Patriot Extreme Performance in that build. I made the change from Corsair to Patriot because i had to many RMAs with their PC8500 Dominators. 4 times in a year with 4Gbs. So far both the Patriot & OZC modules have been very reliable, and they OC well. Good luck with your build.

If you aren't planning for a top of the line videocard down the road, I'd say the 550W PSU is a bit of an overkill. You could go down to a 400W and put the rest of the money into a better CPU. IMO anyways.

E2180 overclocks to 3.0 with no voltage change on stock cooling. Heres a comparison how it performs against some other chips.



AS you can see the cache and new instructions on the e8400 beats it by 18% at the same clock speed. But you fot to pay $130 more $$$ for that 18%.

my 8800gt now available for $214 grand total at pricegrabber.com works great on Ubuntu gutsy. All u have to do is open command shell and type:
sudo apt-get update

then go to System-Restricted Drivers Manager
then check box for enable in Nvidia Accelerated graphics driver
then click enable driver then it will start downloading drivers automatically after is done restart computer, now u can game in linux.

Yep, that's all I had to do with my 7900 GS. Shouldn't be a problem.

I'm leaning towards the E4500. Good power for good price.

For $30 more you could get e4700 13x multiplier. Possibly the best oc chip?

If I were you, here would be my priority for CPU list to buy.

E4700, E2220, E2200, E4500. Actually there is not great difference on performance on complex application or multi tasks program between L2 Cache of 2MB and 1MB so difference on L2 is not a main concern between E47xx and E22xx, Also it is easy for you to overclock the FSB of E22xx to 1066.

I agree with what ya'll are saying but I'm trying to stay under $120 for the CPU.