Budget Core 2 Duo Processor

[rockerdish]

Well, i want to buy a Core 2 Duo processor of price upto 150$ strictly! I want to use it to play some high end games at 1280*1024 res.... with my BFG 8800GT OC.
I might buy a new mobo for it and would LOVE to overclock the cpu.... but ON STOCK cooling. i *might* buy a better cooling but i dont want to look at that possibility.
So, please tell me which processor is the best bet for me, concerning MAINLY GAMING.

I currently got:
Pentium D 805 overclocked to 3.2ghz on stock.
BFG GeForce 8800 GT DDR3 OC
2 GB DDR2 533
Biostar 945GC-M7 TE motherboard.... i rather dont really want to change this. Here's the link to this Mobo!

 

[Mondoman]

e7300

 

[festerovic]

+1 to e7300

 

[rockerdish]

well, thanks for that...but there is one more thing i would like to ask.... the price and overclock ability on my setup! how does this CPU fare at that?

 

[rockerdish]

are you guys sure this processor would work good with my mobo? my motherboard is pretty infamous...
how much can e7300 OC on stock cooling?

 

[mighty442]

Here's a great article recently from Tom's Hardware.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclocking-core-2-E7200,2072.html

 

[rockerdish]

so 2 guys say e7300 and the article prefers e7200...i am confused!

 

[50bmg]

E5200 is called a pentium dual core, but it is really a loweer cache Core 2 duo it has a 12.5 multiplier and is less than $90.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

The e7300 is a great cpu as well. It has more cache, but a lower multiplier for OCing. It is $120. I have the e7200. I got it mid last year.

Both are 45nm. If your going to OC, both would be a good choice, I would get an e5200 if i were buying today. Better bang for buck.

Get a good P45 then OC to your hearts desire.

 

[mighty442]

so 2 guys say e7300 and the article prefers e7200...i am confused!

The article says E7200 but any of the 7000 series is good and will overclock well.

 

[50bmg]

E5200 review
http://uneit.com/2008/07/06/intel-e5200-performance-in-overclocking/

 

[rockerdish]

well, 30$ is enough for me to think of buying e5200.

in gaming, which one would perform better? e5200 OCed or e7200 OCed on Stock cooling?

 

[50bmg]

The cache of the e7300 will help some and since your only OCing with stock cooling, you can't OC to much. The e7300 would be slightly better at lower clocks due to the slightly higher cache.

just another option. price vs cache.

edit: both will probably hit 3G without a voltage bump. Use that as a starting goal and watch your temps with HWmonitor and run prime95 to check stability.

by the way. There are some nice low priced cooler that snap in stock fan mounting and will help you hit 3.2-3.4. I would try your stock fan first and learn how to OC. IF you need more look at frostytech for cooling choices. Just make sure it will fit in your case and not hit your mobo parts.

 

[rockerdish]

what about the future factor? which one would last longer? i think e7200.

 

[50bmg]

They both have similar future limits. In the future you will probably need to get a quad core. That is probably a year or more away before quads are a must have. for gaming duals are fine til then.

 

[boulard83]

e5200, i agree, P45 mobo and your good to reach 4ghz with nice AirCoolling

 

[GhislainG]

Before buying, you should check what CPUs are supported by the Biostar 945GC-M7 TE motherboard: http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/cpu_support.php?S_ID=303. I don't mean that a CPU has to be on the list, but chances of it working properly are better when it's officially supported.

 

[husky mctarflash]

You can't go wrong with the e7000 series. And the e5000 series has a super-high multiplier (12x?), so OC is relatively easy.

I hear you about your $150 limit--and you have to set a limit somewhere. But if you are in the US, you can get the e8400 for $165, no tax and free shipping at NewEgg. Just find the extra $15 and do it with no regrets.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

 

[Akebono 98]

My two bits with suggested upgrade path:

1. Get the E5200 now because it is the cheapest Duo with good OC capability. You can OC this a bit with the stock cooler.

2. Then when you want to OC higher, get the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro heatsink--that can be installed with pushpins and you don't have to take the mobo off to install it.

3. Later when you do a major upgrade, jump all the way to the i7 platform.

 

[50bmg]

+1 ^

 

[Mondoman]

husky, the e8xxx series is not officially supported by the OPs MB. The e7200 is, but is apparently discontinued (not available at Newegg anymore at least); hence, my suggestion of the e7300.

 

[rockerdish]

Well, i agree with Akenbono 98.... i would like to buy a cheap but a reasonably fast CPU which can handle games at 1280*1024 for another year or so.....
Then i would most probably go for the quad core or i7.

Before buying, you should check what CPUs are supported by the Biostar 945GC-M7 TE motherboard: http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/cpu_support.php?S_ID=303. I don't mean that a CPU has to be on the list, but chances of it working properly are better when it's officially supported.

Well, i dont see E5XXX series being supported by my mobo...so i think i would most likely go for an E7200 ... which i can get in my country easily.

So now i have almost made up my mind... But look at these:

My mobo also supports the E4XXX and E6XXX series...... are they any good?

 

[GhislainG]

The E4XXX and E6XXX series are good, but they're older technology. If I were you, I'd go with the E7200.

 

[50bmg]

The E7200 is a very good cpu. I have one, see my sig. OC for 8 months stable. E7200 is much better than the e4xxx and e6xxx.

E7200 with stock fan and stock voltage @ 333mhz fsb with x9 multiplier and you should be good at 3Ghz.

you might be able to hit 3.2G on stock air, just watch temps and stability due to voltage.

 

[rockerdish]

Alright , so i am going to buy the e7200 asap....

do you think an heat-sink/fan upto 50$ do any good for this cpu? if you know a good one, please suggest.

 

[GhislainG]

It depends if your motherboard allows you to overclock over 3Ghz (and if you plan on doing it). I'd buy a better HSF only if need be. To be honest, the stock HSF is quite good.