Which cpu to buy?

MikeS4

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• Sep 21, 2006

• #1

Some advice needed from any pc experts out there.

I'm after a new PC and cannot decide which cpu to go for .After specing up to my max budget i need to decide between:

1. Intel® Viiv™ Pentium® D 945 Dual Core Processor (3.40GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2x2MB cache)
2. Intel® Core® 2 Duo® E6400 Processor (2.13GHz, 1066MHz, 2MB)

The pentium D runs faster, has more cache but the core 2 duo is newer......
I've tried looking around for any comparissons or useful info but cannot find anything
on the web in plane english.

Any help would be appreciated...

 

Olly_K

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• Sep 21, 2006

• #2

The Core Duo chips are phenomenal......the D chips runs very hot.
I would go for the 2.4 Duo as you can clock this to 2.8 speeds due to the lower micron process.

They are also very well priced compared to AMD's offerings.

As far as im aware, the Duo chips up to 2.13 run a 2 meg cache, while the 2.4 upwards run FOUR meg cache

Just make sure you get a board that supports Core Duo.

If you need anymore advice just let me know

Remember, MHZ isn't everything now

Personally Im waiting for QUAD CORE which should be here by the end of the year

 

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madvw

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• Sep 21, 2006

• #3

Core 2 Duo as stated. get the E6600 too, as this has the 4mb cache, and is not much more expensive.

The E6600 can also be currently clocked to 3ghz too, which is the same as the extreme edition version - which is the same chip, but with the multipliers unlocked.

If you fancy an all singing and dancing motherboard, have a look at the Asus p5w dh deluxe as a mobo - it only supports crossfire at 2 x 8x atm, but i've not seen a dual 16x crossfire board out yet.

 

MikeS4

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• Sep 21, 2006

• #4

I'm ordering through Dell & have chosen the dimension 9200. Iwould like 4mb cache but i'm already streaching my budget. I think i'll probably go for the 2.1 duo for now, is this a wise choice considering the alternatives in my budjet?

 

Olly_K

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• Sep 21, 2006

• #5

with PCs you have to buy the best, unless it just gets outdated too quickly !

the 2.13 chip i can get for £165, the 2.4 (with 4 meg cache) I can get for £230

Thats 70 odd quid, if your ordering through dell, as an upgrade it cant be more than 40-50 ?

Definately worth getting the 2.4 imo

 

Peloton

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• Sep 21, 2006

• #6

Being a gamer, I've been an AMD man for years so not really clued up with Intel stuff. But...

Olly_K said:

with PCs you have to buy the best, unless it just gets outdated too quickly !

Click to expand...

I would have thought there was a Dual 16x Crossfire board out for Intel by now. I bought my DFI LanParty UT CFX3200-DR back in May.

 

necroeire

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• Sep 22, 2006

• #7

Look for a 3.2GHz AMD2 imo..

 

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Mart

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• Sep 22, 2006

• #8

Get the Core2 Duo, runs at amazing speeds! I've got it in my Mac! Superb!

 

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madvw

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• Sep 22, 2006

• #9

necroeire said:

Look for a 3.2GHz AMD2 imo..

Click to expand...

the core2duo is wiping the floor with the AM2 offerings at the minute. You know as well as i do thought that that could change at any minute...

 

MikeS4

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• Sep 29, 2006

• #10

Olly_K said:

with PCs you have to buy the best, unless it just gets outdated too quickly !

the 2.13 chip i can get for £165, the 2.4 (with 4 meg cache) I can get for £230

Thats 70 odd quid, if your ordering through dell, as an upgrade it cant be more than 40-50 ?

Definately worth getting the 2.4 imo

Click to expand...

Finally bit the bullet & ordered today from Dell. Took your advice & upgraded to a 2.4 Duo, together with 1gig mem, 256mb geoforce video card, 2x250gig mirrored drives, 20" widescreen lcd + a few other small extras. Came to a total £1150 after some haggling with a salesman. Only thing is the delivery time - up to 3 weeks....

 

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madvw

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• Sep 29, 2006

• #11

nice one. sounds like a nice spec. You're gonna be loving that widescreen LCD.

just need to upgrade to 2gig ram when vista comes out

 

Olly_K

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• Sep 29, 2006

• #12

mc119856 said:

Finally bit the bullet & ordered today from Dell. Took your advice & upgraded to a 2.4 Duo, together with 1gig mem, 256mb geoforce video card, 2x250gig mirrored drives, 20" widescreen lcd + a few other small extras. Came to a total £1150 after some haggling with a salesman. Only thing is the delivery time - up to 3 weeks....

Click to expand...

yeah, custom builds are usually that long
You made a good choice, you wont regret it !