E6420 or E6600? Which Mobo?

Timans

I have bit the bullet and decided to build a pc this summer. I've read up on how to build and found an extremely helpful guide on howstuffworks.com with videos etc. Looks so easy!

Anyway, I'm starting to pick out parts at the mo and am looking at CPU's.

What do you all recommend getting, an E6420 or an E6600? The E6600 seems to give such a performance boost from the benchmarks I've been looking at and it is only €40 dearer.

Also, which socket LGA775 mobo should I get to ensure maximum upgradability in the future, allow me to overclock etc? I want a p35 chipset and I don't really care about SLI tbh. I will probably want to overclock at some point also.

Thanks,

papu

if you want to save 60 euros get a 6320 and overclock it
if you have cash to spare get a 6600

as for the mobo

the abit ip35 http://www1.hardwareversand.de/6VijMCqcGF1DvB/2/articledetail.jsp?aid=10123&agid=659

abit ip35 pro
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/6VijMCqcGF1DvB/2/articledetail.jsp?aid=10124&agid=659

or this nice new gigabyte one ;D
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/6VijMCqcGF1DvB/2/articledetail.jsp?aid=10079&agid=659

hopeful

The e6320 is good value....and clocks well. mine is at 2.8ghz...stock is 1.86. That is on a Gigabyte DS3P mainboard.

Myxomatosis

If you want real value for money, get an X2 5600+

Slutmonkey57b

Myxomatosis wrote:

If you want real value for money, get an X2 5600+

Dead-end upgrade ahoy! Seeing as AMD are going to be playing "change the socket" for the next 3 years. They screwed the 754 users, then the 939 users, now they're going to screw the AM2 users with AM2+ and 1027, and then 1027+. Stroke of genius, it really is. All while naming different processers on different processes with the same branding. It's a sad fact that intel didn't win this round of the processer wars, AMD took all their customers out back and shot them in the head.

Timans

I'm thinking about the E6420 and this mobo:

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/8Vz-zCb7WABv3-/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=10124&agid=659

or

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/8Vz-zCb7WABv3-/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=10079&agid=659

Any advice which to choose?

awhir

i would go for the gigabite.

Timans

awhir wrote:

i would go for the gigabite.

That's what I'm inclined to think. Why would you?

But also, wouldn't the cooling bits on the gigabyte get in the way of a heatsink if you wanted to put one on?(not stock)

Anti

Timans wrote:

That's what I'm inclined to think. Why would you?

But also, wouldn't the cooling bits on the gigabyte get in the way of a heatsink if you wanted to put one on?(not stock)

Nope. a Tuniq tower fits on it no problem, same with a ultra 120 and a scythe. I would go for the gigabyte too as it has got better reviews.

awhir

the tunqi just about fits but the gigabite seems to be a better board and looks nicer also

papu

saw a review on anandtech on the gigabyte board , they said it was good but not great , i like the abit one , they usually have good solid boards and a cmos clearer switch on the back near the ps2 slots , the heatsinks on the Gb one tho looks smexy .......if only my ninja was copper ...:(

Ishindar

Timans wrote:

I'm thinking about the E6420 and this mobo:

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/8Vz-zCb7WABv3-/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=10124&agid=659

or

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/8Vz-zCb7WABv3-/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=10079&agid=659

Any advice which to choose?

why buy and expensive mobo and a cheap cpu lol. better to buy a cheap mobo and a better cpu... better performance for the same cash . i suggest the following

No.: HV1125ULDE ASUS P5B, Sockel 775 Intel P965, ATX 88,71 €
No.: HV20E660DE Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Box 4096Kb, LGA775, 64bit, Conroe 188,97 €

my total price 277.68e
your total price 350e

and mine kicks yours ass bad
if u want to upgrade in the future just sell your mobo and cpu and buy new ones.

Timans

Ishindar wrote:

why buy and expensive mobo and a cheap cpu lol. better to buy a cheap mobo and a better cpu... better performance for the same cash . i suggest the following

No.: HV1125ULDE ASUS P5B, Sockel 775 Intel P965, ATX 88,71 €
No.: HV20E660DE Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Box 4096Kb, LGA775, 64bit, Conroe 188,97 €

my total price 277.68e
your total price 350e

and mine kicks yours ass bad
if u want to upgrade in the future just sell your mobo and cpu and buy new ones.

Eh, I don't know that much about pc's but one thing I've learned is NOT to skimp on the mobo. Lot's of people do and regret it.

Why get an E6600 when I can over clock the E6420 to over the E6600 stock?

Maybe I'm wrong, anyone else care to reply?

hopeful

Of course you could get a cheap mobo AND cheap cpu

I have a Gigabyte DS3P and my E6320 is running at a E6600 beating 2800mhz

Ishindar

Timans wrote:

Eh, I don't know that much about pc's but one thing I've learned is NOT to skimp on the mobo. Lot's of people do and regret it.

Why get an E6600 when I can over clock the E6420 to over the E6600 stock?

Maybe I'm wrong, anyone else care to reply?

I know a lot about PCs ive been building & maintaining pcs for years, not to mention a degree in electronics and a nice big fat job. and u know what? every 2 years or so I sell on my mobo and cpu for buttons and buy new ones. ive built many PCs and never had a mobo problem, even if u do they have a warranty and u can get it replaced for free lol. why spend over twice the price for a mobo that does the same job and u only want it for 2 years max?? why throw your money away? keeping a good PC spec is expensive and I get fed up having to shell out every other year!
yes u can overclock the chip with that mobo i suggested etc .

Timans

Ishindar wrote:

I know a lot about PCs ive been building & maintaining pcs for years, not to mention a degree in electronics and a nice big fat job. and u know what? every 2 years or so I sell on my mobo and cpu for buttons and buy new ones. ive built many PCs and never had a mobo problem, even if u do they have a warranty and u can get it replaced for free lol. why spend over twice the price for a mobo that does the same job and u only want it for 2 years max?? why throw your money away? keeping a good PC spec is expensive and I get fed up having to shell out every other year!
yes u can overclock the chip with that mobo i suggested etc .

Well, the first thing I was looking for in the mobo was that it would be P35 so I could upgarde to the penryn processors which are coming out soon.

If there are cheaper P35 mobo's, I may consider it.

Thanks for the advice!

papu

those boards also support ddr3 so its a board for the future....go with the gigabyte , you'll be kicking yourself that you'll have to spend the price of the board now + the price of a p35 board in a few months time..that will support penryn and ddr3:mad:

Timans

http://www3.hardwareversand.de/8VMJgzoG47D8vC/3/articledetail.jsp?aid=10077&agid=659

That also looks like a good board, It's got 6 RAM slots as well as being P35.

And, it's €70 cheaper!

Myxomatosis

Slutmonkey57b wrote:

Dead-end upgrade ahoy! Seeing as AMD are going to be playing "change the socket" for the next 3 years. They screwed the 754 users, then the 939 users, now they're going to screw the AM2 users with AM2+ and 1027, and then 1027+. Stroke of genius, it really is. All while naming different processers on different processes with the same branding. It's a sad fact that intel didn't win this round of the processer wars, AMD took all their customers out back and shot them in the head.

Not necessarily a dead end upgrade. Am2+ processors will be backward compatible with Am2 sockets. Of course they will be limited be limited in terms of hypertransport speed and the inability to use DDR3, but that could mean only a slight percentage of performance loss.

It's no more a dead end upgrade than going the Intel 775 route. Look at all those 775 motherboards that don't support the core 2 duo's, and even some core 2 duo boards that don't support quad core's.

You shouldn't buy with an aim of "future proofing" because it is an impossible task. You should buy to get the best price/performance at the time of purchase.

papu

It's no more a dead end upgrade than going the Intel 775 route. Look at all those 775 motherboards that don't support the core 2 duo's, and even some core 2 duo boards that don't support quad core's.

most 775 boards will support quads its mostly bios's and /or poor mak from buying a cheaper board

p35 is intels new chipset as it supports 45nm cores...and they'll be around for a while

DirkVoodoo

Ishindar wrote:

I know a lot about PCs ive been building & maintaining pcs for years, not to mention a degree in electronics and a nice big fat job. and u know what? every 2 years or so I sell on my mobo and cpu for buttons and buy new ones. ive built many PCs and never had a mobo problem, even if u do they have a warranty and u can get it replaced for free lol. why spend over twice the price for a mobo that does the same job and u only want it for 2 years max?? why throw your money away? keeping a good PC spec is expensive and I get fed up having to shell out every other year!
yes u can overclock the chip with that mobo i suggested etc .

I dont think anyone was doubting your credentials, but to paraphrase animal farm "all motherboards are equal but some are more equal than others". More expensive motherboards will generally have better quality capacitors, more connectors, better overclocking potential and more BIOS options for overclocking. I try to keep all components on a par with one another, as buying a cheaper component in a high end system will often be the bottleneck to greater performance. Having said that, there are great bargain buys, the Gigabyte 965 DS-3 being one such example.

papu

if your building a system for gaming , which is why most people build ..its not wise to skimp , keep everything on par with each other , dont buy a pentium d and a 8800 ultra! dont buy a 2900 and a 300w psu, if you plan to overclock dont buy a board that will fry on voltages of have horrible vdroops

its all a matter of choice , people can say this and that and influence you but at the end of the day your the one spending the money and as long as you have piece of mind in the system your putting together you'll be happy with it :rolleyes:

Timans

papu wrote:

if your building a system for gaming , which is why most people build ..its not wise to skimp , keep everything on par with each other , dont buy a pentium d and a 8800 ultra! dont buy a 2900 and a 300w psu, if you plan to overclock dont buy a board that will fry on voltages of have horrible vdroops

its all a matter of choice , people can say this and that and influence you but at the end of the day your the one spending the money and as long as you have piece of mind in the system your putting together you'll be happy with it :rolleyes:

That have anything to do with being owned by ToxN?

Only joking man, yeah I guess you're right but because I don't know that much about pc's, I need to take other people's recommendations before I buy because I'll probably mess it up.

Mobo's are a prime example, I really don't know enough to choose a particular one as there are so many, unlike my other conundrum which is between a HD 2900 XT and a 8800GTS. One or the other.

papu

ToxN
was merely saying the intel chipsets aren't as good an nvidia chipsets

i was argueing that for the most part their buggy and the only reson people get them is for sli which dosent even work properly..not getting a p35 board is like buying a lead petrol car now it makes no sense spend the extra 80, 90 euros now and you'll have it for that extra while

plus YOU wont replace your mobo ina couple of months or a year :P

awhir

papu wrote:

ToxN
was merely saying the intel chipsets aren't as good an nvidia chipsets

i was argueing that for the most part their buggy and the only reson people get them is for sli which dosent even work properly..not getting a p35 board is like buying a lead petrol car now it makes no sense spend the extra 80, 90 euros now and you'll have it for that extra while

plus YOU wont replace your mobo ina couple of months or a year :P

papus getting educated

well atm the intel p35 chip is well over the nivida chipset simply because the nividachipset is buggy,more expensixve,and not as good overclockers then the p35.the intel chipset is rock solid.i have not had 1 crash in 1 month(with my old board(ati chipset)i used to get a freeze every day.
go for a p35 chipset and go for the most sturdy board(gigabite-asus)i have never been a abit fan

Timans

I must admit, I was going to get a p35 board anyway. I don't like Nvidia's cockyness Also, SLI doesn't give the necessary performance boost to warrant such an increase in price.

Gigabyte is the one I'm getting, pretty sure on that. Now the RAM/Case/gfx question into play.

Thanks for all the advice lads.

awhir

Timans wrote:

I must admit, I was going to get a p35 board anyway. I don't like Nvidia's cockyness Also, SLI doesn't give the necessary performance boost to warrant such an increase in price.

Gigabyte is the one I'm getting, pretty sure on that. Now the RAM/Case/gfx question into play.

Thanks for all the advice lads.

case antec 900 or lian li or new antec p900.

get a cheap gtx cheap of ebay look around and you will get a cheap 1 from usa and tell the guy to say its a present.

Timans

Nah, probably going to go for a NZXT Lexa or a NZXT Hush (If I can find it)

Love the screwless design.

awhir

bah so gay and ugly

papu

btw the boards dont doo ddr2 and ddr3 except for that gigabyte you posted a while back with 6 ram slots

4 for ddr2 and 2 for ddr3

im gonna get an abit ip35

http://www2.hardwareversand.de/7V0vvUIbp7Mmhh/2/articledetail.jsp?aid=10123&agid=659

my 1066 ram and an overclocked 6420 will do it justice

savin bits and pieces there so i can get the 22" samsung XD

DirkVoodoo

I agree with awhir, NZXT are tacky, antec/Lian Li have well thought out cases that are a dream for building and air flow. They look well machined (cuz they is!) without resorting to gimmicks.