intel core duo e6300 or amd dual core ?

[dave87]

Holden - A lot of the threads exist because each person has a different requirement, so which would suit their situation best.

General question for anyone in the forum - can you not run C2D off a divider? or much like SoA Athlons will the performance degrade rapidly due to it being based on FSB rather than a HT link to the North/Southbridge like on 939/am2 Athlon/Optys?

Dave

[Hottentot]

There are dividers but the lowest one on the 965 mobo is 1:1.
In effect you can run your memory faster than the FSB but unlike Athlons you can't run it slower. This means you need to have fast memory to stretch the cheaper CPUs with lower multipliers. Probably more cost effective to buy a more expensive CPU with a higher multiplier and pair it with slower cheaper memory.

[dave87]

Doesn't it run 2:1 normally - ie FSB is 166 quad pumped for the ram?

[Hottentot]

Yes technically you are right. Here is how it works from an overclocking point of view for a E6300.
Multiplier = 7
Default Bus speed = 266.5 (doubled gives the memory speed = 533)
Front side bus speed is 1066 (266.5 x 4 the quad pumped you mentioned)
CPU always runs at 7xBus speed

To overclock you change the bus speed to say - 400
This runs the memory at 800(2xBus speed) and the CPU at 7xBus speed = 2800 MHz

The ratios exist but all in an upward direction so you can run your memory faster than the bus speed.

As you can see from the above example a C2D can easily run at 2800MHz but your memory and bus speed are already high (800 and 400 respectively). Not many mobos go above 450 bus speed and the memory would be running at 900MHz.

[spazman]

A vote for the Gigabyte DS3 here, loves the 2mb cache chips too. I know when i got mine a couple of months ago it was a hell of alot cheaper than the asus. Less features admittedly, but i don't need a remote control or built in wifi.

I benefited however from much cheaper RAM prices, RAM that will run an E6300 at 3.2ghz without any worrys costs the earth. I'd spend more on the CPU only about £20 - £25 more for an E6400.

I'm always cautious overclocking the RAM as every time i have ever done it to any extent its killed the ram and/or the motherboard (yes that WAS with decent cooling). With 1:1 ratio and 8x400 you'll get 3.2Ghz out of the E6400, with is standard clockspeed for PC6400 ram. You'll need 458mhz for 3.2Ghz out of the E6300.

And to let you know a Core 2 Duo at 3.2Ghz FLIES, demolishes AMD at everything!!

[Blitzen]

Conroe is BY FAR better than ANYTHING AMD has.

[simsim]

If you're on a budget don't go wasting money on things like ram that's faster than you need, or motherboards if you don't intend to overclock like a loon. I hear the default cooler that comes with the retail e6300 is perfectly adequate for moderate overclocking, and if you find a half decent cheap mobo that's also adequate for moderate overclocking you have your budget pc

Such as the ASRock 775i65G? I only want to overclock a bit. Will this do?