Ok, it is time to buy another Motherboard/CPU combo :D
I am looking at two combos offered by frys right now, and since I have been out of the Processor race for about a year I would like some help going over the new chips and such. :wink:
Lets start with the Intel board ( ecs p4m800pro-m) and CPU (Core 2 Duo E4300) which you can see here for only $129.00
Here is the processor specs: http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL9TB
Here is a test of the Intel board: http://www.ocworkbench.com/2006/ecs/P4M800PRO-M-V2.0/g4.htm
Overclocking can reach 93% on this chip!!!!
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/intel_core_2_duo_e4300_review/page2.asp
NOTE: No PCIe! and Single-Channel RAM only!
Ok, so now here is the AMD board (ecs geforce6100sm-m) and CPU (Athlon 64 X2 +4600).
for only $119.00
NOTE: the PCIe is only 8x!
Now, I have always purchased AMD chips because they are so $heap. However, at only $10 difference I am not sure I want to skip out on a Core 2 Duo. 8)
I have a couple questions here:
Can a 350W Powersupply handle either chip with 2 HD's, and a 128MB VC?
Even though the Intel looks better than the AMD - is it faster without overclocking?
While the Intel board only has single channel ram - the AMD board has dual-channel - is that enough of a reason to side with the AMD combo?
Which system looks better to you?
Let me thank you before-hand for your help. :D
The E4300 and x2 4600+ are very equal in performance...and the 350 watt powersupply will normally provide enough power for the system you mentioned...
the choice between these 2 processors depens on your use of them: if you want to save energy, go for the Extreme Efficient cpu of the X2 4600+...it uses the smalest amount of energy in idle mode...
If you wanna get maximum performance out of your cpu by overclocking your cpu...buy a better motherboard together with the e4300...then you can usualy get a 90% more overclock than normal speeds, only on air-cooling.
The best motherboards to get a high overclock together with the E4300 are based upon the new nforce 650i chipset (or the more expensive 680i chipset) or the intel P965. But, most of the times, these chipsets are a bit more expensive...
The second thing you have to realise is that not all s775 motherboards will be able to support the new core 2 duo processors...the p4m800pro-m does not seem to support the e4300..
I hope my comment helpted you a little and take care,
the poor student
Thanks for the comment my friend.
I have looked around some more and I think I will go with a better Motherboard like the ASUS M2A-VM with a AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane and a set of some A-DATA 1GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Memory.
You can find more information on Benchmarks and OC of these things here.
Sincerely,
yet another poor college student.
Well from one poor college student to another, What i did was go to dell and got an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2.30GHz, 512Kx2)2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz. all for $600. Thx to student loans!! but yeah I have always been an intel fan because of hardware/software issues, but I'm going to try this new one and see what happens I think it will have the capabilities that myself or any other college student may need especially poor ones like me.
