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E2180 or E4500 for gaming(overclocked)

Superjeep4x4

Superjeep4x4

Superjeep4x4

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6 Jan 2008
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272
Im new to the forums but after reading a bit I think you guys are the ones to ask. Im gonna make a purchase tomorrow and im torn between these 2 chips. I mostly game and I will be overclocking and im trying to decide if the E4500 willbe worth the extra cash. I can get either but if I went with the E2180 I could pick up an extra goodie maybe.

I do back and forth on a hourly basis so would like your advice as a lot of you seem to have real world exp on these chips. Thanks in advance.

EDIT: I should add this upgrade needs to last me for a year so keep that in mind.
 
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Welcome to the forums :)

An overclocked E2180 will be just fine for games. Spend the bit you save on a better GFX card :)
 
Tnx for the welcome:) Im leaning toward the E2180 this hour. Might just get that and a aftermarket fan and some good thermal paste. Id like to hear more opinions if anyone else wants to chime in. Im actually in the shop finishing off a case Im building. I was gonna buy one but I had some spare sheet metal and parts so figured I found try and make a nice open case and save a few bucks. Its coming along well and now im just down to the cpu.

I picked up a dirt cheap GIGABYTE GA-P31-DS3L that a buddy used for a few months and some A-DATA Extreme Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 I got on sale. My 1900XT 512 still does a fine job and figure ill wait till the summer or fall before buying a new one. I think once im up and running next weekend with either chip at 3.0 or higher it will be a pretty mean little budget machine.
 
Meatloaf's right. The E2180 is plenty for games, and with a P31-DS3L, you'll get plenty of headroom for overclocking it. The RAM and graphics all sound fine for most games, although you will have to be realistic with the eye-candy if you want decent frame-rates in the newest games.
 
I bought the E2180 with a view to getting probably the Q9450 when it comes out. Lets put it like this, I'm not exactly straining at the leash to upgrade it, it's that good.

Can't say I agree with the above, about eye-candy. With my rig as in sig, I'm running the latest and greatest at 1600 x 1200 rez with everything maxed out (with the usual caveat of Crysis, running that at 1280). Cod4, The Witcher and Bioshock for example, run a treat.
 
Sounds good. I do not play at a high res really so my card handle most things I throw at it. 1440x900(19" widescreen). In the summer Im gonna try to get a 3870 or possibly a nvidia offering if the price is right. I like eye candy but like playability more so I do not try to go to crazy on settings. I play a lot of MMO's mostly.

It blows my mind that a chip so cheap can pump out so much awesome hehe. Thanks for the views and tips so far. Its nice to actually goto a forum these days and actually get real feedback:)
 
KelticDaz said:
I bought the E2180 with a view to getting probably the Q9450 when it comes out. Lets put it like this, I'm not exactly straining at the leash to upgrade it, it's that good.

Can't say I agree with the above, about eye-candy. With my rig as in sig, I'm running the latest and greatest at 1600 x 1200 rez with everything maxed out (with the usual caveat of Crysis, running that at 1280). Cod4, The Witcher and Bioshock for example, run a treat.
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I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with - I said the OP would have to be realistic about eye-candy in the newest games if he wanted good frame rates. That's about as general a statement as I've ever seen. It just means he might have to turn off some eye-candy in games, or he might not.

I don't want him to have unreasonable expectations and be disappointed, that's all.
 
WJA96 said:
I'm not sure what you are disagreeing with - I said the OP would have to be realistic about eye-candy in the newest games if he wanted good frame rates. That's about as general a statement as I've ever seen. It just means he might have to turn off some eye-candy in games, or he might not.

I don't want him to have unreasonable expectations and be disappointed, that's all.
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As said, I disagree (perhaps to strong a word lol) with being cautious about eye candy in current games. Don't know what you're not sure about. Every game I have (Crysis being the exception) I'm able to run at maxiumum settings at 1600 x 1200.

This is of course, dependant upon having a graphics card similar or better than mine. My reflections are of course based on my rig, with the card the OP has (1900XT), doubtless he will have to turn the eye-candy down in a lot of current games.
 
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I think he was more referring to my video card. I understand my cpu while gaining me performance is not gonna be a night and day difference. Im running an old 939 platform with a 4000+ and 2 gigs of value ram. I mostly just want to get a dual core solution for basic multitasking. I like toplay and run my music and stuff like that. Id imagine your 8800GT works like a champ and have heard there are not to many people with stellar crysis frames unless you have top of the line comp.

I figure in 6 months ill get a new vid card and then this time next year move to a quad once intels new goodies are out and the prices are stable. Im not greedy I just want a nice well rounded decent gaming rig:) I am actually thinking about grabbing another 2 gigs of this ram if I find a deal for a move to vista later this year.
 
ots3go said:
Melbourne (if he comes along) has a great thread comparing how much real difference the cache on the chips makes, which shows not a lot at all.

EDIT: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17751381
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Hello :)

Yes, as long as you get it to 3GHz it won't slow you down too much. It will have some impact, but not as much as the equivilent reduction in spend on a GPU would. Certainly I'd spend the money on a graphics card before spending more on the CPU.

Steve258 has also done a good thread comparing the e21x0 series with the e4x00 series, worth a read.

edit: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17784493
 
Ill have to check his thread out. I thought about just going for a gpu upgrade now and the rest later but I really want a dual core for the multi-tasking. I also thought about buying a cheap 939 dual but I dont know, something about spending money on a get-me-by old tech part bugs me. I think the E2180 will be a great purchase and last me a bit.

Id like to thank everyone for chiming in and helping me make up my mind. I have not gone the intel way in a long time so Im not as up on the tech as I should be and Id kick myself 12 times over if I got the wrong thing.
 
KelticDaz said:
As said, I disagree (perhaps to strong a word lol) with being cautious about eye candy in current games. Don't know what you're not sure about. Every game I have (Crysis being the exception) I'm able to run at maxiumum settings at 1600 x 1200.

This is of course, dependant upon having a graphics card similar or better than mine. My reflections are of course based on my rig, with the card the OP has (1900XT), doubtfull he will have to turn the eye-candy down in a lot of current games.
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;) Thats better. With an almost identical rig myself, i can confirm that COD4, bioshock, dirt etc all run with full settings and some eye candy for good measure, though dirt has some options switched down. Cod4 plays on full everything and the UT3 demo ran fine as well. All this on 1280x1024 so his 19" res will be no problemo.
 
Bought gf a E2140 recently (stock 1.6ghz) but clocked to 2.92ghz fine and seems to fly. Great value for money for about £40 + a £30 mobbo.
 
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