Are conroes worth it?

[Robert]

All i'm going to say is...

unlike the 8800's, the Conroes are WELL worth the performance gain they bring to the table, for the cost involved.

You're going to have to trust us, as it's hard to describe how fast they are, but trust me, you will see a big difference.

I went from a 3400 Athlon64 to an E6300 and to an E6600 and everything feels so much more responsive. The extra core makes quite a difference.

So you had an E6300 and sold it for an E6600?

 

[Tute]

So you had an E6300 and sold it for an E6600?

E6300 + £85 = E6600.

Someone on the MM emailed me asking if i'd consider a swap.

 

[Cashman]

I can get:

AMD 939 4600 X2
Asus MVR32 (whatever it's called)

=£260

E6600
Mobo
ram

=£500

Are they that much better to warrant moving over?

Errr... you forgot the RAM for the A64 System... hence they are the same price...

Doh

 

[Robert]

The AMD wouldn't need ram because I already have 2gb of DDR ram, which would work in that motherboard

 

[heman]

It would be useful to have any users opinions on their move from a AMD X2 setup to C2D of similar speed in mhz. Moving from single-core to dual core will provide a performance increase inherently.

 

[jrodga2k5]

See my dilema here is that iv got £500 from the parentals.....ah beuing 22 and still getting a good bit of pc cash, cant beat it bein a skint student and all

I could upgrade to an x2 4600+ and pick up an 8800GTS for the cash I have available rather than build a new system then start to sell of my old components in the hope I can fund a GTS!

Everyone will say conroe option though I assume

 

[Jabbs]

my 6300 sits nicely at 2.8 gig 100% stable its been like this since i had it, ive had it 3.10 gig stable to but 2.8 is good enough for me, also remember a [email protected] is faster than a fx62 which is 4x the price, something to think about

 

[Gashman]

my god, why do all you people always use the 'its faster than FX-62 at third the cost' my 4400+ is running at same speed than FX-62, does it make it god cause it cost some quarter the price? don't forget thats the whole point in overclocking, to get performance gains for nothing, sorry to say its been going on for years now, anyways its not the CPU thats the bottleneck, its the GPU, so as long as you have decent LGA775, 939, AM2 CPU you should be fine, graphics dependant of course (sorry for sounding sarcastic its just people saying that does my head in, its just further trying to say core 2 duo is god cause it beats AMDs top end offering when most X2s are just as good as FXs)

 

[Participant]

its just further trying to say core 2 duo is god cause it beats AMDs top end offering when most X2s are just as good as FXs)

Well, that's not true for a start. C2D > X2, deal with it.

People say it cause it's true, whether or not it "does your head in".

 

[Rroff]

If your getting the 8800GTS then a X2 4600+ or upper end FX62 would be acceptable to drive it, if your going for the GTX then your holding yourself back...

why I say this is... I have a 7950GX2 that will clock upto the same speeds as a 8800GTX at stock in 3D Marks (11K in 06)... and a core 2 duo E6600.

with the E6600 @ 2.4gig and the 7950GX2 at stock speeds running the HL2: Lost Coast stress test I get 152FPS.

with the E6600 @ 3.0gig and the 7950GX2 at stock speeds I get about 160FPS.

with the E6600 @ 2.4gig and the 7950GX2 overclocked by 30% I get about 160FPS

with the E6600 @ 3.0gig and the 7950GX2 overclocked by 30% I get 210FPS.

and heres a pic from lost coast with most settings maxed out, FOV upped to get a wideangle picture... 66FPS with the core and GPU at stock speeds... I haven't been overclocking since I killed the first E6600 and motherboard.

http://aten-hosted.com/images/d2_lostcoast0004.jpg

hmm gonna have to look into that - I was getting 4x the fps of my old rig before... and this is what my old PC manages...

http://aten-hosted.com/images/d2_lostcoast0003.jpg

for comparison that is a P4 3gig with 2gig of OCZ Gold 2-2-2-5 and a gainward BLISS GF6800GTS Golden Sample 512Mb (BR02'd) against a 2.4gig conroe with 2gig G.Skill 6400HZ and a gainward BLISS 7950GX2...

EDIT2: with the core at 3.0gig and the 7950GX2 at +30% OC I get 100-120fps in that scene - hence where I was getting my 4x fps figure before...

with the stock cooler tho I'm not gonna run the conroe overclocked...

 

[Lysander]

I'm having the same dilemma - for me it's definitely a cost issue.

I could either get a E6600 with the GA DS3 jobbie....

Or I could get the E6400 with a GA 945PL S3 and save about 100 GBP.

I use my PC mostly for surfing and listening to music. I don't play games all that often but when I go they're of the more graphically demanding variety.

So what do you think? Is there any point in getting the E6600 or shall I get the E6400 and save some cash?

 

[Raikiri]

I would say get the 6400 (or 6300) and a slightly better board, that way you still save money but have decent overclocking headroom

 

[Jabbs]

The S3 board is great i have it on a 6300, now got mine at 3 gig.

 

[Briton]

Could someone clarify something for me please? I was reading a post in another forum that said you needed to get a E6700 to have an unlocked multiplier...is that so? From what I read here people are clocking all the Conroes.

 

[Gommsta]

its the x6800 with the unlocked multiplier.
e6700 is 10x multi.

People are overclocking their conroes by getting quality mobos and running with a high FSB.

 

[Jabbs]

The 6300 has a x7, 6400 x8, 6600 x9 , 6700 x10 and as said the 6800 unlocked.

My fsb is currently set on 430 which is what gives me the oveclock.

 

[Briton]

its the x6800 with the unlocked multiplier.
e6700 is 10x multi.

People are overclocking their conroes by getting quality mobos and running with a high FSB.

I see. Thanks for that.