Decisions decisions....

[cokecan]

yet another which cpu thread. I know how you all love these ...(oh joy!)

ok, current cpu is an old skool 3400+ clawhammer (754) on a nf3 250 chipset

basically i'm goin back to uni after summer to finish my final year (on placement at the min) and I've got my final year project to do.
I'm on a comp sci + games tech course and last year did tonnes of 3D studio max, hammer editor, HL2, photoshop etc on my current system and to be quite honest, it struggled quite badly with even the slightest complex models. to the point where everything would freeze for a bit when it changed to the next MP3 in my playlist lol

This year i'll be doing more of the same plus a lot more on top as i'm planning on making a game or something games oriented for my project

Then to throw a spanner into the works, this new PC's gonna be part of a HTPC so needs to be as close to passive as possible and capable of playing hd-dvd's smoothly at 720p (1080p would be nice for the future though)

So the question. what cpu, bearing in mind i'll be running it at stock only! i've pretty much narrowed it down to 3, the e6320, e6600 and xeon x3210. the e6320 i know can run passive providing i have airflow in the case. the e6600 is a maybe, or at least a slow moving fan but i dont know for the x3210. I'd imagine the 2 extra cores make it get a bit toasty

I've read all the reviews and seen the benchmarks etc on how quad core gives crazy boosts in 3DS compared to the same clocked dual core etc but still a bit undecided

can anyone offer a few opinions?

 

[Snapshot]

From what I've read here I think the E6600 will be the best compromise. I use a program called JAlbum to produce photo albums for my web site and it crunches through a 300 photo album in 3 minutes! My old dual PIII/1133 used to take over 20. The CPU idles at 9C over ambient with a Noctua NH-U12F on top; the fan's running at about 1100rpm and the Noctua fans are quiet. Even running F@H at 100% the fan's only running at 1330rpm and the CPU's at 20C over ambient.

The Q6600 probably runs too warm for passive cooling as, as I'm sure you know, it's two E6600s in the same package.

 

[WJA96]

If you are doing things a Quad-core is good at, then get a quad-core. The extra cores are more important than the overclock for things like 3DStudio.

I have a very mildly overclocked X3210 (2.4GHz/300x8) under a Thermalright HR-01 semi-passive cooler (it uses the rear case fan as the CPU fan) and it maxes out under full load at about 60C which isn't as toasty as I would have expected.

This is my system at the moment, running 4 threads of F@H - cpu is maxed out 100%.

If I increase the overclock to 3GHz (375x8) then the temperatures start hitting the low 70's under load, which is starting to get warm, but the system doesn't throttle and it will close down from overheating if I try and go to 3.2GHz as it simply overwhelmes the cooler.

The HR-01 works very well with any case that has a 120mm rear-mounted fan - even with small cases like the Silverstone TJ-08.

If you are looking at a 'proper' mATX HTPC case that only has 80mm fan ports then have a look at the highly unfashionable Coolermaster Aquagate MiniR80 which is a pre-assembled sealed water-cooling system for 80mm fan mounts. I have successfully cooled extremely hot Pentium 4 systems with one of these in a Silverstone SG-01 Sugo case and because they are very unfashionable, they can be picked up extremely cheaply. If you feel need for a more trendy 80mm water-cooling system then Swiftech do a kit with an 80mm radiator in it.

 

[cokecan]

ive allready got an Origen AE H7 htpc case to put it all in. I was thinking of using the Thermalright SI-128 on the cpu with the psu fan and case fans very close to it to extract the heat. at the very least i have some silent 120mm fans i can put on the heatsink if need be

and i will also be running F@H on it