Is FSB/cache important

[QlimaxUK]

thinkin bout upgrading my system and have chosen the Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.33GHz (1333FSB) for it fsb mainly but am told its better to get the Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz (800FSB) cuz its cheaper and can be oc'ed to 2.33GHz or higher, I also find that cache is not so high on this one 1mb v 4mb)
The P4 3ghz i got now is 800FSB and has 2 mb cache (higher then E2180), so i thinkin this wont be much of an upgrade

What shall i do?

 

[melbourne720]

Get the e2180, clock it up to its max. Read my sig link for the benefits of cache.

 

[QlimaxUK]

1 problem, i never overclock, too much risk for me
unless someone can tell me how to do it safly?

 

[melbourne720]

There is a foolproof sticky in the overclocking and cooling section, for absolute beginners. Trust me, you cannot go wrong with that. That is how I learnt.

 

[sargatanas]

Overclocking is not risky, unless youtry too much too fast, just take it nice and slow and you'll be fine.

 

[QlimaxUK]

ok so now the Intel Core 2 Duo E2140 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.60GHz (800FSB) is in the basket now, different to the one i was on about at the start of this thread, so now i might wanna choose another board
so far i got the EVGA nForce 650i Ultra (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard, that was to allow for the fsb in my first choise, should i change?

 

[QlimaxUK]

1 thing left: my P4 3GHz 800FSB 2 MB CACHE cpu .v. E2140 will i see much different, can i run UT3DEMO Perfectly with the E2140, and i mean perfect (like ut04 or ut99 runs)

 

[Cob]

Depends on your graphics card.

 

[QlimaxUK]

gonna get 8600GT

currently got 7300GS

 

[Cob]

Not with the 7300GS.

And the 8600GT should be ok, but not great. However the E2140 will help a lot.

 

[QlimaxUK]

so at stock values, with no overclock on both sides which is better P4 or E2140

 

[Cob]

The E2140.

Even if all things were equal, the E2140 has twice as many cores.

 

[QlimaxUK]

wouldnt it b 4 times as many? ok the P4 has 2 'virtual cores' but the E2140 has 4 physical core? dosnt it?

so will i notices the difference, and b able to smoothly run the nxt few months worth of games (crysis, UT3, NFS ProStreet...)

 

[Cob]

The E2140 has two physical cores. That is a lot better than the P4's hyperthreading.

The likes of Crysis and UT3 will run better on the E2140, but again it's your graphics card that will determine just how well they run.

 

[Camalot]

I was a beginner overclocker, i went for the E2160 (before OcUk had 2180 or i would have got that)

Just follow the sticky and ask on here for help. I now have mine rock solid at 3ghz.

E2140 is a dual core, and its faster.

 

[Cr0fty]

Wouldn't the X1950 be a better bet then the 8600GT?

 

[Cob]

It would be.

 

[QlimaxUK]

I was a beginner overclocker, i went for the E2160 (before OcUk had 2180 or i would have got that)

Just follow the sticky and ask on here for help. I now have mine rock solid at 3ghz.

E2140 is a dual core, and its faster.

yeh iv read in some posts that people r reporting around the 3ghz mark from stock only, and thats on these cheap cpu's

 

[Cob]

Btw are you intending to run an e2140 in the RS400 A motherboard from your other thread?

Because I'm pretty sure you can't.

 

[QlimaxUK]

nooo. gettin the evga 650i ultra (unless thers a better/cheaper alternative), cuz im havin 2nd thoughts bout this board cuz iv just read a post elsewher bout sound issues on this board

for the record: RS400-A will not take any duel core or c2d (only P4/celeron 775)