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Which CPU for Asrock 4Core Dual-VSTA?

Munky1080

Munky1080

Munky1080

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Gravesend, Kent
Hello all; I've been reading this forum for quite awhile, but never posted before.

Anyhow, I've just bought myself the 4Core Dual-VSTA from asrock, as its the most cost effective way to upgrade my rig. I'm planning on getting the e4300 to go in it, as it has the 9x multiplier, and from what I can tell, the asrock board will do 290-300Mhz FSB easy, but won't go above it. It seems like a safe and easy overclock, which will get the e4300 up to 2.7Ghz. The question I have, is, do you think this is the right way to go? The e6300 only has the 7x multiplier, so that's 2.1Ghz. What about getting the e6400 (which is more expensive)? I was also thinking of waiting until the e4400 or the e6320 come out, as I'm not buying the CPU until the end of april (after the Intel price cuts). Can anyone shed some light on this?

Also, If I have 2x512MB of pc3200, and I push the FSB up to 290-300Mhz. What divider should I set the RAM at?

Cheers guys - this is a great forum. :)
 
Welcome to the forum!

I have that board - and went for the 4300, as you say because of the x9 multiplier.

I currently have my FSB at 275, taking it about 2.5 Ghz. It's comfortable at that though, so I'm sure I can push it higher to close to the 300 mark if I wanted.

I guess it depends whether you want the best overclock you can now, or something that you won't get the most out of now, but may be able to in the future on your next motherboard...
 
should do 280-285

Apparently does 280-285 without a sweat, over 290 to 300 seems to work for most, but has some reported problems, over 300 very rare (or perhaps even impossible). (With e4300).
 
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Well, what I have now is a P4 Prescott (socket 478) with 1GB of pc3200 and an x1950 pro AGP, with a couple of old and slow IDE hard drives. When I bought my computer is was well nice, but its so slow now that gaming is losing its fun. I'm married and have a 10 month old daughter, so I can't really justify buying a new rig, so i'm planning on spending ~£100 a month to upgrade. This month was the motherboard, next month the cpu, next month the PSU, and the month after that a new monitor, then a new case. After all of that then I will think about a new motherboard.

Will a e4300 @ 2.3-2.7Ghz really be lots better than my old p4?
 
Ace Modder said:
Why are these mobo's so cheap?
Whats the catch?
Click to expand...

It's got a VIA880 chipset. VIA chipsets are cheaper than Intel chipsets. It's that simple. It runs like a dog but the Core2Duo is so much faster than an AMD chip, you don't notice until you see the equivalent game running on a P965 board or an NForce6 board and you suddenly realise that we'd all be using those boards if they were any good.

Do yourself a favour - sell your existing DDR/AGP/AMD kit (it's worth quite a bit actually) and buy a proper Core2Duo setup.

As an example of how slow it is;

E4300/2Gb DDR@200(400MHz PC3200)/FSB300/2.7GHz on ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA - VIA880 Chipset - 1M Places Super Pi= 28 seconds

E4300/2Gb DDR@200(400MHz PC3200)/FSB300/2.7GHz on ASRock 775i65 - Intel 865G Chipset - 1M Places Super Pi= 23 seconds

E4300/2Gb DDR2@300(600MHz PC5000)/FSB300/2.7GHz on Abit QuadGT - Intel P965 Chipset 1M Places Super Pi= 20 seconds

That's how slow it is. Even allowing for DDR2 RAM being a bit quicker on the Abit board.
 
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Wow, I had no idea how slow that motherboard is. My plan is to upgrade in stages, when I get some nice DDR2 and PCI-E graphics card and then when that's sorted I will get a nice new motherboard. My computer really is dated though, (14 inch monitor, packard bell keyboard, and really crappy speakers with the sub blown out) so I have to spend quite a bit of money and money is tight (have a 10 month old daughter). This motherboard seems the best option for me really. I have the best AGP card money can buy, so i'm not too keen on dumping that off, as it *should* last about a year before I care to upgrade, and by that time i'll have a decent computer to throw it in.

So I understand what the Super Pi benchmarks mean, but upgrading in stages just makes too much sense with my budget.

Cheers for the help guys.

PS what do y'all think about the E4400, E6320 and E6420?
 
I'm in exactly the same position myself! Looking at this Asrock board and the E4300 as a step by step upgrade instaed of doing it all at once!

With the £4300 around £100 at the moment, I thought that was gonna be the best deal for a while, what are these "Intel price cuts" at the end of April???

StevieP
 
StevieP said:
what are these "Intel price cuts" at the end of April???
Click to expand...

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17702962

Probably won't actually filter through to end-user level until May or June though.

What will happen is that informed consumers will drive the current prices down by stopping buying in anticipation of these price cuts and that will force discounting in the marketplace as CPU's are usually bought as part of an upgrade package so Motherboards, RAM and Graphics Card sales also fall away, plus summer is a terrible time for computer sales generally.
 
o

It's got a VIA880 chipset. VIA chipsets are cheaper than Intel chipsets. It's that simple. It runs like a dog but the Core2Duo is so much faster than an AMD chip, you don't notice until you see the equivalent game running on a P965 board or an NForce6 board and you suddenly realise that we'd all be using those boards if they were any good


man u just ****** on my party
 
Trilogy said:
It's got a VIA880 chipset. VIA chipsets are cheaper than Intel chipsets. It's that simple. It runs like a dog but the Core2Duo is so much faster than an AMD chip, you don't notice until you see the equivalent game running on a P965 board or an NForce6 board and you suddenly realise that we'd all be using those boards if they were any good


man u just ****** on my party
Click to expand...

Why?

You're running PCIe graphics, DDR RAM and a Core2Duo. There is no other motherboard that permits that combination. Right now you can sell your DDR RAM and buy good DDR2 for much the same price. Then you can buy a new motherboard and get an extra 10-20% performance without even getting a better overclock. Add in better overclocking and you'll have a nice ramp-up in speed for not a lot of cost.

The guy asked why they were cheap and I told him. If I was a bit cold about it then I'm sorry, I certainly didn't mean to be un-necessarily cruel and as I've stated above there is no other real alternative if you want PCIe graphics and DDR RAM.
 
What about the new e4400 that's comming out soon? Am I to understand that it will have a 10x multiplier? and if it does, can the chip go up to 3Ghz do ya think? The motherboard *should* do 290-300Mhz FSB easy enough, so do you think the extra £ would be worth it to get up to 3Ghz?

Cheers
 
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