e2180 vs e8400

[Fenix793]

OK so I'm about to upgrade my current system with the following parts:

Asus P5Q Pro/Asus 4850 Combo $307 shipped ($277 AR)

Now here is my question. My budget was supposed to be $400. I was planning on getting an E2180 ($60) with 4GB of RAM $90 ($65 AR).

This puts me at $457 or $402 after rebates. The other option would be to step up to a E8400 and downgrade to 2GB of RAM. This would also put me a good amount over budget. I'm wondering what the better route would be. The E2180 is less than half the price of the E8400 ($160). I'll be OCing it for sure. Do you guys think I should go for the E8400? If it's actually going to be over twice as fast then I would but something tells me I'll get better bang for buck out of the E2180. Plus it leaves me with a solid system to support a quad in the future.

My system will be used to play Wow, COD4, and Mass Effect at 1680x1050 with the above 4850. If anyone can suggest a better upgrade for $400 PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

 

[jodhas]

What is your going to be your graphic card

 

[jesterb84]

I don't see how the E8400 would be anywhere "over twice as fast" as the E2180, especially as they are using similar core architecture. In my opinion, it depends on when your next upgrade is. If you plan on keeping the dual-core for 5 years or something then probably the E8400 is a better option. But it seems like you are in a situation similar to myself - trying to snag a reasonable dual-core to fill in until you get enough money for a good quad-core processor, in which case the E2180 @ 3.2GHz will be very solid in terms of performance for the next few years.

Also did you check pricing on the E5200?

 

[Denithor]

I would suggest the e7200 (2.53GHz, 3MB cache) for $125 as a nice compromise between the two. 45nm process means cooler/lower energy consumption (less cost over time as well) and better overclocking potential than e2180 (most people hit 3.5GHz or above with these chips). Great choice in motherboard, I've thought about replacing my IP35-e with that one.

 

[Fenix793]

Originally posted by: jodhas
What is your going to be your graphic card

HD4850

Originally posted by: Denithor
I would suggest the e7200 (2.53GHz, 3MB cache) for $125 as a nice compromise between the two. 45nm process means cooler/lower energy consumption (less cost over time as well) and better overclocking potential than e2180 (most people hit 3.5GHz or above with these chips). Great choice in motherboard, I've thought about replacing my IP35-e with that one.

I thought about that as well but the difference in price between E7200 and E8400 seems negligible. E8400s are $149.99 at Microcenter with a coupon that's floating around. If I'm spending $125 might as well throw in $25 and get more cache, fsb, and virtualization.

E2180 saves me $90 which seems substantial enough that I should really think about it.

Also did you check pricing on the E5200?

I'm pretty sure this isn't available yet. If it was it would be a no brainer

 

[nerp]

As a happy E2180 user, I'd say go for the cheaper of the two chips and wait for price cuts towards the end of the year to swap it out with a beefier dual or quad depending on what the market looks like. If you get your chip to 3.2 or even just 3ghz, you shouldn't notice that much of a difference in games, really. Maybe a few FPS here or there but nothing significant. For basic windows stuff, there is really no percievable difference, except when you're encoding, etc, but at 3.2 ghz the E2180 is pretty darned quick.

I keep trying to justify buying an E7200 or E8400 or something but my current setup is so damn fast that I really see no point. I'm due for a video card upgrade first and I've been considering the 4850s actually. Considering I can game at 1280x1024 with decent detail settings on my aging x1950Pro on my E2180, I don't see swapping the CPU out doing me any good until I improve the video situation.

 

[Fenix793]

Just a quick update I ordered my upgrade:

E2180 $59.99
4GB Mushkin $88.99
Asus P5Q Pro $149.99
Asus HD4850 $187.99
Discount for Asus Combo $-30.00

Total: $456.96 + $6.99 shipping = $463.95 shipped
There's $55 in rebates too so total upgrade cost was $408.95. $9 over budget. Got a great package that will upgrade nicely to a quad core later in the year.

 

[nerp]

Excellent. I think you made the right choice.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for your overclocking results over in the CPU/Overclocking forum.

 

[Fenix793]

Another quick update, I received everything and put it together and I must say this system kicks ass, especially for less than $500. I have the FSB set to 260 (2.6Ghz CPU) and it works great on stock cooler and voltages. Every game I've tried so far runs like a dream. While playing WoW I'm able to have Firefox and a video playing on my second monitor. Everything is very snappy. Once I get a better cooler I will make a serious attempt at overclocking though it runs so well I'm not sure I need too. System is very quiet as well and my room is noticeably cooler with this setup compared to my old one.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: Fenix793
Another quick update, I received everything and put it together and I must say this system kicks ass, especially for less than $500. I have the FSB set to 260 (2.6Ghz CPU) and it works great on stock cooler and voltages. Every game I've tried so far runs like a dream. While playing WoW I'm able to have Firefox and a video playing on my second monitor. Everything is very snappy. Once I get a better cooler I will make a serious attempt at overclocking though it runs so well I'm not sure I need too. System is very quiet as well and my room is noticeably cooler with this setup compared to my old one.

Glad to hear it. People tend to underestimate the performance of an E2180 beyond stock and overestimate the importance of cache on the chip in game performance. I'm glad that my assertion that your games will play at good FPS with the E2180 proved correct. I also think having that extra 2GB of memory goes a long way.

 

[JackMDS]

Most 2180 would go 2.8GHz with the stock cooler and a small nudge in the CPU core Voltage.

 

[TC91]

what about the e7200

 

[Fenix793]

e7200 isn't bad but I was looking for maximum bang for buck. The E2180 was $60 shipped. E7200 is $110+ and E8400 is $150+. My E2180 is at 2.6 stock voltage w/ stock cooler right now and it flies. I'm guessing it will hit 3.2+ with better cooling and a small voltage bump. Not that the other two won't OC like mad but for 2x the cost I'm not sure that it would be worth it. The money I saved was used to get another 2GB of RAM for 4 total. I was on 1GB before and I must say moving to 4GB is like night and day.

Overall very pleased with my decision and definitely looking forward to OCing this little guy. Once the quads drop in price later this year I think I will upgrade to one of those but for now this system is plenty fast. (Shattrath at 60fps is a sight to behold )

 

[nerp]

Yeah, the beauty of your (and my) situation is that we can slap in any chip we want for a minimal cost and immediatley boost performance. I'm eyeing a 7200, though those 5200s look nice. But there's a voice in my head to wait for a high clocked Quad 45nm once prices drop upon release of Nehalem. I love the idea of buying a chip during a bargian-bin closeout and have a quad at 3.6ghz or so for much less than people are paying now.

But as you can appreciate, part of me is thinking "why bother?" It's not like the E2180 @ 3.2Ghz is really going to hold be back for what I do with my machine.