Help me pick a CPU

[imported_mostlyprudent]

With the death of the buyer's guides (and less time on my hands to do the research) I need some extra help choosing a CPU. I am thinking either the E7200 or the E8400 (20% performance difference??? for a 40% price difference).

This is going to be the new general use home PC. Lots of office work, casual gaming, lite media encoding and a fair amount of Photoshop usage.

Other components of interest (subject ot coment as well):
MB - DFI Blood Iron P35
RAM - 2 GB DDR2 1066
GPU - AMD HD3850

It will be replacing: (will become new Linux toybox)
CPU - Intel P4 2.2A (Northwood)
RAM - 768 GB RDRAM
GPU - ATi Radeon 8500

Comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

[brettjrob]

I would think going up to 4 GB DDR2 should be a priority. If you have to choose between that or the E8400, the RAM would probably make a lot more difference in everyday usage, especially if you're multitasking.

 

[OCGuy]

The E7200 sounds like it would suit your needs just fine, and is a good price.

 

[Unknown Person]

> RAM - 2 GB DDR2 1066

You don't need to pay for DDR2-1066 RAM when DDR2-800 RAM will have almost identical performance. This way, you can get a cheaper 2x2GB kit.

 

[z1ggy]

Agreed with all 3 posts. I have heard good things about the DFI boards..but I think they are made for people who want to OC and can be a bit pricey. Maybe try the gigabyte p35 like I have for about $99 bucks on new egg. The price might have gone up though because its one of the most popular boards and they are extremely reliable. Good luck.

 

[Jyve]

Originally posted by: z1ggy
Agreed with all 3 posts. I have heard good things about the DFI boards..but I think they are made for people who want to OC and can be a bit pricey. Maybe try the gigabyte p35 like I have for about $99 bucks on new egg. The price might have gone up though because its one of the most popular boards and they are extremely reliable. Good luck.

Ditto on the p35 gigabyte...love my p35-s3g. Just enough overclocking options to get you where you need to go, and stable. Also put 1 more vote in for the 7200. Great chip for the price, and all but guarenteed to hit 3.16 out of the box on stock cooling. If money is an issue, you can't go wrong with a p35/e7200/4gb pc6400 combo.

 

[DBissett]

".....death of the buyers' guides...."? Did I miss something?

 

[lightstar]

since you'll be doing encoding & photoshop work, have you considered the Q6600. . . .it would run on the same P35 motherboards. . . .i agree with the gigabyte DS3L recommendation; the abit IP35 is also a great board. GL

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31
The E7200 sounds like it would suit your needs just fine, and is a good price.

And right now at Microcenter it's $100 bucks.:thumbsup:

 

[ch33kym0use]

E7200, you can pwn it

 

[imported_mostlyprudent]

Thanks for all the input. Here's what I've decided:

CPU - E7200
MB - Gigabyte P45-DS3L (shopped around and found it for only $16 more than the P35 version [which I used in a build last year])
rAM - 4GB OCZ 2x2
GPU - ASUS HD3850
HD - Seagate 500GB 7200.10

Now I just need to find a good deal on a 20-22 inch PVA LCD.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: DBissett
".....death of the buyers' guides...."? Did I miss something?

People just don't know where to look (or don't bother). :roll:

AT Forums Official Buying Guide.

And just a note, posts like this belong more in the General Hardware forum than in the CPU & Overclocking forum.

EDIT: I will throw in one piece of advice, unless you're getting a simply stupid deal on the 3850, there's better cards for not much more than those usually sell for. I know there's been a deal on the 3870 for ~$100AR and you can often pick up an 8800GS for $65-80 (which will trounce the 3850 and is nearly silent).

 

[imported_mostlyprudent]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: DBissett
".....death of the buyers' guides...."? Did I miss something?

People just don't know where to look (or don't bother). :roll:

AT Forums Official Buying Guide.

And just a note, posts like this belong more in the General Hardware forum than in the CPU & Overclocking forum.

Hmm....I was referring to the Buyer's Guides that the AT staff used to write for different price ranges. The post you linked to does not provide system recommendations based on price categories as the AT Buyer's Guides used to. It is really more of a resource for "building" a PC. I posted here because my question was which of two CPUs to choose. I looked through both boards (General Hardware and CPU) and this seemed the more appropriate place. The discussion turned to more general component choice (which I appreciated the extra suggestions), but my original question related specifically to the CPU.

The ASUS HD3850 you can find for $60AR on newegg
I have seen benchmarks where the 3850 trades blows with the 8800GT, but I have not seen where the 8800GS facotrs in. Are you sure it "trounces" the 3850?

 

[Ksyder]

Someone (not me b/c I'm no CPU expert) should make a sticky post comparing AMD vs. Intel Line at different price points that can be kept updated. I'm sure lots of people come here looking for which cpu to buy and this would help tremendously especially since AT has not done any buyers guides in awhile. I'm thinking between this and Tom's Hardware CPU charts it would be a pretty powerful resource. It would probably make sense to integrate it into the AT Forums Official Buying Guide, although that didn't seem to answer the question of "Which one is the best for XXX price?" I know I'd 1st come to the CPU forums seeing as how thats where the most knowledgeable folks regarding CPU's would be. If this has already been addressed too many times feel free to flame me