Intel E8400 $159 with free ECS motherboard

[littletemple]

Originally posted by: jrichrds
Gotta watch out for those OEM CPUs at Fry's. They recently tried to pass off two used CPUs on me before finally giving me a new one. They used the excuse about how they were "just tested by Fry's to make sure it was working OK."

I got a tray OEM one with the ECS combo. I looked at the cpu and it doesn't looked used to me. How did you know yours was used?

 

[sandy777]

Picked up the combo yesterday at my Fry's and stuck the (OEM) E8400 into my Gigabtye GA-P35-DS3L board (the ECS one is going to be given away).

Just wondering...the CPU is idling at 47 degrees C (using an Artic Freezer Pro cooler with Arctic Silver 5)...is this high for this processor? My previous CPU was an E2160 that idled at 28 degrees. I am not overclocking (yet). Just wondering if this is typical for this CPU or if it's possible I got a defective one.

 

[qliveur]

Could be bad contact between the CPU and the HSF. Try re-attaching it with a new coat of AS5 after cleaning off the old coat.

 

[Bozo Galora]

Yeah, 47 is high idling at stock - but its not "defective"
should be like 32 with that AF - which is getting a bit old now
heres a rated list of the current HSF's with Intel CPU
http://frostytech.com/articlev...?articleid=2281&page=5

you need to use coretemp to check temps on both cores
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
go in your bios and set CPU shutoff @75 degrees
disable all the CPU throttling features iike speedstep thermal monitoring stuff and EIST CIE etc.
then up cpu voltage to something like 1.45V and see if the temp goes way up on both cores (it should) - some of the very early wolfdales had stuck core sensor diodes
Maybe thats why they are selling them so cheap - heh
http://csd.dficlub.org/forum/s....php?p=40179#post40179

 

[RamIt]

Originally posted by: sandy777
Picked up the combo yesterday at my Fry's and stuck the (OEM) E8400 into my Gigabtye GA-P35-DS3L board (the ECS one is going to be given away).

Just wondering...the CPU is idling at 47 degrees C (using an Artic Freezer Pro cooler with Arctic Silver 5)...is this high for this processor? My previous CPU was an E2160 that idled at 28 degrees. I am not overclocking (yet). Just wondering if this is typical for this CPU or if it's possible I got a defective one.

Mine will never go below 38* even if ambiant is freezing. These 45nm cpu's display their temps differently than the others do and programs display different temps.

 

[tekim]

went by my frys in san diego and they were all sold out of the e8400. how very sad

 

[imported_typhoid]

Originally posted by: jiffer
The E8400 included with this combo is the tray version. I've never seen a boxed version of the E8400 at Fry's.

Interesting... I've purchased 2 E8400 combos at Fry's, both with retail boxed CPUs. The first was several months ago, and the second was this week (w/ ECS G31T-M for $160) . This is at the SE Houston Fry's (Webster).

 

[jiffer]

Originally posted by: littletemple

Originally posted by: jrichrds
Gotta watch out for those OEM CPUs at Fry's. They recently tried to pass off two used CPUs on me before finally giving me a new one. They used the excuse about how they were "just tested by Fry's to make sure it was working OK."

I got a tray OEM one with the ECS combo. I looked at the cpu and it doesn't looked used to me. How did you know yours was used?

If a CPU has been installed on a motherboard, there will be an indentation on each side of the processor where the load plate pushes down on the processor when you lock it in place. The marks are very distinctive, and they are practically unavoidable. If those indentations are not present, you can be almost certain that the processor has never been installed in a socket on a motherboard.

Marks and scratches on top of the processor are fairly common. Most of them are caused by the heatsink that was pressed against the processor when it was tested at the factory. Marks are present even on retail box processors. Tray processors are delivered in large trays, and individual resellers put them in individual packages, and that sort of manual handling can also leave fingerprints and marks on the processor. As long as they didn't touch it with a live electric wire or put it inside a 500 degree oven, it's probably nothing to worry about.

Anybody who wants a processor that has not been touched by human hands should buy a factory sealed retail box processor. It's the only way to be sure.

Originally posted by: sandy777
Picked up the combo yesterday at my Fry's and stuck the (OEM) E8400 into my Gigabtye GA-P35-DS3L board (the ECS one is going to be given away).

Just wondering...the CPU is idling at 47 degrees C (using an Artic Freezer Pro cooler with Arctic Silver 5)...is this high for this processor? My previous CPU was an E2160 that idled at 28 degrees. I am not overclocking (yet). Just wondering if this is typical for this CPU or if it's possible I got a defective one.

I've seen a couple of defective processors that ran too hot (one was an Athlon X2 and one was Pentium D), so it's possible that your processor is defective.

Have you checked your voltage? I like to use HWMonitor:

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Originally posted by: qliveur
Could be bad contact between the CPU and the HSF. Try re-attaching it with a new coat of AS5 after cleaning off the old coat.

That might be a possibility. Stock cooling fans have plenty of clearance around the CPU socket, but after-market cooling fans are a different story. Some cooling fans have a notch on one side to make room for the row of small capacitors that is normally present next to the CPU socket. If you install the cooling fan the wrong way, the heatsink might be resting on top of those small capacitors, preventing full contact with the processor. The Arctic Cooling Alpine 7 is one example. On the other hand, I don't think the Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro has the same issues, so I don't know if that's the problem in sandy777's case.

Originally posted by: typhoid

Originally posted by: jiffer
The E8400 included with this combo is the tray version. I've never seen a boxed version of the E8400 at Fry's.

Interesting... I've purchased 2 E8400 combos at Fry's, both with retail boxed CPUs. The first was several months ago, and the second was this week (w/ ECS G31T-M for $160) . This is at the SE Houston Fry's (Webster).

I purchased a combo with an E8400 and an ECS G31T-M a few days ago for $169.99, but it was a tray processor (PLU # 5536450). I purchased the combo discussed in this thread -- an E8400 and an ECS GF7050VT-M -- two days ago for $159.99, and it was also a tray processor. What is the PLU number on your receipt? I wonder if they made a substitution in your area. (I've seen it happen before.)

I've seen the PLU sticker for a retail box E8400 in the display case behind the components desk, but each time I've asked if they have any in stock, they've said no. The reason I asked is because the retail box processor has a lower price than the tray processor (which might explain why their retail box processors are sold out).

 

[kyotousa]

Hi can I use this board and up fsb to 1333 make it to around 3.0mhz?

 

[SniperZ]

Fry's in Seattle has this deal:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8400 & MSI P45 Neo3-FR Motherboard $229.99

Is this motherboard any good?

 

[jiffer]

Originally posted by: kyotousa
Hi can I use this board and up fsb to 1333 make it to around 3.0mhz?

I have successfully overclocked an E7200 on the ECS GF7050VT-M just by raising the FSB to 1333MHz. There is no voltage control, so you need to use a processor that can be overclocked using default voltage. There are several overclocking options in the BIOS, including "BSEL" (you tell it which standard bus speed you want it to run at), FSB speed, and CPU:memory ratio. When I ran the E7200 with a 1333MHz FSB speed, I had to use a 2:1 CPU to memory ratio, so the memory was running at 667MHz (instead of 800MHz). That shouldn't have much effect on performance. I sold that particular CPU/motherboard combo about a month ago, and I don't remember the exact settings, but it worked very well.

However, the other day I tried to overclock a Core 2 Duo E4600, and for some reason, I couldn't get it to work. I don't know if I just couldn't find the right settings or if that particular CPU does not work with the BSEL feature in the BIOS. I'm planning to use that particular CPU with a different motherboard (I was just experimenting with the ECS GF7050VT-M), so I didn't spend a lot of time on it.

In my experience, the GF7050VT-M works very well at default speeds, and I think that is what it is best suited for. Some people think that ECS motherboards "suck" because they have limited (or non-existent) overclocking abilities, but I think those people fail to understand that (most) electronic components are not "meant" to be overclocked. If you can do it, it's a bonus, but the product is not "defective' if you can't. ECS motherboards are rock-solid if you know how to assemble a computer properly and don't screw them up by doing something stupid or by trying to make them work with components that do not meet industry standards. That includes things like "high performance" memory that exceeds JEDEC specifications, which is basically overclocked memory. You shouldn't mix overclocked memory with a motherboard that isn't designed for overclocking. I don't know why that's so hard to understand for some people to understand.

Originally posted by: SniperZ
Fry's in Seattle has this deal:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E8400 & MSI P45 Neo3-FR Motherboard $229.99

Is this motherboard any good?

Since no one else has responded to your question, here's my two cents. I don't have any experience with that particular motherboard, but MSI products are usually pretty solid, and the P45 chipset is pretty good, so you might be happy with that combo. But unlike an ECS motherboard, which you plug in and run at default speeds and then never have to worry about, that MSI motherboard is a "high performance" component that requires a lot of tinkering to get it to work the way you want it to. I assume you're buying a motherboard like that because you want to overclock your processor, so I'm just letting you know you'll have to put some extra effort into it to make it work the way you think it's "supposed" to. Specifically, you need to buy the right kind of memory ("overclocked" memory) and find the right settings in the BIOS to run at the speed you want without causing lockups or system instability. The same is true of any "high performance" (i.e., overclocked) motherboard. For my purposes (which usually does not include any overclocking), I actually prefer ECS motherboards because they're inexpensive and it's so easy to make them work. Just install the processor along with some memory that meets JEDEC specifications, turn it on, and watch it run. I realize that I'm being redundant, but I'm trying to get a point across.

When I want to overclock (or underclock), I personally prefer Gigabyte motherboards because I'm very comfortable with the overclocking options they provide. I once tried to use a DFI motherboard that required an advanced degree (so to speak) to understand all of the options available in the BIOS, and I just didn't feel like doing all of the research that would be necessary to understand what the hell I was doing. But if you want an "extreme overclocking experience, dude," then you need to be willing to put out the effort.