Is a celeron 420 faster than an athlon 3000?

[mellondust]

I am upgrading a second computer I have and I wanted to get it up and running sooner rather than this summer so I can play some games with my kid. I need a decent temporary cpu till prices come down on the E8400(and they are back in stock).

I have:

CPU: none
MB: gigabyte DS3L
Memory: 4 gigs hp ddr2 667
Video: Geforce 7600gs

It will be:

CPU: E8400
MB: Gigabyte DS3L
Memory: 4 gigs hp ddr2 667
Video: Geforce 8800gt 512

I got a $37 geforce 7600gs to hold me over till I can get an 8800gt and I need a cheap cpu to fill the other gap. The cheapest I can find is a $43 celeron 420. I could go $14 more and get an E1200 but it is almost 30% more that the 420 and I am going to only use it for 6 months or so. Even though it is only $14 more it is hard for me to justify the price difference when I am only going to use it for a couple of months.

I figure if the 420 is at least as fast as my athlon 3000 I will be just fine till I get the E8400.

Anyone know how the two compare?

Also, how much better is the E1200. If the difference is really huge I might just spend the extra $14.

Thanks

 

[Zap]

I'm not sure about the comparison between stock Celeron 420 and Athlon 3000+, but I think the 420 can be overclocked enough to beat an overclocked 3000+.

If you want to spend a couple bucks more, how about considering an E2140 or E2160? There's been some deals on those for around $60* and up, and with one of those overclocked you may not even need to go with the E8400 for quite a while.

*Tiger Direct with rebate, eWiz OEM with Google link, Micro Center retail box B&M.

 

[tynopik]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...lay/celeron-e1200.html

pay attention to the overclocking parts

but Zap is correct, the E2160 may be the better buy, once OC that could last you a long, long time

 

[n7]

I got myself an E1200 Celery a couple weeks ago.

Haven't had time to properly determine exact max clocks, but it's been running 3.2 GHz for the last week, though not quite 8+ hrs. Orthos stable.

Likely gonna drop vcore down & run 3.0 GHz, which is around E6600/E6550 performance for $55

I'd highly recommend the dually over the 420; you'll find it alot faster.

 

[nerp]

I got an E2180 and it runs at 3ghz on stock volts and only a tiny nudge of vcore brings it to 3.2ghz. At $79, I'm not complaining.

 

[mellondust]

I have never really overclocked before, but I might try it if it will save me a lot of money. I guess if I blow the cpu it is just a temp anyway. If it works out maybe I will just hold on to it for a while.

Can I use the stock cooling and still get a decent overclock? I don't really want to have to spend a lot on an different cooling solution. Also, in this case is the only thing being overworked the cpu?