Oh how I love me some Core2Duo...

[Sheep221]

I still have penryn based laptop, it's good for office stuff and internet (it still has intel GMA graphics). But I think that the OPs comparison was not correct, the C-60 etc are crap chips, the atoms are same. People got used to over a years that flagship CPUs get better with every new generation, but that doesn't go for the rest. Even for few generations behind, it just doesn't make sense to compare desktop CPU with ULV netbook CPU. Even the newest phones and tablets and all that stuff have problem quickly viewing and compiling simple stuff like websites, while computers never had this problem regardless how old they are. Such a scaling is just not reasonable since the applications for these chips vary greatly.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I suppose I should sell off my LGA 775 motherboards, processors, and ram, but I'm just too lazy.

Who's going to buy them? If I recall correctly, last time I took old computer parts to GoodWill, they were turned down. Maybe they got wise and allocated a room in the back of each community facility to a recycling side-business. Meanwhile, some school districts are buying mobile devices for individual students in bulk.

Automobiles and computers have a depreciation path that determines their price, but simple utility can go a long way. Can a cast-off support a home surveillance system with the AV/DVR features? Can you use it as a server? A backup server? If you use one LGA-775 system for a server, would it be prudent to put a second LGA_775 aside in storage for the day when the server goes south and you need to do some maintenance? In that latter and single example, you may not WANT to spend the few hundred bucks buying new parts "all of a sudden." But you have a backup for your backup hardware . . .

 

[B-Riz]

This article from Tom's has always stuck in my head; a little tweaking and Core 2 Duo idle power could match Atom; then provide more power when needed.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-atom-efficiency,2069.html

I still use a Q6600 at home for server duties; but the Win XP install needs replaced with Linux...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This article from Tom's has always stuck in my head; a little tweaking and Core 2 Duo idle power could match Atom; then provide more power when needed.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-atom-efficiency,2069.html

I still use a Q6600 at home for server duties; but the Win XP install needs replaced with Linux...

You can use any OS for a server I suppose, as long as you can share files in your LAN. You can still get WHS 2011 at Amazon, but New Egg has dropped it with their "out of stock" explanation. It's still less than $60 where you can find it, and I'm having trouble finding it except for Amazon.

The other option is "Server Essentials" which probably runs about $300 -- thoroughly insane for home use.

So Add-in developers like Cove-Cube and Axonet have responded in two ways, or so it seems: They're producing revisions for Server 2012, backward compatible with WHS, and also forward-compatible with Win7 and Win8. This is especially of interest because Cove-Cube makes the drive-pooling software.

And if Linux works -- then it works . . .

As for XP -- no support. The good thing about my WHS, the support continues as long as they support Server 2008 R2.

 

[abbcccus]

Who's going to buy them?

I don't know. I don't know that anyone would with certainty, but a quick survey of eBay about a month ago turned up fairly recent sales of LGA 775 motherboard models of which I own copies. A few things worth noting on that score are that those boards sold for MORE than I paid for mine and mine are almost certainly in better shape than the ones that sold as my higher end LGA 775 stuff (which is still only middling) didn't receive much use. Of my two P45 motherboards, for instance, one has only ever served as a test bed and the other one was only ever used in my FreeNAS box - so it was actually running maybe a total of 200 hours and in the lowest possible stress environment it could be. The cpus aren't worth much of anything, true enough, but the motherboards seem to still have some value and the ram sells for more than I paid for it.

But ultimately I don't have that much money invested in this stuff, so I don't really care. Moreover, even if I sold it all it wouldn't bring in that much money. A couple of hundred bucks just isn't worth it to me for the time I'd have to put into moving it. So I'll likely continue to build C2D machines for needy friends who can't afford anything better.

 

[Conroe]

Good LGA 775 mobos still go for a fairly high price. The only CPUs worth much are the quads.

 

[Shivansps]

I still use 2 C2D based 775, my uncle pc is a E2200/2G/GT520, performs beautifully, my mom pc is a E5200/2G/G31 running W8, its also excellent.

C-60 and C-70 were the lowest power APUs of the Bobcat family, they were fine in 2011 but not anymore.

Sorry but they where no good from the start, when AMD launched the E-350, the thing was already slower than a Athlon Neo that was reemplacing, i went from a MSI U230 with a L335/780G to a HP dm1z with a E-350 and i inmediatelly noticed it, no even the bat life where that good because OEM choosed to go for cheaper bats, the E-350 was not even good to watch a 360p flash video whiout using the igp, yeah gaming was better, to a point because i could overclock the 780G and get nearly the same perf.

Then i was suprised about there where even slowers parts called C-30/C-50, etc... those ended to be even worse than old Intel Atoms.

 

[Blitzvogel]

I still have penryn based laptop, it's good for office stuff and internet (it still has intel GMA graphics). But I think that the OPs comparison was not correct, the C-60 etc are crap chips, the atoms are same. People got used to over a years that flagship CPUs get better with every new generation, but that doesn't go for the rest. Even for few generations behind, it just doesn't make sense to compare desktop CPU with ULV netbook CPU. Even the newest phones and tablets and all that stuff have problem quickly viewing and compiling simple stuff like websites, while computers never had this problem regardless how old they are. Such a scaling is just not reasonable since the applications for these chips vary greatly.

The web has finally advanced enough as a whole to make good IGP + decent burst CPU performance a must. All that Flash, Java, etc used to make websites flashy and exciting can bog down older CPUs and graphics, especially when so many devices are pushing for high res screens. HD video used to be the only thing bogging down processors when it came to the web. Now it's the web in general it seems.

 

[chrisjames61]

I share your sentiment.
I own a c-50 laptop, I run it as a lightweight webserver because it only pulls like 9 watts with an ssd in it.

Compared to my old Q9450 I'm not convinced that anything AMD has to offer outside of fm3/fm3+ _definitively_ beats it. I mentioned this months back in a forum thread and they said I needed "medication for that" ... ohh well

There is no FM3 or FM3+.

 

[jumpncrash]

YAY! A C2D thread!


I just upgraded my e8400 to a q8300 that I jsut OCd to 3.0, it's plenty fast, I also threw an SSD in it but I haven't reinstalled yet, so it's just sitting there, but I have no doubt it's going to be more than fast enough for it's intended usage, which is basically watching movies in my bedroom.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just upgraded my e8400 to a q8300 that I jsut OCd to 3.0, it's plenty fast
...
I have no doubt it's going to be more than fast enough for it's intended usage

Compare and contrast to the quad-core Bay Trail-D 22nm Atoms. Makes me wonder why Intel even bothered to invent Atom, instead of just shrinking C2D to 22nm and adding power-gating.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2376711

A 3.0Ghz C2D/Q is still pretty-much a powerhouse. Atom, not so much.

 

[monstercameron]

I am a bit miffed at all the hate going towards the c-50/60, they are great parts and do as advertised. the cpu might be lower than a c2d but so is its die-size, power, price and bom costs. havent even mentioned that the gpu will probably run circles around intel gma that came with c2d and the c-50/60 can decode hd video.

aside: can't say that I am not biased browsing on my c-50 netbook.

 

[shady28]

Compare and contrast to the quad-core Bay Trail-D 22nm Atoms. Makes me wonder why Intel even bothered to invent Atom, instead of just shrinking C2D to 22nm and adding power-gating.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2376711

A 3.0Ghz C2D/Q is still pretty-much a powerhouse. Atom, not so much.

I was curious to see where the 3770 ranked vs a P8600, mobile C2D 2.53Ghz.

I checked Sunspider as I didn't want GPU changing the results.

P8600 = 305ms
3770 Quad Core Bay Trail = 566ms

The 25W P8600 was introduced in Q3 2008, about 5 1/2 years ago.

Now granted the P8600 only does ~10% better in Geekbench 2 / 32bit total score.

Still, that's quad vs dual and 5 1/2 years. At that rate, my Macbook Pro 2010 C2D will still be kickin it in 3 or 4 years.

 

[serpretetsky]

Makes me wonder why Intel even bothered to invent Atom.

There are people that need processors that are just good enough for their specific tasks while using less resources to manufacturer (smaller die) and less power.

Surely you don't think that you can just shrink and lobotomize core 2 duo and attain the same results that the atom did.

I know when i bought my AMD E-350 processor there was no other processor out there like it, and I loved it. It was the perfect combo for my 12" lenovo x120e. Perfect performance for all my basic work and also allowed me to play basic games due to the much better video card then what would have come with any intel. Also very good battery life. All of this for very cheap.

The newer atoms look more and more impressive. I was using a pretty small atom powered tablet a few months ago running full windows 8. Very impressive stuff.

 

[inf1nity]

My present computer runs a Core2Duo E4500@2.2GHz. I agree with the OP. I built this computer in 2008 and till today it runs very nice. I have even attempted to overclock, but sadly i have a very crappy Jetway motherboard that doesn't POST with FSB more than 220. So my max OC is 2.43 GHz.

I plan on getting a new motherboard and 4 GB of RAM so that i can fullly utilize my CPU. However the thing is that socket 775 motherboards aren't easily available in the market, and I live in India, where the computer component market is extremely small and limited. Good quality parts are hard to come by. The only Socket 775 motherboards i have seen have a G41 chipset and i don't know whether it is good fpr overclocking or not.

Anybody here has any experience with G41 chipsets?

 

[toyota]

My present computer runs a Core2Duo E4500@2.2GHz. I agree with the OP. I built this computer in 2008 and till today it runs very nice. I have even attempted to overclock, but sadly i have a very crappy Jetway motherboard that doesn't POST with FSB more than 220. So my max OC is 2.43 GHz.

I plan on getting a new motherboard and 4 GB of RAM so that i can fullly utilize my CPU. However the thing is that socket 775 motherboards aren't easily available in the market, and I live in India, where the computer component market is extremely small and limited. Good quality parts are hard to come by. The only Socket 775 motherboards i have seen have a G41 chipset and i don't know whether it is good fpr overclocking or not.

Anybody here has any experience with G41 chipsets?

it makes no sense at this point to get another 775 board and ddr2 ram just to get the most out of an outdated cpu.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Anybody here has any experience with G41 chipsets?

Plenty. But OC-wise they're not bad but not really good either. If you're serious about getting a new 775-board, at least try to find one that has support for both DDR2 and DDR3. There are a few models with that feature, but it'll likely require you search the used parts market. Your wallet will thank you later, DDR2 memory is getting insanely expensive.

 

[Enigmoid]

I was curious to see where the 3770 ranked vs a P8600, mobile C2D 2.53Ghz.

I checked Sunspider as I didn't want GPU changing the results.

P8600 = 305ms
3770 Quad Core Bay Trail = 566ms

The 25W P8600 was introduced in Q3 2008, about 5 1/2 years ago.

Now granted the P8600 only does ~10% better in Geekbench 2 / 32bit total score.

Still, that's quad vs dual and 5 1/2 years. At that rate, my Macbook Pro 2010 C2D will still be kickin it in 3 or 4 years.

Don't foget your error bars.

+/- 50% on each (probably more if comparing modern vs. older browser).

P.S. sunspider is worthless.

 

[Cogman]

Ahh, C2D. That, in my mind, was the last great performance leap. It took forever for AMD to catch up in performance and Intel has only released small bumps in performance since (I believe a 20% increase with Nehalem was the largest IIRC) After that, we have seen some pretty weak movements in performance. Haswell practically had no performance increase.

 

[inf1nity]

Plenty. But OC-wise they're not bad but not really good either. If you're serious about getting a new 775-board, at least try to find one that has support for both DDR2 and DDR3. There are a few models with that feature, but it'll likely require you search the used parts market. Your wallet will thank you later, DDR2 memory is getting insanely expensive.

I don't plan on getting DDR2 memory if i upgrade. I'll get DDR3.
This are the options i have as of now.

http://www.flipkart.com/gigabyte-ga-g41m-motherboard/p/itmd69wpzd7g7gqy

http://www.flipkart.com/intel-dg43r...=b_2&ref=d3361fa1-9326-457f-b552-8a7544d64abe

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I don't plan on getting DDR2 memory if i upgrade. I'll get DDR3.
This are the options i have as of now.

Oh, I though you where going to upgrade with DDR2. I don't know about Indian pricing, but here DDR2 has become ridiculously expensive if you go above 2GB DIMMs...

Of those two boards you listed, I'd give the nod to the Intel one. Intel-branded mainboards are highly reliable, and that one has the G43+ICH10R, as opposed to the Gigabyte one that uses the G41+ancient ICH7.

 

[jhu]

Ahh, C2D. That, in my mind, was the last great performance leap. It took forever for AMD to catch up in performance and Intel has only released small bumps in performance since (I believe a 20% increase with Nehalem was the largest IIRC) After that, we have seen some pretty weak movements in performance. Haswell practically had no performance increase.

Going by actual CPU lineage, Core 2 wasn't really that great of a performance leap: Pentium !!! -> Pentium M -> Enhanced Pentium M -> Core 2

 

[tweakboy]

This thread got me biting down hard on my teeth

I got my Core 2 Quad Q6660 in 2007 December. OCed to 3.7Ghz played games great...Of course it can do HDCP well. Drop in a 8800 GT.. go that far back if money is tight. gl

 

[Cogman]

Going by actual CPU lineage, Core 2 wasn't really that great of a performance leap: Pentium !!! -> Pentium M -> Enhanced Pentium M -> Core 2

True. But it wasn't clear that they could just take a chip that had gone through several revisions for a mobile platform, bump up the clock, and use it for a desktop platform. It would be like taking an ARM chip and ramping up the clock speed to 4Ghz because it has the TDP room. I imagine a fair bit of engineering went into making it so the CPUs could handle the higher clocks.

From a consumer standpoint, the jump was from Dual core Pentium 4s -> Core 2 Duos, and it was a pretty large leap.

 

[shady28]

Don't foget your error bars.

+/- 50% on each (probably more if comparing modern vs. older browser).



P.S. sunspider is worthless.

The benchmarks were from the same site, same browser.

The point remains, a mobile C2D from 2008 is a superior performer in almost all measures to a quad core Bay Trail from 2014.