Quick and to the point, cheapest route to C2D ~3.2Ghz

[jjzelinski]

I've been going over all the threads I could find about the E4300 and the E6300 and so far it seems the E4300 is friendly to those with DDR667 RAM while the E6300/6400 can acheive ~3.2Ghz simply by making use of their 400Mhz FSB * 8 multi.

My goal is upgrade my platform to as close to 3.2Ghz as possible using C2D in the most cost efficient way possible. What configuration would the AT community recommend? E4300? 680i? DDR2800?

For cooling I plan to purchase a different mounting bracket for my XP 90, but other insights would be welcome as well.

Thanks to anyone willing to participate

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

Not every E4300 is hitting 400FSB.....Most seem to be stuck around 350-370 from what I've read. My chip will do 3Ghz at stock voltages (24 hrs Orthos stable), but it refuses to boot at anything higher than 370. This could also be due to my MB (biostar 965pt).

 

[dedwards]

I have the E6400 at 400FSB with the 8x mulitplier. This was a very easy overclock - stock voltages, completely stable.

CPU-Z

Orthos

Idle Temp

Load Temp

DE

 

[StopSign]

Both the E6300 and E6400 will guarantee 3.2 GHz. The E4300 will not.

 

[myocardia]

The E6400 is definitely the chip to buy, if you want to guarantee yourself a cheap 3.2 Ghz. While nearly every E6300 will also hit 3.2 Ghz, they won't with cheap PC6400 RAM. 7x400 is only 2.8 Ghz, so an E6300 requires ~460 Mhz FSB, meaning both your RAM and motherboard will have to be stable at 458-460 Mhz FSB. That usually costs more money than just buying an E6400 to start with, along with cheap PC6400 RAM.

 

[gerwen]

Seconding myocardia's recommendation.
Specific components on the cheap:
E6400
Gigabyte 965P-S3 Mobo
Cheapest DDR2-800 Ram you can find
Freezer 7 Pro HSF

 

[StopSign]

Originally posted by: myocardia
That usually costs more money than just buying an E6400 to start with, along with cheap PC6400 RAM.

Unless you live in Canada like me........

E6400

E6300

 

[SlayerRules]

Great info. Any 2 x 1 GB pc6400 memory you can suggest using this setup?

 

[jjzelinski]

Thanks, very helpful actually. I've now moved from strongly considering the E4300 to strongly considering the E6400. How about motherboard?

 

[jjzelinski]

ttt

 

[SniperWulf]

My current setup is actually what you are trying to achieve. I have a E6400, 680i and PC6400 ram. It was soo friggin easy to hit this OC on this board. I previously used a DS3, then a P5B Deluxe and could not get either board stable to save my life! If you wanna avoid the cost of the 680i, I'm sure the 650i would be more than enough to get the results you want

 

[Hulk]

My system (see sig) is rock solid at 1.35volts. I wouldn't try to save $100 when it could mean the difference between an easy overclock and endless trouble.

What I mean is put a little more into memory, power supply, cooling, motherboard, and the E6400 if you want to increase your chances.

I couldn't be happier with my rig.

I may be able to lower the voltage more but I figure 1.35 is plenty safe so why mess with it?

 

[PCTC2]

Cooling is also a big part in getting to 3.2GHz stable. It's worth spending the extra $50 for a Tuniq Tower 120.
But got with the E6400. I've run at 3.325GHz (475*7) Orthos Stable and at my current 3.6GHz (450*8) (not so Orthos Stable but stable for all of my programs I run).
With the 680i it's easy to hit 3.2GHz stable on stock voltages with DDR2 800.
Case and Point, a E6400 with a good board, cooling, and DDR2 800 is the way to go.