pc build: amd x2 or core 2 duo? which one should i get?

meizumintyboi

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this build is essentially gaming and on a tight budget will not go over the largest quote.. all from ebuyer

AMD BUILD:

1 x ASUS X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card 131876 £69.74 £69.74
1 x AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Socket AM2 (2.2GHz) L2 1MB (2x512KB) Retail Boxed Processor 118226 £39.08 £39.08
1 x Asustek M2V AM2 VIAK8T890 Sound, Gigalan And USB 2.0 2000MHz FSB SATA ATX 112169 £33.29 £33.29
1 x Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 CL=5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR2-667 1.8V 106133 £45.95 £45.95

total: £220.99 free shipping

INTEL BUILD

1 x Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2) DDR2 PC2-5300 CL=5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR2-667 1.8V 106133 £45.95 £45.95
1 x Asus P5ND2-SE Socket 775 NVNF570 onboard Audio FSB1066 ATX 123750 £41.02 £41.02
1 x ASUS X1950 Pro 256MB GDDR3 DVI HDCP HDTV out PCI-E Graphics Card 131876 £69.74 £69.74
1 x Intel E2140 Pentium Dual Core Socket 775 2x1.60GHz 1MB Cache 800FSB Retail Boxed Processor 127249 £37.24 £37.24

total: £227.91 free shipping

i will consider o/c as i have heard gd things about intel, but i will stick with my descision of mobos

thanks!
 
I don't think the E2140 is Core 2 Duo is it - well not an "proper" one anyway. All [proper] C2D CPUs have the C2D branding.

AFAIK it's more of a stripped down version of the C2Ds, although it still has the conroe architecture.

At any rate, I'd go for the Intel build.
 
haha, it is core 2 duo, the E2140 has the same architecture as the core 2 duos not the penitums. the only difference to the more expensive core 2 duo's are the cache memory is larger. so unless you are a fool get the intel, with a better board i would suggest get a p35 board, like the gigabyte p35 ds3r, then you can overclock the 1.6ghz E2140 to 3ghz easily on air no extra cooling. plus i would get 6400 ram 800mhz it may cost alot but its worth it rather than 533 ram, this will allow you to overclock your E2140 better to 3ghz. so yer get the core 2 duo E2140
 
Hi I had a AMD 4400X2 (maybe 4200X2) overclocked at 2700Mhz and now have a 6340 Core 2 Duo at 2.130 Ghz unclocked and it blew the pants off it. And thats before overlcocking to 3Ghts plus!
I have currently only run the C2D at 2.66Ghz and that with the stock intel cooler which is quiet. I had to use an artic cooling freezer 64 pro to run the AMD X2 at 2.7Ghz with a die temp of 60 degrees. The core 2 Duo die temp is around 50 degrees (celcius) full load with stock cooler at 2.66Ghz with an artic cooling freezer 7 it will probably be around 40°C so a much cooler chip also.

Personally for me its got to be a core 2 duo until AMD bring out their next gen chip.
 
I have a 2160 running at 2.5GHz with stock fan, no problems.
Forget AMD, they are way behind.
 
I have a 2160 running at 2.5GHz with stock fan, no problems.
Forget AMD, they are way behind.
For gaming and overclocking yes but they can offer better out of the box performance so lower temps which make them ideal for HTPCs.

For gaming, an overclocked 2160 is excellent value.
 
as above - intel all the way.

If you can strech i would get a better motherboard - as suggested the DS3 P35 chipset board for about £20 more is far far better than the one you list. It has very limited overclocking potential and you would be far better with the P35 DS3 gigabyte board.
 
would it be a bad idea for me to get:

OCZ 1GB DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Unbuffered CL5 (5-5-5-12) SPecial Ops Edition with Camouflage XTC Heatspreader Lifetime Warranty

£34 free shipping so that i can make up another £20 for a better mobo? i.e. the ones suggested

the above ram is faster than the original 2gb ram i had chosen from pc5300 to the above pc6400
You can always add more memory later, you can't really improve the mobo later except to buy a new one. Just so long as you're not paying a premium for it being "Special Ops". :)
 
eBuyer have started selling the E2180 at a similar price as the E2160, so it's a no brainer really. Plus with the 10x multiplier you should be able to push it slightly further than a E2160 too!
 
Just so long as you're not paying a premium for it being "Special Ops". :)

no its the same price and good ram

but will 1gb be sufficient for gaming?
 
wel yeah i was gona get the e2180 originally but it's £10 more than the cheapest e2140 but i will get the e2180 thinkin about the 10x multiplier
 
no its the same price and good ram

but will 1gb be sufficient for gaming?
If you're running XP then it should be fine, can't speak for Vista but it probably wouldn't be a problem though maybe not ideal. I can see me sticking with XP for my main PCs until at least the end of next year.
 
Some games do help with 2GB of RAM. 1GB is fine for a HTPC...if you're gaming might as well go for 2GB.

Battlefield 2 eats up 2GB.
 
every game I currently play (City of Heroes, CoD2, BF2 and 2142 with occassional dabbles into LOTRO online) has benefitted massivley from having 2GB of Ram. BF2 seems to be really picky and wants to use just over 1GB, usually around 1.2 to 1.3GB's of Ram. IMO if you plan to game 2GB really is the minimum you should consider. many games will run far far better with this than with 1GB.
 
If it's a compromise between a better mobo now and the ability to add RAM later or more RAM now and a lesser mobo now I'd go with the better mobo and add RAM later.
 
lol it's ok spending more on gpu to get the x1950 pro 512mb gddr3 pcix 'cos of high res tft
spending more on 2gb 800Mhz ddr2 ram
& spending more on mobo

so all in all i'm now in debt lol jkz
 
2GB for gaming is definietly worth it, if you're building a new PC it makes sense to get it now. Battlefield 2 is much quicker with 2GB of RAM.

I hope you're using XP, as Vista generally uses more memory.

There's little point in buying a budget gaming PC, as you'll need to use low detail for the existing games, but don't go silly with 8800GTX as that'll be incredibly expensive. Get fast CPU, plenty of memory, storage and decent videocard.
 
Better to spend now on a decent mobo and have the opportunity to change the CPU and memory later than try to skimp on everything and end up having to replace everything again in 18 months time.
 
Better to spend now on a decent mobo and have the opportunity to change the CPU and memory later than try to skimp on everything and end up having to replace everything again in 18 months time.

However you'll lose money selling the RAM on, also really cheap now so prices could go up. Not too sure about Intel, but you don't want to use 4 sticks as memory CAS will drop from 1 to 2 (slower)
 
lol it's ok spending more on gpu to get the x1950 pro 512mb gddr3 pcix 'cos of high res tft
spending more on 2gb 800Mhz ddr2 ram
& spending more on mobo

so all in all i'm now in debt lol jkz
:D

Never go on an enthusiasts forum and hope to keep to your budget. The best thing you can do is decide what sort of PC you want to build and then what you want to spend. You either compromise on parts and not get the PC you want or you get the parts of the PC you want that you have the money for now and then get the rest later or decide on the components you want, wait till you have enough to get them all, ask on a forum like this and everyone will tell you that if you just increase your budget by £X you can get Y & Z. :suicide:

Best thing to do is take all the opinions in, discard them and get what you want. CustomPC have a recent lab report on the most recent graphics cards which gives a pretty fair oversight of what's about.

:)
 
However you'll lose money selling the RAM on, also really cheap now so prices could go up. Not too sure about Intel, but you don't want to use 4 sticks as memory CAS will drop from 1 to 2 (slower)
No need to sell RAM, just buy one stick of 1GB and then get another a little later on.

If I were building a rig with an eye for gaming I'd get a good overclocking mobo, a bargain overclocking CPU like the 21X0, a 1950Pro and 1GB RAM and another 1GB later. If, within my budget, the 2140 meant I could get the 1950Pro, rather than a 7600GT, then that's a compromise I'd be happy with.
 
No need to sell RAM, just buy one stick of 1GB and then get another a little later on.

How's that work in a Intel setup? for AMD you buy a matched pair dual channel kit, so 2GB isn't one stick it's two. You could fit another 2x1GB so totalling up 4GB, but CAS will go down to 2. So if you wanted CAS 1 4GB you'll need to sell off the two sticks and buy 2x2GB kit
 
How's that work in a Intel setup? for AMD you buy a matched pair dual channel kit, so 2GB isn't one stick it's two. You could fit another 2x1GB so totalling up 4GB, but CAS will go down to 2. So if you wanted CAS 1 4GB you'll need to sell off the two sticks and buy 2x2GB kit
There's no law that says you have to run 2xsticks of RAM AFAIK. :confused: To me, one stick of RAM is is one module not two. Is that what you're asking? I've run PCs with only one module of RAM without any problems. I think my laptop only has one module of RAM.
 

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