A good gaming CPU...

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by askantik, May 21, 2006.

  1. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Hey guys,

    I've always been one for AMD, but Intel has got some CPUs that look too good to be true. I don't know a whole lot about how they compare, though.

    For $200, how's this for games? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116238

    Two 2MB L2 cache, dual core, 64 bit.

    Certainly much cheaper than even the lowest AMD X2...

    Any other opinions? I'm currently using a 3000+ Venice... And I don't have a whole heck of a lot of money to spend. $200 for a CPU is pretty close to my limit. What do you think?
     
  2. hugh750

    hugh750 MajorGeek

    Get the intel cpu you won't regret it!
     
  3. InYearsToCome

    InYearsToCome MajorGeek

    except that AMD continues to be better for games both in benchmarks and real life performance...

    Keep in mind askantik, that dual cores have NO affect on games at this time or in the short forseeable future, and that a single core chip with more speed will outperform a dual core chip in games.

    if you want a boost in performance, I recommend getting a single cored Opteron CPU and OCing that up a bit-- it'll save you from buying a new motehrboard too.
     
  4. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Well, does the L2 cache count for anything? My friend has an Opteron, and they look interesting, but I'm going to end up buying a new motherboard anyway... My current one is ATX and my next build will be in an X-Qpack case (mATX)... But like I said, I have had loyalty to AMD, and I'd sort of feel like a traitor if I went Intel.
     
  5. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest


    Unless you play TES: Oblivion ;)

    It is multithreaded.
     
  6. InYearsToCome

    InYearsToCome MajorGeek

    fair enough :p , i was looking forward to Oblivion forever, and now I've held of on buying it, Knowing that it would end my school career... haha
     
  7. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Pretty addictive game... Wish my X800XL would allow for it's HDR, though. Other than that, it runs pretty smooth at medium-high settings. It gets a little boring after a while though. It's really innovative as far as other RPGs, but I guess I just miss the online-ness.
     
  8. Bold Eagle

    Bold Eagle MajorGeek

    Have a look at this CPU by Intel it maybe fo interest:

    http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/05/10/dual_41_ghz_cores/

    "Pentium D 805 clocked at 2.66 GHz, equipped with two processor cores both with 64 bit support. At your friendly neighborhood retailer you can pick up this secret weapon for pocket change - right now, for example, it's available at newegg.com for just under $130."

    It may have a LOT of potential.
     
  9. Insomniac

    Insomniac Billy Ray Cyrus #1 Fan

    Unless you get an AMD FX, or maybe an X2 4800+, you aren't really going to see much of an improvement. Certainly not enough to justify the cost.
     
  10. viper_boy403

    viper_boy403 MajorGeek

    lol bold eagle, everywhere i see u post, theres that link to the crazy overclocking cpu
     
  11. Bold Eagle

    Bold Eagle MajorGeek

    I can't help myself every now and then something comes along that is so incredulous that you just have to tell everyone. Guess I won't shut up about it till I finally buy one and fry it, lol. It is a an interesting article and I posted it at 3dguru.com and some AMD guys started to get a bit upset calling into ques the credibility off Toms Hardware, the qual of the review etc. Guess they had $1,000 AMD CPUs' and really took it personally whereas I'll have either drive my system but just want bang for buck.
     
  12. ASUS

    ASUS MajorGeek

    It shouldn't take long to fry one, those P D's when OC have Very Short life, "Extremely High Die Rate" Ya better buy two:p
    All those getting 4GHz have water cooling.



    TomsHardware:eek: It's best not to believe everything that you read
    Tomshardware often have some good info but many times one sided & Bias
     
  13. Tonglebeak

    Tonglebeak Specialist

    Agreed :D
     
  14. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Seems interesting. The crappy part is that there's a very limited selection of motherboards that support that CPU, have 16x PCIE, and are mATX. I gotta have mATX.

    :/
     
  15. Wyatt_Earp

    Wyatt_Earp MajorGeek

  16. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Only 16 of those say they support a Pentium D, and very few of those have 4 DDR/DDR2 slots... I'd prefer that, too, since I already have 2 sticks of 512MB PC3200.

    Maybe I'm too picky. I guess I could deal with only 2 RAM slots...

    It just seems like the Biostar AMD 939 mATX boards are a lot better than ones that support a Pentium D...
     
  17. askantik

    askantik Sergeant

    Anyone else want to put 2 cents in?
     
  18. prankz

    prankz Specialist

    well i say stick with AMD, as they are the leaders in gaming. its really up to u whether u wanna go dual-core or not. as said above theres not much games that take advantage of dual-core CPUs.
     
  19. Bold Eagle

    Bold Eagle MajorGeek

    Well I can't dispute you ASUS, you always providing solid info and certainly above my current level and frankly you have no vested interest to provide any sort of favorable review as far as I'm aware whereas Toms' may readily recieve some sort of Kickback and greed can certainly cloud honesty and integrity.
     
  20. ASUS

    ASUS MajorGeek

    Oh but you can Dispute me:)
    Sometimes I put my foot in my mouth, Yuck! doesn't taste very good:p


    I'm not really an Authority on anything, Just trying to help a few friendly folks.

    I don't know about any payola of Tom's, But Hey! anythings possible.
     
  21. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    I have read the review a couple of times,I have to be honest its the most in depth article I'v ever seen the shear volume of result data makes it almost impossible to be untrue,as for those AMD guys on guru,they are idiots IMO,let them argue over brand I'll just buy the best cpu ATM ;)

    Sticking so much juice through such a small pipe is gonna cause problems but that just depends how far you push your overclock,with a half decent air cooler your looking at overclcoking to the equivalent of a $500 cpu,remember though all intel boxed cpu's come with a 3 years warranty,they dont have any rom attached to them that can report back your overclocked the cpu in the event of an RMA ,do you think they have the resources to check?The cost of the technition and lab time to investigate whether you overlcocked the cpu would be far more expensive than just sending you a new one

    Also theres the little fact of Throttling which is now awsome on a modern Intel chip,extremely responsive and well within safety limits,it would be hard to kill one if you tried,if you just let it run with the stock HSF and overclocked a heap its only gonna throttle if you push it too fay,it aint gonna fry

    There is the LARGE problem of power consuption though your gonna need a 600w plus psu to run it as fully overclcocked it can draw 500w of actual power :eek: ,I'd be looking at a 700w at least and a cheaper electricity supplier :)
     
  22. Bold Eagle

    Bold Eagle MajorGeek

    Good on ya Rikky I'm a scientist and found it was pretty solidily written and yes sadly the guys at guru's have what we call "one-eyed" in Australia with the other eye firmly closed. They might'nt see the facts and are sevely impartial, whats gonna happen when Conroe starts promoting it's reviews/results within the mainstream, a couple might actually cry, lol.

    ASUS don't worry if I think your wrong about something I'll have an informed opnion but only when I'm really certain. My feet are bloody huge and I'm sure theres some cheese growing on the bottom and thus don't want to get a case of "foot and mouth" disease.
     

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