What is the best Intel desktop processor these days?

[PCEnthusiast]

Guys,

I am looking to buy a new desktop PC. I have been a AMD customer for 3 years but now after having heard some "rave" reviews about Intel core 2 duo, I am thinking of buying an intel.

Could anyone please let me know what processor is the best of Intel core 2 duo. Please bear in mind that I am not interested in a processor that I have to buy and build the PC from scratch. I woud like to know what is the best processor already put inside a PC, for example which I could buy in a local Compusa or best buy. I think it is Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 am I right?

Please guys I will appreciate your inputs.

[dgood]

from what I've heard the e6300, e6400, and e6600 are the best deals if you plan on over clocking. you can look at the reviews and they show what they have gotten on air. Others would know better, but if you don't plan on overclocking then I guess go for the most bang for your buck.

[PCEnthusiast]

from what I've heard the e6300, e6400, and e6600 are the best deals if you plan on over clocking. you can look at the reviews and they show what they have gotten on air. Others would know better, but if you don't plan on overclocking then I guess go for the most bang for your buck.

most bang for my buck . does a E6600 fit that profile? or even a 6700

also one more question. as of right now based purely on performance ( NOT COST) is the following the ranking correct?

1. Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800
2. Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
3. Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
4. Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
5. Intel Core 2 Duo E6300


am I correct or am I way off in my research. THANKS!

[dicecca112]

if your not overclocking yes, if you are, the best performance is a e6400, which can easily do 3 with the right cooling

[SAMSAMHA]

if oc, I think e6300 would be the best choice (as it seems to oc better than e6400). If not, maybe e6600. If you can, wait till q2 as intel should release new cpu and maybe drop the current price.

[kenc51]

There's also the QX6700 & Q6600 Quad core cpus! (since money is no object)

OR the Xeon X3210 (2.13GHz quad core)

[Fogey]

If hes buying, not building, I don't think he'll be doing much in the way of OCing. If he was, then I think something along the lines of Alien ware is the type of questions he'd be posting

The E6700 would be a very good choice.

[cyberneticimplant]

I think the E6600 has the best price to performance ratio.

[PCEnthusiast]

If hes buying, not building, I don't think he'll be doing much in the way of OCing. If he was, then I think something along the lines of Alien ware is the type of questions he'd be posting

The E6700 would be a very good choice.

thats right I am looking to BUY and not BUILD.

thank you for your inputs

[Dragon_Cooler]

I guess i will ask my question here:

Is it true that the 45nm aren't coming out till 08?

[Inshali]

from what I have read the 4300 oc well and is cheaper than a 6300 and can do almost 3 gig on stock cooling ,due to the low fsb 800
i dont have one yet but thats on my wish list ,waiting for the price drop?????

oops I didnt see buy sorry

[werty316]

from what I have read the 4300 oc well and is cheaper than a 6300 and can do almost 3 gig on stock cooling ,due to the low fsb 800
i dont have one yet but thats on my wish list ,waiting for the price drop?????

oops I didnt see buy sorry

Actually until Intel's April price cut, the E4300 is not all that much cheaper than the E6300. As for overclocking, it is quite good based on how much you pay for the CPU.

I guess i will ask my question here:

Is it true that the 45nm aren't coming out till 08?

45nm as far as I know is on track for Q207.

[sushrukh]

I think the E6600 is the best price/performance winner right now.

I would suggest you to wait a bit coz Intel is set to slash its CPU Core 2 prices up to 40%, as well as introduce a few new models. One of the largest price reductions is reserved for the Q6600 which goes from $851 to $530. But also the lower end E4300 chip sees a nice drop to $113.

Newcomers are the E6320 and E6420 which will replace the E6300/6400, the new chips have 4Mb cache compared to the 2Mb of the older ones. The introduction of the E4400 at 2ghz with 800Mhz FSB and 2Mb cache will also be a popular OC chip with its higher multiplier.




Source: http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=735045

[amdathlonfx]

It depends on your budget.If u are on a tight budget, u can go for a E6300/E6400 & if u have money,then u can go for the E6600.I prefer that you should always go for the higher rated processors u can afford.

[dotslasher]

i'd go for the E6600 right now best value/performance and it can be OCed nicely.

Or you could wait till intel cuts their prices (in april?) and get a E6700.
That's what i'm going to do.

[rockcola]

At under a hundred bucks the Pentium D 915 can't be beat as the best budget processor. Dual core, 2 Meg L2 cache per core, and ultra cool 65nm. I want a Core 2 Duo, but for double the price I dont think it is worth it.

[road]

The boat I'm in now is a 3ghz pentium single core, and a 5200fx ultra. I'm likely to pick up a decent mobo that supports OC and pci-e, the best vid card I can afford and the cheapest processor that would allow it to function to its full ability at a lowly 1024x768. (ancient 19" crt here, )

In the past I used to get all fired up about running some game at 1600x1200 with everything maxed out. Somewhere my wallet stopped putting out and I'd wager I mostly look for a system that can handle 1024 with med/high settings.

A lot of benchmarks seem to note that resource hungry games, say Oblivion for example aren't CPU bound. The video card seems to be the major limiting factor in fps performance, even with single core CPUs.

With that in mind I wonder where the sweet spot is for getting a new CPU/mobo that will still be upgradable (read has the same slot for next gen CPU) and still doesn't gimp a modern GPU.

Thanks for the intel price list and model numbers. That helps a great deal in comparison. I miss the days when you could tell apples from oranges with clear concise processor model names. IE a p4 vs p3, then just tack on the Ghz rating.

[jakegub]

Any of the Core 2 Duo's are going to be blazing fast. Even the E4300 at stock speeds is faster than my X2 4400+ in superPi times. I wouldn't get a Pentium D when you could pay just a bit more for a superior processor architecture

[PCEnthusiast]

jake thanks for your input about core 2 duos