Conroe-L, is it for me?

[stopthekilling77]

I seem to have missed the boat on info as far as this core is concerned. I'm very heavily considering getting this chip, the Celeron 430 Conroe-L 1.8Ghz one and overclocking it for use as the CPU in a new family computer. Why not C2D? We're broke and can't afford to shell out $150+ for a CPU when we could get this $40 chip and overclock it. Multiple cores would be a luxury we'd spring for when we can afford it.

This is what we have so far:
- Gigabyte GA-73VM-S2
- FSP Group ATX400-PA ATX12V 400W Power Supply (tested rails and it works fine)
- Super Talent 1Gb DDR2 667
- 1 new OEM MS XP Pro SP-2
- 20-inch widescreen Samsung LCD

This is what I'm looking at getting them to complete the build:
- COOLER MASTER Centurion 541 RC-541-SKN1 (will need to get a fan or two for it as well)
- Western Digital 320Gb SE16 SATA 3.0 HD
- Another 1Gb of similar Super Talent DDR2 667
- GPU? We will be sticking with onboard video as we don't need anything fancy yet. Once I can upgrade my video card, this 7800GT will go into this machine.
- CPU

So there you have it, new build needing a good quality core, overclockable CPU for cheap. The real question is, is that CPU going to do me right?

[Methious]

It'll be a little sluggish compared to the dual cores. They run well enough but if your used to dual core I'd stretch and get an E2180 800 FSB dually. I've clocked 2 in a row up to 3.2 and clock for clock they do almost as well as the 6750. They are $69 but you'll be less tempted to replace it down the line.

If all you have to spend is $40 then by all means don't let that keep you from building a family PC, but you'd be happier with the 2180.

[stopthekilling77]

I've clocked 2 in a row up to 3.2 and clock for clock they do almost as well as the 6750.

Even though it's an Allendale?
Hmm... I was trying to sell my dad on the fact that Conroe cores are what C2D is sort of famous for

[kenc51]

I've clocked 2 in a row up to 3.2 and clock for clock they do almost as well as the 6750.

Even though it's an Allendale?
Hmm... I was trying to sell my dad on the fact that Conroe cores are what C2D is sort of famous for

Conroe / Allendale -> It's all the same, they are all C2D architecture just with varying cache sizes, FSB and featrures

[DMB2000uk]

Allendale is conroe with less cache. In this case the cache is at 1MB.

Even if you drop down a model and get the E2160 (which is a little bit cheaper) the second core will really help things ticking along over the single core.

Dan

[Methious]

Yea bud I have an E2180 sitting right in front of me in the testing rig and even on a Crud Gigabyte Intel 9xx chip set I hit 2.9 easily. After 2.9 I have to tweak out the ram and voltage settings to run it at 3.2.

It's a hot little bugger though and the Stock Intel cooler won't cut it past 2.5, and 2.5 extended usage and it'll probably throttle. I threw a Silenx 120h cooler on it and it runs good at 3.2 (max 52C), I also tried a Thermaltake Bigwater and Thermaltake Prowater on it and while they hold it to under 60c they didn't impress me much. I threw a Thermalright Ultra 120 on it and the Thermalright kicked it's butt.

BioHazard used to have one before he got his 6750 and says that clock for clock their pretty close on performance. Which was why I tried one out and the customers love them.

For $69 bucks on the Egg it's hard to beat for a budget dually.

[stopthekilling77]

Thanks guys! I'm thinking that extra $ for the extra core will be the ticket!

[GI-JOE]

If you haven't got one already, I might mention that I just built a system based on a dual core celeron (e1200) and I must say I was very impressed with its responsiveness and its only $49.99