CPU advice

[judge john]

Hi,
My poor old P4 CPU is starting to get in the way of things these days so i think it's time to get a new one. I don't know much about core 2 duo processors, but from what i understand it's LGA775 so that will work fine with my mobo.I'm looking at spending about £100-150, so that seems to be about the Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 3.00GHz (1333FSB) or something similar.

I also plan on overclocking it so is there any specific one i should be looking out for, like i notice 'Conroe' seems to be more expensive than 'Wolfdale'?

Thanks, John

[SpywareDr]

Wolfdale = 6MB of L2 SmartCache
Conroe = 4MB of L2 SmartCache

Meet Intel Wolfdale: Core 2 Duo E8500, E8400 and E8200 Processors Review (page 12)
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...lfdale_12.html

Wolfdale vs. Conroe
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...e_5.html#sect0

General Performance
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...e_6.html#sect1

More: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search

[Steve R Jones]

The mobo is your signature could be an issue:
The Intel 955X is the latest chipset designed to support maximum 8GB dual-channel DDR2 667/533 architecture, 1066/800 FSB (front-side-bus),

[Shinma]

... Asus P5WD2 Premium Intel 955X mobo..

As Steve R Jones already alluded,
A look through the ASUS website does not have that mobo supporting any current processors.
Not a single Core2 series is listed as supported.

[judge john]

Ahhh, There's always a problem isn't there! Guess i'll have to spend the extra money.

Cheers for those articles SpywareDr. Seems quite obvious that the 45nm Wolfdale with 6MB of L2 SmartCache is better. There just seems to be some strange prices out there. One 3Ghz Conroe is £140 yet a 3GHz Wolfdale is £125! anyway..
These seem to be a good choice to me;
Intel Core 2 Duo, E8400, Wolfdale Core, S775, 3.0 GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB Cache
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=736334

Asus P5Q-E, iP45
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=818508

There seems to be loads of mobo's but i have always find Asus to make good ones. and the P45 chipset seems the way to go for about £100.
Any objections/recommendations otherwise? and i hope i don't need to buy anything else.

[scarecrowdr]

Like you I'm looking at this un "Asus P5Q-E, iP45" or P5Q Pro or P5Q...can't make up me mind.. Good Luck with yours

[SpywareDr]

If you think you may be going down the Crossfire path, highly recommend an X48 based motherboard instead of the P45. There is a quite a performance difference between the X48's x16/x16 and P45's x8/x8. (When two cards are installed, the electronics behind the slots on the P45 tune back to x8 on both slots. The X48 on the other hand continues to run both slots at x16 independently).

Intel P45 Vs. X48 Crossfire Performance
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/14...nce/index.html

Here are a few excellent boards using Intel's X48 North Bridge (Intel ICH9R South Bridge). The biggest difference between them is the "Memory Standard":

• Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 - $224.99 / £132.19
  DDR2 1200
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128336
  
  
• GA-X48T-DQ6 - $304.99 / £179.19
  DDR3 1800
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128330
  
  
• ASUS Rampage Extreme - $389.99 / £229.13
  DDR3 2000(O.C) / 1800(O.C) / 1600
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131334

A more detailed comparision using newegg.com specs:

( Larger view )

[judge john]

Well this is where i have to stop myself. I might want all these things but i can't really justify the money. I am not planning on crossfire anytime soon and will just use my 7800GT for the time being. I tend to play games on my 360 and not my pc these days. So the X48 seem out of range as the cheapest is about £140 and i don't really want to be going over £100. So as i see it for my money P45 is the best choice.
What swings me in favour of the P5Q-E over other P45 mobo's is the heat sinks as my pc's tend to have a habit of running a little hot, both due to overclocking and where they are forced to sit sometimes.

[SpywareDr]

Sounds like a plan.