Cheap CORE2DUO?

[FrizzleFried]

Forgive me folks,  I've been out of the "computer" look for over 2 years now.  My last PC upgrade was to an AMD Opteron processor.  My last Intel CPU was a P3-933.  I think it may be time to pull and upgrade on my horizontal cabinet.  I am building a driver MAME and instead of building a PC for it,  it would be prudent to build a faster rig for the horizontal MAME and then move the current AMD64 3200 to the driver.

I want to go CORE2DUO of course...but I don't want to break the bank. 

What is the current best bang for the buck core2duo,  what's the best bang for the buck motherboard and whats the best bang for the buck memory to run it all?

Also,  what is the CHEAPEST route?

Is it reasonable to think I can build a decent core2duo rig for $300 +/-?

[jhabers]

check out here for prices

http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/WCPG/article.php/10705_3765296__2

[Paul Olson]

You can get an e7200 and a cheap motherboard at Fry's for $119(combo special comes and goes, but it has been every other week for a while.. With a good heatsink, it is an easy overclock to 3.17GHz just by increasing the frontside bus. You can usually pick up 2GB of ram for about $20 after rebates. Depending what other parts you need, $300 should cover it. The ECS board doesn't have much overclocking ability, so if you wanted to push it more, you would need another board. That chip and a decent board at Newegg would be a little over $200.

[FrizzleFried]

So the E7200 is the "sweet spot" right now or the "buget" chip?  I dunno which Core2Duo's are best, etc...I really should do some reading on this crap.  I just want to play Blitz and other CHD games without issue.

[Paul Olson]

If you up the FSB so it clocks at 3.17, it is the same as the e8500, except for half the cache. At about $50 cheaper, I think it is a pretty good deal.

[deadsoulz]

I like the E8400, but any of the newer cores that have 6MB cache are good overclockers and fast.

[mcdubbin]

any reason why Intel over AMD? just curious 

[Paul Olson]

The Core2Duos are a lot faster for MAME. From what I have read, the AMDs are not even close.

[Blanka]

E8400 all the way:
-45nm series so it means low heat
-cheap per power
-overclocks similar as the E8500 up to 4ghz.
-quads are not nessecary for mame.

[fjl]

Is the overclocking necessary? For the upgrade he's doing, and not overclocking, he should already see a substantial speed difference.

[Paul Olson]

Speed in MAME is directly related to the speed of the CPU. When you get up to 4Ghz, nearly everything is playable; which is why the e8400 is a great choice. Someone here on the forums recently clocked an e7200 to 3.8Ghz. I got the cheap cpu/ motherboard combos at frys with an e7200 and e8400; and these boards do not overclock well. If I put my good heatsink on the e7200 I would be able to clock it faster than the e8400 just because it is just a matter of changing the FSB; which is about all this board can do. If you are going to get a good board, the e8400 will take you farther for an extra $50.

On the e7200, you can go from 2.53Ghz to 3.17Ghz with one bios setting; that is a pretty big improvement.

I am stuck at stock speeds in my cab on the e8400. I am going to settle for 3Ghz for now, but I may end up buying a new board before long. I haven't had a chance to test yet to see which games I am missing that I might want to play. Maybe some of the speed demons here will upgrade to the p45 boards and sell off there p35s cheap. 

[massive88]

I just want to play Blitz and other CHD games without issue.

The 7200 is the sweet spot, however it could be tough to get Blitz and other CHDs running without issue at that speed.  You probably want to be closer to 4Ghz than away from it.  Id aim for around 3.5Ghz.  That wont get you all CHD games, but it should get a good number.

To do that, your best shot is the E8400 (starts at 3Ghz, whereas the 7200 starts at 2.56)

You could get near 3.5 on a 7200 or 7300 (starts at 2.66), you might need some more cooling though. 

Really depends on how much you are wanting to play, and how much you are willing to try to overclock.