E5200 Vs E2180

[lashton]

I have on order an E5200 with a GIGABYTE EG31MF, would a downgrade to 2180 and a cheap Mobo saving me $150 dollars where i live and spend that extra on a video card?

 

[4745454b]

In terms of performance, there shouldn't be much difference between the 5200 and the 2180. The 5200 runs a few extra hundred MHz at stock, and has an extra MB of L2 cache. The 5200 is nice if you can swing it, but I don't feel its a much better chip then the 2180. Without knowing what you want to use the computer for however, you might be better off with either one.

I'm a bit confused with your motherboard comment. Isn't the EG31MF a cheap motherboard? Judging from the model number, I'm assuming it has the G31 chipset. These are fairly low end, whats lower?

 

[lashton]

a (945 and 965 are lower, where i come from this costs a bit (G31 mobos)

 

[radguy]

Depends on the cost difference and what type of video card you are planning on getting. I think that the E5200 is a much better cpu at an average of 30% faster that E2180. Just rember at stock speeds the E2180 is pretty much going to bottleneck anything faster than an 9600gt.

 

[4745454b]

Actually, the 965s aren't a bad board. I'm not sure if they support quads or 45nm chips, but they should handle the 2180 just fine. Their only other issue is needing ram that boots at 1.8v. I was considering 965 boards before I found my P35.

The biggest difference between the 2180 and the 5200 is the 5200 runs 500MHz faster. The share the same basic arch, same FSB, and the extra 1MB of L2 cache won't make that much difference. (at least for gaming.)

What video cards can you get for either case? What is the purpose of the computer? If you want to play video games, and you'll have to settle for an 8600GT/9500GT if you get the 5200, drop down to the 2180 and the 965 and get that 8800 that you want.

 

[lashton]

I was thinking an HD 4850.
I know the E5200 is better but will a E2180 bottleneck a HD4850 with 4GB DDR2 800 RAM

 

[V3NOM]

well my e5200 @ stock bottlenecks my 9600GT so... idk you will see me all over toms recommending the e5200 and i really do think its very much worth it over the 2xxx series. 12.5x multi, 200fsb stock, 45nm, double the cache (i think?). i do recommend lapping it though, as my ihs was ridiculously concave (ie HOURS of lapping, not kidding.), maybe i just got a dud ihs though..

price/performance and pure overclockability, e5200 FTW!

 

[afrobacon]

+1 for the 5200
overclocks just as well as the 2180, and wont bottleneck as easily.

if you wait a few months (depending on the performance of deneb) you might be able to pick up a 7200 or 8500 for similar prices... by few i mean 6+

 

[4745454b]

5200 = 2.5GHz 45nm 3MB L2 cache 800MHz FSB.
2180 = 2.0GHz 65nm 2MB L2 cache 800MHz FSB.

Yes, the 5200 is faster/better. If you can get the 4850 by moving to the 2180, I don't think you'd be giving up that much. As the OP mentioned, by dropping down on the CPU and mobo he can get a better GPU. Something he should probably do if he wants to game.

EDIT: I have the L2 cache sizes wrong. The 5200 has 2, the 2180 has 1. Everything else should be right.

 

[tenaciousleydead]

Depends if(how much) you intend to overclock. I have my E2160 sitting at 3.33Ghz and it doesn't bottleneck my 4850 by much. Considering the G31 is a value segmented board, and probably will not like high bus frequencies I would go with the 5200 to be safe(if you can afford it). Otherwise the 2180 will do fine

 

[m_silkstone]

I have a 2180 running at 3.2Ghz and a HD4850 (oc - 700/1150). The cpu doesn't seem to bottleneck the card too much. I'm running it on an asus p5k-vm motherboard (G33) and it handles higher FSB fine ( it think it's rated upto 1333/1600(oc)

Edit: All these confusing codes 8500, 7300, 2180, 4850, G33, p45???? Bound to get confused once in a while, someone call 911 i need a doctor.

 

[V3NOM]

4500 not 4850...

 

[zenmaster]

The E2180 with a G31 Mobo is not a great combination.
It will likely not allow for overclocking and at stock the E2180 is not great.

The E2180 with a slightly better board may be a good option if you still save enough money vs the E5200 is upgrade your graphics.

 

[Shadow703793]

+1 for E5200. You can hit 3.4Ghz and higher with a good motherboard.

 

[V3NOM]

the e2180 will bottleneck anything 9600GT and up. fact. e5200's can easily hit 3.0GHz (well they usually do... my mobo is retarded, but it appears to be stable 240x12.5 now!) and imo is much better price/performance. if you bought a 4670/4830/4850 now, you could then CF it later on... except its a G31 :lol:

my recommendation for the lowest possible price (and i dont recommend it at all, i mean my build was budget and its playing crysis on max...) is some retarded e2xxx, a G31 and some cheap graphics card.

what i would really recommend though, is at the very least a P35, but a p43/45 would be better, an e5200 and a 4830 (for the moment, later you can CF it with a 4850 or 4870...).

 

[4745454b]

P45 with the e5200 and the 4850 would make a great solution. As the OP already stated however, he can't afford that. What now?

Again, for gaming, if you don't have the funds for whats good, you'll have to get whats cheap. If the buying the 2180 will let you move up to a better GPU, then he should do it.

 

[V3NOM]

...yes but if the 2180 bottlenecks the gpu what's the point?? if i was him i would wait a while longer or somehow get some more $$$.

 

[lashton]

Okay so I know the E5200 will be better but will the E2180 REALLY bottleneck the 4850 that much?

 

[V3NOM]

mmmmm... if you oc'd it maybe it wouldnt be THAT bad... but the G31 doesnt have pci e x16 2.0 does it? that in itself would bottleneck the 4850 probly :lol:

 

[lashton]

well im getting a P35 chipset

 

[V3NOM]

oh. still not 2.0, but i don't think the bottleneck would be too severe. just means the slot would be providing half the watts to the card...

 

[lashton]

hang on a P35 no 2.0?
well then try this ASUS P5Q-EM thats a P45

 

[4745454b]

Venom, quit pulling his leg. The 2180 might bottle neck the 4850 some, but at least he'd have the 4850 instead of something less. He never said what the 5200's GPU would be, so its hard to say which is better.

oh. still not 2.0, but i don't think the bottleneck would be too severe. just means the slot would be providing half the watts to the card...

HALF THE WATTS? This is what I was talking about pulling his leg. As long as his PSU can power the 4850, it gets the other half of the power from the PCIe plugs. The bandwidth would also be cut in half, but the most recent articles I've seen on the subject show no gains by going over PCIe 1 8X. A P35 with the 4850 should be fine. The 2180 would be a bigger bottle neck then the P35.

Lashton, can we get possible system specs? What would the 5200 setup look like, and what would the 2180 setup look like? Can we get confirmation that this is a gaming build? How much ram are we talking about here. I hate trying to help people if I don't know what we are dealing with.

 

[m_silkstone]

Asus P5Q are a great series, any P5K are pretty good too and will let you get a good bus speed. You can generally overclock the E2180's to 3Ghz with stock cooling, you'll get 3.3Ghz with good, but cheap aircooling. It won't bottleneck a 4850. E2180 is still a core2 just bigger die size and less cache and they're cheap as chips nowadays

 

[lashton]

1 x ATX Midi-Tower Case With 420W PSU (LH5807/5803) = $49.00
2 x Adata 1GB DDR2-800 PC 6400 Memory () = $48.00
1 x Asustek DRW-2014S1T 20x SATA DVD Burner () = $34.17
1 x Intel Core 2 Duo processor E5200 2.5GHz 2Mb LGA775 Retail box () = $155.90 or E2180 = $105
1 x Creative SBS A200 2.1ch Speaker Set. 2w RMS () = $27.63
ASUS P5Q-EM = $149.00
1 x WESTERN DIGITAL 500GB SATAII 7200rpm GreenPower HDD (WD5000AACS) = $98.90
1 x Palit ATI Radeon HD4850 GDDR3 512MB PCIE2.0 () = $265.00