Intel Celeron Build Questions.

AKM880

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These are the parts I plan to get for a newer build.


Intel Celeron Dual Core E1400 2.0GHz
Asus P5KPL-CM Intel G31
Crucial Rendition 2048MB DDR2 800MHz
CoolerMaster 330 Elite
160GB Hard Drive
SATA Drives (DVD ROM, Burner etc.)

It is supposed to be a cheap build, with cheaper parts :D


I don't order online (Canada) and just buy from my local computer hardware shop. I chose the E1400 because I'm planning to overclock it, and I don't game anyways.



Questions


How far of a overclock do you think I can achieve with the stock cooler? :p
I have OCZ FreeZe thermal paste, and won't be using the stock.


How's the Asus motherboard for overclocking?


Is the PSU included on the Elite 330 junk?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811119118


I don't game, use this for work mostly surfing and movie watching. I'm assuming it'll be better than that Dell I have now :lol:
Thanks!

 
Hmm. What are you using now? If you only watch movies and surf the web, overclocking ain't goint to do anything at all for you, and it doesn't take much of a system to do what you want to do. Just a decent low-midrange video card.
Unless the system you are using is just really, really old, I don't see where you are gaining a thing by building this.
 


A solid point to consider. I would surely go with an AMD Phenom II setup before I would a Celeron.
 

AKM880

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Thanks for the replies. I am using a old 90nm Sempron, and it lags for HD and large documents to be truthful :lol:

If I get this CPU to 2.6GHz will it be comparable to the Pentium Dual COre E5200 or is it still worse because of the architechure?
 

joefriday

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It's still terrible because of the architecture. It won't be comparable to the e5200, even if you o'c it to 2.6GHz. Just too little cache. That said, decoding Blue Ray is not a hugely cache-dependant task, so the little Celeron should be good for that. The Celeron only really blows in gaming. The older Celeron E1200 (1.6GHz dual core) was very close to a 3.0-3.2GHz Pentium D in performance, and those old processors had no trouble decoding Blue Ray.
 

AKM880

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Thanks joefriday, my other option coming to the same price is the build around the AMD Athlon 4850e 2.5GHz CPU. What Intel CPU will this be comparable too?
 

AKM880

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Thanks for the help, hows the motherboard for overclocking :p?
 

joefriday

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Don't know, never used it before. I'll tell you this much, as long as the board supports pin mods, just pinmod the cpu to 266 fsb to get 2.66GHz. then you can use the bios to overclock from there. You could try the 333 fsb pin mod, but that Celeron is based on the old 65nm Allendale core, which has trouble with anything over 3.0GHz. 2.66 GHz should be do-able on stock hsf and stock voltage. I would think a good stock volts overclock and using the stock hsf would be 2.8GHz.

As others have said though, an Athlon X2 would probably be a better idea, especially since your Dell is already socket AM2 and will accepted Athlon X2 processors. The 4850e you listed is a good CPU and should be very nice, although for the best compatibility with the Dell bios, I'd stick to the non-power-efficient models, such as the X2 4400, X2 5000, and the X2 5200.
 

AKM880

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Naw I don't want to reuse the Dell BIOS. I don't want to pinmod either :p. Maybe others have a better idea of if that motherboard has good overclocking capabilities? I'm planning on switching it for a E5200, which is a overclocking beast I've heard.
 

joefriday

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I don't know if the $11 is worth it. The E5200 will generate similar clocks as the new e6300, just at a lower overall fsb, which is not a bad thing in the slightest as it only affects performance by 1 to 2%. By pinmodding as you say though, the e6300 will net a nice 3.5GHz at 333 fsb, which is a sweet spot for 45nm CPU at stock or modestly bumped vcore. However, the e5200 will get 3.33GHz at 266 fsb. A 133MHz difference is hardly a large deficit, and not really warranting the additional $11 for the e6300.


I don't want to pinmod either
You are a coward, or just lazy.

Back on topic, why are we considering overclocking anyway? You don't need a fast dual core for what you do. You won't even notice it if all you're doing is web surfing and watching videos. At stock, the e5200 is quite capable. Plus overclocking it will not improve gaming either if you use that 8400GS. You do realize that even a 2.0GHz sempron is capable of stuffing an 8600 GTS at 1280x1024?
http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=663&p=4

All I can think of is that you're probably noticing a bit of general response lag when surfing the web with your current Sempron rig. That's a classic single core issue, and it is something that any dual core, and I do mean any, can take care of. It doesn't require an overclocked e5200. You need to stop looking at benchmarks, and start thinking of what it is you really want out of this tool we call a computer. In all honesty, you're a fool not to put an X2 athlon into the current dell and just call it a day. $40 spent total.
 

loudr1

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For a cheap system, it looks ok. But I would swap the celeron for the e5200 for $19 difference. That one little $20 change will make the diffence between a system good for nothing to something you can do a lot with....