OEM Buy: E8400 vs E7500 vs E7600

[singingigo]

I'm buying a OEM prebuilt for business. The machine will be used for Office 2007/Internet/"Productivity". OS is Windows 7 Professional. Users will be moderately multitasking, but little media aside from youtube. Here's the question:

I have a choice of:

E8400/2GB RAM DDR2-800 (will most likely buy with 2GB and upgrade)
E7500 or E7600/4GB DDR3-1066 (cheaper to buy the 4GB upfront)

I'd like to buy the E7500 or E7600 even though it costs a bit more due to issues related to brand...but will I be doing myself wrong to pass up the E8400?

Also, these are OEM branded, and CANNOT be overclocked.

Thanks!

 

[Bluescreendeath]

OEM CPUs can be overclocked. The only thing that prevents overclocking is if the motherboard BIOS does not allow it.

How much is each system? You might be better off getting an AMD system with a AthlonII x4 or PhenomII x2 for the same price range...AMDs are generally better for medium to low budget builds and provide better bang for buck than Intel's of the same price range.

Or you can go for an Intel i3 dual core. I'm mostly recommending these options since the 775 socket is at the end of its life, and the E8400 and E7500 series tend to be overpriced.


But if you must choose, I'd say get the E8400 since it's a better CPU with more cache will do better than a weaker CPU and DDR3.

 

[deadlockedworld]

Well... the E8400 is the better processor out of these three, but if its just for office you should just get the cheaper solution.

Make certain you check the price of ddr2 ram before making the price comparison though.

 

[deadlockedworld]

Check out Tom's "office PC build" posted today.
http://www.tomshardware.com/system-configuration-recommendation-51.html

AMD Athlon II X4 620 (Socket AM3) $99
MSI 785GTM-E45 Socket AM3 785G microATX Motherboard $70
G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-1066 F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK $94
Seagate Barracuda LP 1TB ST31000520AS $80
Antec Mini P180 Black Mini Tower $87
Antec EarthWatts Green 430W ATX12V $60
Plextor PX-880SA SATA 24x DVD Burner with LightScribe $39
TOTAL : $529

 

[singingigo]

First, related post: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/278897-31-build-office

I don't think building my own is going to make sense, but if you think so, post a build on the above thread.

Second: system pricing:

1. Dell Vostro e8400/2GB DDR2=$754
2. Dell Optiplex E7600/4GB DDR3=$818 (with 2GB, only $738)

If I go with #2, I was planning on paying the $80 for 2GB, since buying a 4GB kit aftwards is over $100. I also have the option of buying option #2 with the E7500 (2.93 GHZ) for $60 less. I figure $60 for ~6% faster might be worth it, but idk)

 

[singingigo]

Check out Tom's "office PC build" posted today.
http://www.tomshardware.com/system-configuration-recommendation-51.html

AMD Athlon II X4 620 (Socket AM3) $99
MSI 785GTM-E45 Socket AM3 785G microATX Motherboard $70
G.Skill 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-1066 F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK $94
Seagate Barracuda LP 1TB ST31000520AS $80
Antec Mini P180 Black Mini Tower $87
Antec EarthWatts Green 430W ATX12V $60
Plextor PX-880SA SATA 24x DVD Burner with LightScribe $39
TOTAL : $529

I have to have a copy of Windows 7 Professional in there too...I can probably get it for around $90 from my eOpen vendor. I would also need a 20-23" monitor. Add that on, and it's about another $300....or more than the 2 systems I list. Or am I missing something?

 

[deadlockedworld]

What about an Inspiron 546? In dell small business I can configure a Athlon II X3 with 4gb of ram for $639 Or stay dual-core and get it cheaper yet. (Edit + the monitor price)

The way I see it nothing that you are going to run on an office PC requires a 3ghz clock speed. So why not have more cores for the same money? As these computers age the multi-core support will allow them to handle antivirus, software and multitasking better than the dual core options.

Lenovo has some competitive business-class technology in this range too.

 

[deadlockedworld]

I have to have a copy of Windows 7 Professional in there too...I can probably get it for around $90 from my eOpen vendor. I would also need a 20-23" monitor. Add that on, and it's about another $300....or more than the 2 systems I list. Or am I missing something?

In that case I agree with your decision to buy from a vendor. They get windows so much cheaper its difficult to compete at the low end.

 

[singingigo]

What about an Inspiron 546? In dell small business I can configure a Athlon II X3 with 4gb of ram for $639 Or stay dual-core and get it cheaper yet. (Edit + the monitor price)

The way I see it nothing that you are going to run on an office PC requires a 3ghz clock speed. So why not have more cores for the same money? As these computers age the multi-core support will allow them to handle antivirus, software and multitasking better than the dual core options.

Lenovo has some competitive business-class technology in this range too.

But I need Win 7 Pro...and I would prefer the 3yr warranty....the prices I quoted include those options...when I price out the Inspiron 546, I'm at $869. Would the Athlon 2 x3 or x4 be better than the e7600 or e8400?

 

[C00lIT]

If those are strictly office machines for Outlook, Internet explorer, occasional youtube and switching between 7 excel sheets they will all perform about the same...

What will slow down the machine is more the pre-installed crap then the actual hardware.

If you want performance, go to a store that builds the machines and get yourself some Athlon X3's or Athlon X4's with 4 gigs of ram and a motherboard that has the AMD 785 Chipset such as an Asus M4A785M-Evo,

The onboard videocard will be far superior then any intel solution, you will have tri cores or quad cores and most importantly, A FRESHLY installed operating system that requires 1 hour of uninstalling gibberish + running ccleaner + disabling useless startup services using msconfig.


... back to the original question, I don't see a difference between the Core2Duo's... Cheap OEM PC's are made out of garbage and all perform about the same but will get the job done in an office...

My point is that a pc built by a random computer store (that has a good website and that has been around for some time) is FAR better. Make sure to double check the prices.

 

[singingigo]

If those are strictly office machines for Outlook, Internet explorer, occasional youtube and switching between 7 excel sheets they will all perform about the same...

What will slow down the machine is more the pre-installed crap then the actual hardware.

If you want performance, go to a store that builds the machines and get yourself some Athlon X3's or Athlon X4's with 4 gigs of ram and a motherboard that has the AMD 785 Chipset such as an Asus M4A785M-Evo,

The onboard videocard will be far superior then any intel solution, you will have tri cores or quad cores and most importantly, A FRESHLY installed operating system that requires 1 hour of uninstalling gibberish + running ccleaner + disabling useless startup services using msconfig.


... back to the original question, I don't see a difference between the Core2Duo's... Cheap OEM PC's are made out of garbage and all perform about the same but will get the job done in an office...

My point is that a pc built by a random computer store (that has a good website and that has been around for some time) is FAR better. Make sure to double check the prices.

True, the integrated video on a AMD platform will be much better. But I will probably be dropping a 4650 or 5x30 into them anyways. And the systems will be wiped and installed clean anyways. And my experience will Dell's corporate line (NOT consumer line) has been much better than the Mom & Pop custom builder.

Anyone else pull for AMD over C2d?

 

[C00lIT]

My employer has a Dell corporate account and I swear I want to use my business to supply my own employer as THEY TAKE FOREVER to get you what you order...

We ordered 1u servers, small servers, small vostros, tones of Latitudes...
2 weeks is makes us feel cared for
1 month is baaa
2 months makes me wana scream why do we bother.

But I will give it to them, Their RMA support is flawless so far.


Edit

Lol at giving them a 4650 videocard... They will be able to play real videogames and waste precious company time.
Business = Save money = More money to invest.

My main work tool is a laptop, but half the time in the office I don't bother opening it as I have a desktop with everything I need.

I connect to vpn's, use outlook, excel, word, firefox with a buttload of plugins, putty, spark, logmein, vnc, winbox....
On an old IBM Pentium4 2.0Ghz with a gig ram and it does an admirable job... (I do keep it real clean tho)

unless the work they do requires a real videocard, it's money that could go elsewere...

 

[deadlockedworld]

If you are sticking with dual core I think the E7500 is a good option. (or i3 if it is price competitive) My argument for AMD was based on multicore only.

I also think Intel® GMA X4500HD is more than enough power for a business desktop. Integrated graphics only suck for gaming--they are more than enough for web browsing, etc.

Do whats cheap and reliable.. thats the business way 🙂

 

[boonality]

Also depending on the usage, E7XX does not support virtualization.

 

[singingigo]

Also depending on the usage, E7XX does not support virtualization.

I will be virtualizing, but the E7500 & e7600 DO support virtualization.

http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyID=26547

c00lit, I've had very good success with Dell...they don't always ship right away, but when a lightnight strike took out my server's motherboard, they had it replaced by 10:00 AM the following morning...with their BASIC NBD support....which is pretty awesome.

The video card would be completely optional...I know that a LOT of windows, videos & processes will be running, so I am only concerned about the integrated graphics affecting overall system performance. If it's not an issue, I won't upgrade them.

Thanks for all the comments! I think I will be going with the e7600.

 

[singingigo]

I connect to vpn's, use outlook, excel, word, firefox with a buttload of plugins, putty, spark, logmein, vnc, winbox....
On an old IBM Pentium4 2.0Ghz with a gig ram and it does an admirable job... (I do keep it real clean tho)

The clean part...yeah....that's the issue. I have most of them set to "user" accounts instead of administrator accounts, and the amount of "stuff" ie toolbars, addins, etc that accumulate is AMAZING! And of course, I only hear about it when the computer is crawling....

But then, these are 8-9 year old P4 1.6 w/512 MB ram....

 

[singingigo]

Best answer selected by singingigo.

 

[deadlockedworld]

Best answer selected by singingigo.

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