Picking a CPU

[fatalfidelity]

I just joined the forums so hello everyone.

Anyways, I'm looking for the cheapest cpu that will not bottleneck an 8800GTS. I want the cpu to be dual core and either AMD or Intel doesn't really matter, I only overclock a little bit so keep that in mind. Thanks in advance.

 

[apt403]

How high is a "little bit"? If you can afford an E6600 thats the cpu you should get. Fast enough for the 8800gts, great price, oc's like a dream. If that chip is out of your budget get either an E4300 or E6300. Both are still pretty fast and with most mobo's you'll have no problem oc'ing them to E6600 or better speeds even with stock cooling.

 

[fatalfidelity]

Yeah I was considering an E4300 because a E6600 is out of my budget. Maybe a E4300 and a P5N-E SLI could get me to stock E6600 speeds? Would I need aftermarket cooling?

 

[apt403]

Depends on the ambient temps of your room, case airflow, ect. There's no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to hit E6600 speeds with an E4300 using stock cooling. Although your chip might get a little on the hot side, so an after market hsf couldnt hurt. The cheapest solution would be an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, only about $30 over at newegg. For a little more you can get a much better aircooler, like the Tuniq Tower 120, Coolermaster GeminII, or Thermalright Ultra 120.

 

[fatalfidelity]

Yeah I'll probably go for an aftermarket cooler but I can't seem to find any of the ones you've specified..I can't shop from Newegg because they don't ship to Canada . I was thinking of maybe one from Zalman but I don't know which one, I want it fairly quiet; maybe a Zalman CNPS9500 LED and I guess I would have to buy AS5 along with that as well? Oh, and should I really get 2GB of RAM, I mean, will I REALLY need it for the near future? Because cutting down to 1GB would really help my budget. Sorry for all the questions but you guys have been a big help.

 

[apt403]

Xoxide ships to Canada, they have the Tuniq Tower, and its in stock.

http://www.xoxide.com/tuniq-t-120-hsf.html

The Tuniq Tower is really quiet, I can barely hear the fan in mine.

2gb is a must, you REALLY REALLY need it. For gaming and if you plan on using vista, even XP needs 2gb to really fly.

 

[m25]

The tuniq is maybe the greatest air cooler yet, but with it's 800gr, it might get pretty scary in some situations and I'd only recommend it for more or less extreme overclocks. In other cooler cases, anything lighter (like the ArcticFreezer7Pro) or lower profile (Zalman 7000 series-the 7700CU is great if you can bare all the installation process :lol: ) would be a 'safer' choice.

 

[apt403]

800? Its only 798g! It doesnt weight that much. The only thing you have to watch out for it the screws, the heads tend to pop off... If you do get a tuniq I strongly suggest you get some aftermarket machine screws and wingnuts for it. I wouldnt put to much faith in the crappy, 2 peice, brass screws that come standard. Im not to sure what size screws you should get though, im going to take my mouting bracket in with me so I can try different ones. Its a cheap mod too, the screws and wingnuts should only cost a couple cents each.

 

[fatalfidelity]

Hmm the Tuniq looks pretty intense..maybe too intense for what I'm looking for. I might go for the Zalman 7700Cu as I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves.. All I want this cooler to do is to keep the overclocked E4300 cool so I think the Tuniq would be overkill. Thanks alot for the help though.

 

[1Tanker]

Hmm the Tuniq looks pretty intense..maybe too intense for what I'm looking for. I might go for the Zalman 7700Cu as I think we might be getting ahead of ourselves.. All I want this cooler to do is to keep the overclocked E4300 cool so I think the Tuniq would be overkill. Thanks alot for the help though.

Here are a few suggestions from NCIX. They are based in BC, and are, pretty-much, the "Canadian Newegg" (great to deal with).

Thermalright Ultra 120

Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro

Thermaltake Big Typhoon

GL

 

[fatalfidelity]

Thanks alot, but I find Canada Computers to be alot cheaper. Those hsf's aren't available on there so I'll probably end up buying the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro through NCIX.

 

[1Tanker]

Thanks alot, but I find Canada Computers to be alot cheaper. Those hsf's aren't available on there so I'll probably end up buying the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro through NCIX.

Depends were you live. I live in Ontario(where Canada Computers is), so they are cheaper, but i have to pay PST & GST = 14%. When i buy from NCIX, i only have to pay GST(6%)..which more than makes up for the price advantage. Something to keep in mind.

 

[m25]

Thanks alot, but I find Canada Computers to be alot cheaper. Those hsf's aren't available on there so I'll probably end up buying the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro through NCIX.

The AF64PRO is definitely the best price/performance, good choice.

 

[m25]

Well, it's weight is 798g without a fan, which makes it go above 800g. On the other hand, it's not only about weight; the tuniq is lighter than the 7700CU but has it's weight distributed very far from the mounting generating a far larger momentum during an impact with the case, while the 7700 weights almost 1KG but is much closer to it's mounting and stands the stress much better.

 

[MU_Engineer]

Thermalright's XP-90 should do fine then. It's a pretty good heatsink and it's only 360g, which is about what the stock heatsinks weigh. Huge sinks like the Tuniq Tower were meant to dissipate heat from very hot-running chips that run very overclocked- something like a Core 2 Quad >3 GHz or a Pentium D on up into the fours. A mild to moderate overclock of an E4300 on the aluminum XP-90 should be well within the cooling power of this heatsink.

 

[fatalfidelity]

Thanks alot, but I find Canada Computers to be alot cheaper. Those hsf's aren't available on there so I'll probably end up buying the Arctic Cooler Freezer 7 Pro through NCIX.

Depends were you live. I live in Ontario(where Canada Computers is), so they are cheaper, but i have to pay PST & GST = 14%. When i buy from NCIX, i only have to pay GST(6%)..which more than makes up for the price advantage. Something to keep in mind.

Yeah, the actual prices on NCIX are cheaper but when I add the shipping costs, Canada Computers always turns out to be cheaper. Thanks for those recent ideas about new hsf's. I've heard good things about the Scythe Ninja or something, is this any good?