e6400 upgrade

[capriboy1978]

Hi all,

I'm far from upto speed with intel's c2d's so would appreciate a little help. I'm going to retire my new 4890 into the download box soon, but it only has a e6400 fitted on a cheap non overclockable mobo. I don't game on it much but friends use it when they come round so was wondering how I could get the best out of her for the minimum monies. Presumably my mobo would limit which c2d / c2q I could use even thought there the same skt.

has a 1680 x 900 tft, 2 gig ddr2 and a 95% full ide hdd drive which I will be cleaning up big time.

cheers, if more info needed will sort when home.

 

[D13]

totally dependant on the mobo, you need to find out exact model to see it it supports 45nm/65nm duo/quads etc...

 

[capriboy1978]

thought so, working on it now.

 

[D13]

actually if that machine will be used with a 1680x1050 monitor, i dont think u need to upgrade it anyway, the e6400 is clocked at 2.13ghz? that should be fine with a 4980 at 1680x1050

 

[capriboy1978]

ok, don't laugh

65nm e6400 b2 @stock
ecs p4m890t-m v1 I think but I still have the manual somewhere

 

[D13]

nothing to laugh about, that cpu is still very nippy, like i said before unless you got money to burn you dont really need to upgrade it

 

[capriboy1978]

sounds good to me. i7 build seems to have wiped me out for a while, and means less time to save for the 5870x2 and a dremel.

 

[D13]

well by sticking a 4890 into it, you are turning your 'download box' into a full on gaming rig, I doubt your friends will complain lol
But dont forget about the psu, can it handle a 4890?

 

[Freddie1980]

CPUZ will give you all the information you need regarding your CPU and motherboard.

The E6400 was a good chip when it first showed up (then again I'm biased because I've just retired one last week), one of it's strongest cards was it's overclocking potential which was as high as 50%, I run mine at 3Ghz stable for years. I could get it to 3.2Ghz if I increased the voltage but it wasn't that stable but I believe that was due to the cooler I was using (Arctic Freezer Pro 7).

According the ECS's own CPU support list you pretty much running the fastest CPU you can get. This is the trouble I find with Intel systems, there fantastically fast but when it comes round to upgrading it normally means a new motherboard.

You could pick up a Core 2 Duo Q6700, an Asksa Nero Socket 775 HSF, 4Gb of DDR3 and Foxconn X48 BlackOps motherboard for about £300. A Core i5 setup is going to cost about £410 and a Core i7 about another £80 on top of that.

 

[capriboy1978]

not going to spend any real money on it, it's just the download / browser box and occasional guest gaming rig. I'm a little possessive of my new i7 build.

It seems the ecs is a fantastically poor overclocker so I'm not going to try. I was suspicious I was running pretty much the best cpu in it I could. When I had it built I pushed the budget for the e6400 but neglected insisting on a good mobo. I did stipluate I wanted an upgrade path but seems that one got by me.

PSU is an oem 400w job. I think it'll just about do, with the gpu at stock or lower that is. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[marley82]

non branded oem 400w PSU will struggle/fail to run a 4890 and a 6400, my old unbranded oem 500w failed to even boot my system (with my oc taken away it still wouldnt)

 

[capriboy1978]

will have to shoe horn her in there and see me thinks. If i have to upgrade the psu then it's onto the mm with her when the x2 settles in and down in price a little. Fingers crossed I get away with it....