NicePants42
Partition Master
While loads of people are in the process of building their new quad-core systems based on the now-cheap-as-hell Q6600 @ $289, I hadn't seen any mention of the Quad-core Xeon line until I took a trip to Slickdeals.net
The least expensive Intel Quad-core CPU is actually the Xeon 3210, @ $230. It runs at 8x266=2128mhz. The lower multiplier shouldn't be a problem unless you have an amazing chip on a crap motherboard, since 450x8=3600.
The Xeon X3220 is equivalent to the Q6600 in both speed (both run at 9x266=2394mhz), and cost, @ $290.
These two Xeon chips are socket LGA775, and are thus compatible with any desktop motherboard that can support Quad-core. The Xeons don't require registered memory. (Note: there have been some people saying that they have problems with earlier versions of the Gigabyte DS3.)
Being server-class chips, the Xeons have higher-binned cores for lower power consumption and operating temperatures, which potentially means more overclocking headroom.
Since both Xeons cost either as much or less than the Q6600, it looks like the Xeons are the way to go for low cost quad-core overclockers.
Also keep in mind that the newer dual core chips like the E6750 and E6850 are running a quad-pumped 333mhz FSB (not 266), meaning that the E6750 uses an 8x multiplier and the E6850 uses a 9x multiplier.
The least expensive Intel Quad-core CPU is actually the Xeon 3210, @ $230. It runs at 8x266=2128mhz. The lower multiplier shouldn't be a problem unless you have an amazing chip on a crap motherboard, since 450x8=3600.
The Xeon X3220 is equivalent to the Q6600 in both speed (both run at 9x266=2394mhz), and cost, @ $290.
These two Xeon chips are socket LGA775, and are thus compatible with any desktop motherboard that can support Quad-core. The Xeons don't require registered memory. (Note: there have been some people saying that they have problems with earlier versions of the Gigabyte DS3.)
Being server-class chips, the Xeons have higher-binned cores for lower power consumption and operating temperatures, which potentially means more overclocking headroom.
Since both Xeons cost either as much or less than the Q6600, it looks like the Xeons are the way to go for low cost quad-core overclockers.
Also keep in mind that the newer dual core chips like the E6750 and E6850 are running a quad-pumped 333mhz FSB (not 266), meaning that the E6750 uses an 8x multiplier and the E6850 uses a 9x multiplier.
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