[gentoo-amd64] Re: hardware choice

[Nikos Chantziaras]

Daniel Iliev wrote:
> I've decided to get an Intel based box, but I've not been following
> closely the hardware development for more than 5 years. Another
> trouble is that most of the people I can ask don't use Gentoo and they
> miss the point of "much compiling". So, I need your help.
>
> 1) CPU:
>
> model,CPU Freq,FSB Freq,cache,technology
>
> E8400, 3.00GHz, 1333MHz, 6MB, 45nm
> Q8200, 2.33GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB, 45nm
> Q6600, 2.40GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB, 65nm
>
> Which one? (please, consider overclocking).

I would get the E8400 because it overclocks good.  Upping the FSB from 
333 to 400 will give you 3.6GHz (the CPU has a multiplier of x9).  That 
means you can get DDR2 800MHz RAM and run it with an FSB:DRAM ratio of 
1:1 (400 FSB = 800 DDR).  1:1 FSB:DRAM is the fastest configuration for 
Intel systems.  If you get DDR2 1066 RAM, then you can up the FSB even 
more while retaining the 1:1 FSB:DRAM ratio.

The E8400 can go up to about 4.4GHz with a good aftermarket cooler. 
Don't overclock it at all though with the stock cooler.


> On the local market those are in the same price range and I'm going to
> take Q6600 for the bigger cache (8MB). Is that the correct choice?

The Q6600 has *less* cache per core than the E8400.  The E8400 has 3MB 
per core while the Q6600 has 2MB per core.  Yes, it's shared cache, but 
for emerges all the core will be used.

The reason I recommend the dual core over the quad core is that 
compiling isn't the primary use of a desktop PC.  Application 
performance is, that's why the higher speed per core of the E8400 is IMO 
better.


> 2) Main board.
>
> I was advised to get Asus P5K Premium (P35, ICH9) for Q6600. The thing
> is there are models from the P5Q series (like P5Q3) which have a newer
> chipset (P45, ICH10) but the same price. I can't understand why should
> I choose the premium mobo even it's an older model. Please, advise.

I'd recommend the Asus P5E is you can find it.  It's X38 based (slightly 
more overclockable then P35 and P45, supports crossfire PCIe x16 while 
P35 and P45 only have PCIe x8 in crossfire) with FSB1600 and its price 
is very good (130€ here).


> 3) DDR2
>
> 600,800 or 1066? The thing confusing me is that the newer CPUs run at
> 1333MHz and the older (Q6600) at 1066. So, which DDR2?

It doesn't matter if the CPU is FSB1333 or FSB1066 because you can run 
the RAM at whatever speed you want.  But as I mentioned earlier, the 
fastest FSB:DRAM configuration on Intel chips is 1:1, so to up the FSB 
above 400 while retaining this 1:1 ratio, you'll need 1066 RAM.  The 
timings don't matter that much on Intel, so 5-5-5-15 RAM will perform 
virtually just as well as 4-4-4-12 RAM.


> 4) Overclock
>
> I intend to overclock the system but not extremely. I've been told
> Q6600 would go up to 3GHz w/o any trouble. Is that true?

Depends on the CPU (not all Q6600 are equal) and motherboard.  But in 
general, 3GHz is easy to get with that CPU.  Note: only with a good 
aftermarket cooler!  Don't try with the stock one.



> How high
> would the other two CPUs go w/o additional cooling and compromising
> the stability?

You don't overclock with the stock cooler.  Unless you consider an 
overclock of, say, 200MHz as overclocking (the Q6600 for example can go 
from 2.4GHz to 2.6GHz with the stock cooler).  Higher than that may be 
stable at the beginning, but the life of the CPU is greatly diminished. 
  It won't live for long if it runs at 70C while with a better cooler it 
would run at 50C.

If you intend to only "overclock" that much, then there's no point in 
going Intel at all.  I'd recommend AMD in that case.