Core 2 Duo E6420 vs E6600.. should I buy the 6420 and spend the extra bux on a video card?

Question

Ok so the E6420 is a 2.13 Ghz dual core with 4MB L2 cache and the E6600 is a 2.4 Ghz with the same cash, same FSB same everything from what I can tell other than 270 MHz. The question is, from a performance standpoint, Should I go with the 6420 and spend the extra 50-60 bucks on the video card, (I was going with an ASUS 7600 GT 256 for $109) and OC the 6420... OoOoooOoor, should I get the E6600, oc that sucker and stick with the V Card I have? Need some good oppinions here. THanks!

Answer 1

The higher CPU frequency will not make any significant "overall" difference between those two processors.
The key factor is what you will be using your PC for .....
Also ... do you intend to overclock ?

Personally ... I would settle for the 6420 & spend more on a graphic adapter. I assume you are assembling the PC yourself, otherwise I would focus on the entire "package" rather than just the CPU.

The only advantage a higher clock CPU has ( relative to these two) is faster rendering of video files (for example).
If you plan to do a lot of mpeg to divx rendering then the 6600 will save you a few minutes.

All said, however, it really isn't such a consequential decision when choosing between these two models.

regards,
Philip T

Answer 2

Gaming performance is a lot more dependent on the video card (architecture, core clock and v-ram clock). Get the E6420 and go for a good video card. Consider the 8600GT. It is DX10, better than 7600GT and awesome overclocking headroom.
http://vr-zone.com/print.php?i=4925

Answer 3

wait untill you get more money so you can get better hardware than that.

if you don't want to wait get the 6420 + a good video card (maybe the 8800gts 320mb)

i seriously suggest to wait untill you have at least 1k so you can build a dream computer that will destroy all games.

Answer 4

if you plan on saving, Go for the core 2 duo 1.83 GHz , and the graphics card.....hhhmmmm, maybe a Geforce 7300 GT should do, and a 512Mb ram, that should do, or go straight to 1Gb Ram.....it should run some games that are on the market....