Was thinking of getting E8500 after i7 release but it seems price drops are not coming fast enough. I have a PC Fair coming up in 1 weeks time and thats when Im thinking of getting my new computer (Fried my last one in a whole house electrical shock). Any1 think the C2D prices will drop any soon ? Considering the 920 thrashes the C2Ds and C2Q outright with relatively competitive pricing.
After the Christmas season. Expect lower-end and mid-range Core2s to drop but the high end won't budge.
the prices are similar but remember you dont have to pay another £400+ on top for new mobo and ram with the C2D/C2Q so there is still demand for these chips. In fact i7's release has probably not impacted on the demand for these chips at all so why would Intel drop the price ???
There is a new E5200 chip that is a modified 7000 and 8000 series (Wolfdale) core. It can supposedly be OCed to 3.0 GHz (or more) on stock cooling with very little voltage increase according to various enthusiast forums, product feedback (Newegg) and other sources. At stock, the chip even out performs the highest AMD 64 X2 chip (6000+) running at 3.1 GHz. Xbit Labs did a comparison between these two and the E5200 beat it in almost every test and this included games and other intensive applications. Apparently, this is *the* chip to buy if you are waiting for C2D and C2Q to come down and are into OCing. I am getting one as my first step back to Intel after doing three AMD builds (including the one in my specs) when they were kicking Intel's butt... But now things are different and I am going to use the E5200 (OCed) until I can afford a true C2D Wolfdale like the E8600. Also, it looks like the E5200 is set to destroy AMD competition in this price range because it is now $72 (USD), and this is the exact same price as the slower AMD 64 X2 5400, 5800 and 6000+ chips. As much as the market needs competition, AMD has to get back in the game soon because Intel is slowly gaining a monopoly again with chips like the E5200 and its budget pricing...
With an aftermaket cooler & good 1066 or 800 ram,it's possible to hit 3.8 ghz on a 5200.My 5200 can boot into windows @ 3.83 ghz.But I need better hsf & dram to make this oc stable.I'm using the stock cooler & I've overclocked my 5200 to 3.5 ghz and it is quite stable.
