About a month ago I was lucky enough to win a CPU at a local LAN party, which got me thinking about building my own gaming PC in the first place. The proc I won is an Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz chip. I was really, really lucky to win this — I think it was the best prize available at the LAN. But how will this windfall work out in my new high-end gaming rig? Is it worthy? Does it have the critical attributes needed in a gaming CPU?

Intel E6600 processor, still in its boxed beauty.

CPUs and Gaming Performance

The CPU and the GPU are the two most important components in a gaming system. For a mid-range to high-end system, you should expect to spend about 25% of your overall budget on these two parts. We’ll talk about GPUs in a future entry; for now, let’s take a look at how CPUs affect gaming performance.

CPU Attributes

There are a few key attributes to recognize in a CPU:

• processor speed, measured in gigahertz (GHz)
• chip architecture (single core, multi-core, etc.)
• cache size
• FSB (Front Side Bus) speed

The first and most obvious is the speed of the processor, measured in gigahertz (GHz). Most procs on the market today run in the 1.5 to 3.0 GHz range. The higher the number, the faster the raw computational power of the CPU. But speed isn’t everything.

CPUs today come in single- and multi-core models. A dual-core CPU has two processors built onto the same chip. This means that the CPU can divvy up tasks between the two cores, running the tasks in parallel and thereby finishing them more quickly. This doesn’t always happen automatically, though — the software running on your computer must be designed to take advantage of this capability. At the moment, most PC games are not optimized for multi-core CPUs (Supreme Commander is one notable exception).

The size of the L2 cache is another important consideration. The cache is a bit of memory built into the CPU built to hold frequently needed information. Keeping this information in the cache means it is faster to access, because the CPU doesn’t have to process the information again — it just uses what’s been set aside. The bigger the L2 cache on a CPU, the faster it will be in general.

The FSB (Front Side Bus) speed is another important consideration. The FSB determines how fast the processor can communicate with the memory on your motherboard. In high-end systems today, FSB speed is actually the bottleneck in CPU / memory performance, so a higher native FSB is a big advantage. FSB also plays a big part in how much you will be able to overclock your system.

It’s important to remember that raw speed isn’t the best measurement of gaming performance. For example, a Pentium 4 processor running at 2.0 GHz may not be as fast as a Core 2 Duo proc running at 1.6 GHz, due to the improved architecture of the newer chip with its two cores and larger cache.

How to Choose a Gaming CPU

Generally speaking, you’re going to want to buy the latest generation processor for your system. The way to save a few dollars is to buy one of the lower end procs within the current generation. With each generation of processor, manufacturers produce chips at multiple performance levels, sometimes known as “budget,” “mid-range,” and “enthusiast.” Budget procs are priced much lower than other CPUs in their generation, and are meant to provided an entry point for users who want to upgrade to a latest-gen proc but can’t afford to spend $300 or more for a CPU. Budget procs are less expensive due to slower chip speeds and reduced L2 cache sizes. In the Intel Core 2 Duo line, the E6300 and E6400 CPUs fall into this category, at 1.86 and 2.13 GHz respectively, each with a 2 MB L2 cache. At the time of this writing, these chips are selling for $182 and $221.

Enthusiast CPUs are high-end processors marketed to users who want nothing but the best, and are willing to pay for it. Within the Intel line, these chips are actually marketed under the “Extreme” moniker, such as the Core 2 Extreme X6800, which runs at 2.93 GHz with a 4 MB L2 cache and a 1,066 FSB. This is the top-of-the-line chip from Intel, and sells around $1,000 (a typical price for the flagship proc from Intel at any given time).

Between these two extremes, we have the mid-range CPU line. In the Core 2 Duo family, this includes the E6600 and the E6700, running at 2.4 and 2.66 GHz with a 4 MB L2 cache and 1,066 FSB. These CPUs are currently selling for $312 and $510. The chip I won, the E6600, is at the low end of the mid-range, an area lovingly known as the “sweet spot.” This proc provides the best value for your dollar, since it has all the attributes of the higher-end CPUs (the 4 MB L2 cache) minus the raw processor speed. But this chip is really the enthusiasts dream, since processor speed is a factor that can be increased with overclocking. In fact, a quick search of reviews online for this processor reveal that even under minimal overclocking conditions (using stock cooling equipment), this CPU can achieve speeds of 2.8 to 3.2 GHz, putting it well over the 2.93 GHz of the Extreme X6800. So, for about $700 less you can have a chip that surpasses the best CPU currently on the market.

Artsy shot of the E6600 sitting atop its stock cooler.

Did I get lucky or what?! It looks like I picked up the perfect CPU for my new gaming rig. A more careful search of reviews online show the E6600 to be the pick of the litter of current gaming procs. One reviewer went so far as to say that the “E6600 is in our opinion, one of the best processors (if not the best) which Intel has released in the past five years” (The Chosen One: Intel’s Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor). Here are some of the other glowing reviews of the E6600:

• Firing Squad
• NeoSeeker
• PCStats
• Guru3D

If you’re looking for a great processor for your gaming machine at a killer price, I definitely recommend that you check out the E6600.

Next time: Case studies.