AMD AM2 / AMD 64 / Intel Conroe - HELP !

[Orm]

Ok my Motherboard just decided to release its Northbridge fan and fry itself meaning I need to replace it.

My CPU is an Opteron 144 which has never been a great clocker (MB was a Asus A8N-SLi), running with mid-range PC3200 RAM.

My choices at the moment are:

S939 Motherboard + AMD X2 3800

OR

Intel Motherboard + Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz + RAM

OR

S940 Motherboard + AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) + RAM

--

If I need to buy DDR2 RAM (Conroe/AM2) then it's going to add around £150-£180 to the price for relatively decent stuff.

If I buy another S939 Motherboard (Recommendations, but thinking DFI) and S939 X2 then am I going to regret it with regards to future proofing ?

 

[Stelly]

Go with Intel Motherboard + Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz + RAM its faster then all the ones that you listed

As for DDR2 RAM for Conroe, everyone is getting Gskill RAM... try one of these two (the HZ is the bestest)

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 NR PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS5 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBNR) (MY-014-GS)

OR

G.Skill 2GB DDR2 HZ PC2-6400 (2x1GB) CAS4 Dual Channel Kit (F2-6400PHU2-2GBHZ) (MY-013-GS)

Stelly

 

[Gandalf501]

Why not get the socket AM2 X2 4200+? Its only £5 more than the conroe.

Everyone seems to comparing the E6300 to the X2 3800+. But the X2 4200 is in the same price bracket. any comparisons on between this chip and the E6300 on stock?

 

[Witcher]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-shootout.html

 

[Hidden Hippo]

I would say get the conroe with the G. Skill NR RAM (it'll be the stuff I'm getting ). The conroe will be much faster and performs approximately on a par with an AM2 4600+ in most of the gaming benchmarks I have seen.