C2D or not to C2D

[stevieg]

Im going to upgrade my mobo/cpu/ram and graphics card in the upcoming 3-4 months and i was wondering what are the main benefits of the C2D chips im thinking of the e6600 but a few of the games i have atm are looking for 2.6-2.8ghz in processor speed and the e6700 is a bit out of my price range atm when i take into account the rest of the kit ill need,
I use my pc mainly for gaming somethimes onine gaming,browsing/dvd's and stuff like that.

atm my system looks like this;
3.4ghz p4 650 HT prescott
gigabyte ga-8s661 FXM-775 mobo
1gb pc3200 ram(2x512)
256mg 1650 pro agp graphics card

and so what i was thinking about buying was these;
mobo; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-106-AB
cpu; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-128-IN
ram; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-090-CR
graphics; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-018-BG

 

[stevieg]

I would wait til nearer the time before deciding.

The new Intel chipsets will be out by then, memory might be a completely different price and graphics cards can change almost monthly.

Plus the new AMD CPUs will be on sale too.

yeah i hear you,i should then be able to buy just about everything on special offer over that period

I wouldn't worry about the spec games list anymore, clock speed isn't everything besides the C2D's overclock like anything and will run those games fine even at stock speed.

As for your spec, would swap the board to the DS3/P, CPU to a E6320/6420 and GPU to 8800GTS.

hmm i didnt know that,the clock speed would have been my first concern,would you say there is much difference in what mobo to use? i would like a well laid out board so the inside of my case does'nt look too cluttered
because atm while it isnt messy my front usb cable has to go right to the back of my mobo to make the connection and a grey cable running the length of my case just doesnt look right,
I assume when i make my first venture into the world of oc'ing the next logical upgrade would be a decent cpu cooler,i had my eye on a zalman 9700 led(good/bad) in the nearest (big multi-national whose name i wont mention) store just a few weeks ago