novice Q - Do I go for the swap?

[urx]

I've been offered a straight swap (by someone I trust) for a C2D 6300 swap for my 775 P4 3.2 800.
It means I'll have to change my Mobo to support the chip as my current setup is:-
AA8XE/P4 3.2Ghz/2x1Gb crucial pc2-3200 with a Gigabyte 7800gt all cooled by a Zalman reserator (nice n silent) all in a nice Antec 180

The rig is used 99% to play games like BF2 so game related performance is the deciding factor. Is it worth doing ?

 

[Defcon5]

Definatley, but why does he want to swap?

 

[urx]

well its the old ready fire aim thing
he bought cpu mobo etc without checking that the mobo was compatible with c2d mobo ram etc installed and cpu smeared with thermal paste so cant take em back. his mbo will run a straight 775 p4 so as performance for a media system isnt critical, he's looking for an easy out by swapping for a cpu that'll fit. It sounds good to me, as the 6300 should clock fairly well if I buy the right mobo for it. I'm about to install oem XP so would obviously prefer to have any hardware shuffling done beforehand. looked like a good deal but I've had my eye off the technology ball for quite a while now.

 

[steve258]

Lucky you!!

Yeah defo go for the swap, you still need to get new mobo and RAM but consider it a bargain upgrade.

 

[urx]

I was kinda hoping that would be the case.
cant afford sli so p5b deluxe looks promising...or is there something better for sensible money. um whats my best bet on memory then.....(hoping I can afford all this for Xmas ....)

 

[Defcon5]

You can get conroe mobos that run DDR, v v little performance hit too

 

[WJA96]

He's got DDR2 - it's just too slow (PC3200) to run 1:1 with an Allendale.

 

[steve258]

If you're on budget go for corsair value select or Geil PC5400 for around £150.
Otherwise get a good quality PC6400.

P5B Deluxe is the top of the class 965 mobo, u can also consider the non-deluxe P5B / P5B-E plus or DS3.