Upgrade dilemma. Please help

damianpaul

damianpaul

damianpaul

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Upgrade dilemma. Please help/advise

Hi, Just about to upgrade and thought I'd ask a quick question.
Currently on a A8N-E, 3700+ SD 939, X1900XT and 1GB Geil Value.

Looking to get:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.13GHz (1066FSB) - Retail
OR
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

question is I can get a e6420 from a friend for about £45 cheaper than the e6600 - is the e6600 still worth it? What do I need to consider to make this decision?

With regards to mobo I was going to get a gigabyte p35 either the P35C_DS3R or the P35_DS3R. They both take ddr2/3 but not really sure which one to choose.

Finally for ram I was going to get the GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX22GB6400UDC) or the Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit (BL2KIT12864AA804)


These products seem to be some of the most recommended so having trouble picking between them

Going to stick with the stock cooler for now so won't overclock past what is possible with that.

I use my pc primarily for games (fps and rts) and ideally would like a system where I could replace as few components as necessary when it comes time to upgrade again eg just get a new processor/gfx etc. I have two 19" tfts so won't need massive res.

Thanks in advance.

Damian
 
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Well the 6420 is still a fine cpu, it has the same cache size as the 6600 so the only difference is the stock speed.

Though i'd be asking what stepping your friends CPU is, as it might be a bad clocker.

Stick to the vid card you have.....

Ram wise, i know what i'd pick personally but it goes against what the masses suggest here so i won't go there.

Mobo the P35 boards look a good choice.

As far as replacing as little as pos, if you're moving to Core2 you'll only need to change mobo, cpu and memory... for a good boost in performance.
 
Me personally would go for the E6420, you can still overclock it a fair amount even with the stock cooler past the E6600 stock speed anyway and it has the same cache as the E6600.

As for the RAM, the Geils probably better value if you dont intend to overclock where as the crucial stuff overclocks like a beast and would easily be able to push more out of it than the Geil stuff.

Either way its your money and no matter what you pick your get a decent performance upgrade.
 
truebluecfc said:
Theirs only 1 guarantee in life.
Click to expand...

I can guarantee you were born, i can guarantee you will die, that's 2 so far...

So i wouldnt say there's only 1... :p

stickroad said:
lol love it, what would you actually pick, please share, pretty please? :D :D :D
Click to expand...

It's not important, i post my opinion and everyone wants to add their share of opinion, so just go with what's favoured and popular... ;) no offense....
 
Been working a new job that is partly IT based, and should have a paycheck coming up within the next month, so once that's in, if it's as generous as i hope it is i'll be doing an upgrade, you can see what i go with once i update my sig... ;)

I personally don't just take what people say here as 100% accurate, i have other sources to, then do some reading via reviews and make an informed decision based on that.

Opinions conflict - the thread goes offtopic - it's a friday and i've been drinking = not a fun discussion.... lol
 
t31os said:
Been working a new job that is partly IT based, and should have a paycheck coming up within the next month, so once that's in, if it's as generous as i hope it is i'll be doing an upgrade, you can see what i go with once i update my sig... ;)

I personally don't just take what people say here as 100% accurate, i have other sources to, then do some reading via reviews and make an informed decision based on that.

Opinions conflict - the thread goes offtopic - it's a friday and i've been drinking = not a fun discussion.... lol
Click to expand...

Thats why i would love to hear what you would get, you do your research. ;)

Of course we can only go on what other people think of particular Memory, just becuase one does uber clocks dosent mean the other will aswell. Thats not aimed towards you by the way t31os, just a genral comment.
 
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t31os, should I be looking at other brands than Crucial and Geil?
The reason I am choosing between those is because these are the two that are most often suggested with c2d and gigabyte p35s
 
I'm not saying switch brand, but it helps to do your own research rather then follow the crowd.....

Personally i don't think the Ballistix are reliable enough for me to warrant buying them, although they do clock great, i personally prefer my hardware to be reliable and last rather then take a chance for the sake of clocking that little bit more....

Bargain all the same.... just not for me....

Plenty of decent hardware out there, but there is clear performers i'll agree that much...
 
t31os said:
Personally i don't think the Ballistix are reliable enough for me to warrant buying them, although they do clock great, i personally prefer my hardware to be reliable and last rather then take a chance for the sake of clocking that little bit more....
Click to expand...

I can totally agree with what your saying t31os, what do you mean by the Ballistix not being reliable enough (im not saying your wrong) if that particular memory dosent fail, surely you cant get much more reliable than that?

Anyone else whos going to chip into the NICE discussion, keep it civilised people. :p
 
Seems to me there is an element of hit and miss with the ballistix memory... with some being a right pain in a55....

Obviously all hardware has this problem to some degree, it just seems to 50/50 for me (though i'm sure it's not literally 50/50) , if that makes any sense......

I'd rather take my chances with something else....

As said though this is personal choice, and you may have a great time using them if you so choose, i just wouldnt choose them myself.
 
Ah yes i see where your coming from now. :) You should say what you would recommend, because at the moment it is all Crucial, will be nice to get a different set of memory onto the field. :D
 
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Oh i keep the secret recommends for myself, that way if i'm ever wrong only i suffer... ;)

I see you're using the Ballistix btw... :D

I have actually recommended them to, they're a great price, i'd choose to pay for something that i think have a better chance of working out of the box, then a good clock comes second as an added bonus....

Of course i'll try and combine the two, but having to RMA anything in my opinion is just frustrating....

I'll see what's hot when i have the money when upgrade time comes along, though with plans to move out i may have to put that off, we'll see though...
 
t31os said:
I can guarantee you were born, i can guarantee you will die, that's 2 so far...
Click to expand...

That has already happened so not a guarantee. Otherwise you could start bringing in "I guarantee that tree was produced from a seed" etc etc.

There are two guarantees of future events...death and taxes!
 
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