Which intel cpu to get

[Noufas]

Hello. I am building a 2nd pc, i currently have an opteron 185, msi gto,2gigs of ram.
I have already got the Asus P5K-E, gonna stick 2 gigs of geil on it and an ati 2900
I found the q6600 on a certain auction site for around £300 so thats my limit atm.

The cpu is gonna be paired with a scythe ninja b.

Should i get that or something else? I am not gonna oc it at all for now, but will do in the future.

Total for both cpu and gfx is gonna be around £550
All suggestions are welcome.

 

[Banjo]

Hi,

Graphics:
For that sort of budget you can get a HD2900XT or a 8800GTX, dependant on your own preference.

CPU:
You might want to wait until late June as the prices for Intel CPU's will drop again. I think it's scheduled for the 22nd (correct me if I'm wrong)
Also, personally I'd go with a E6xxx series CPU, if you've got the budget to do it then there's no point going with the lower end Core2's.
EDIT: Just remembered to comment on that auction that you'd seen, I wouldn't recommend buying a Core2 quad now, as people are selling them before the retail prices fall. I wouldn't be too surprised if the Q6600 is cheaper than £300 when the price cuts come into play.

Cooling:
I've heard good things about the Scythe Infinity, but the Scythe Ninja (Rev B) would be ample cooling IMO. Also, with the Ninja you can stick 4 fans on in a crazy Push-Pull set-up if you so desire.

Hope this helps,

Banjo ;_;

 

[Noufas]

well, wouldnt the quad core be more future proof?

 

[Banjo]

Sorry, my bad by E6xxx series I meant either the E6xxx series with 4MB L2 cache, or the Core2 Quads (with 8MB L2 cache)

If you're looking to buy the hardware in the next month, then yes, the Core2 Quad range is the most future proof.
Although there are lots of new standards being brought into play, DDR3, AMD's AM2+, Intel's Penryn Core CPU's, etc. so beware of spending a large sum of money on current high-end hardware...

Anyway, I've heard that a Scythe Ninja (Rev. B) can adequately cool an overclocked Core2 Quad, so that should definitely be OK, although you might want to invest in a few 120mm fans for that push-pull configuration I mentioned. (from my experience I've found that Xilence 120mm Red Wing and Sharkoon 1000 Silent Eagle fans are very quiet and can shift a decent amount of air)

Banjo ;_;

 

[Snapshot]

CPU:
You might want to wait until late June as the prices for Intel CPU's will drop again. I think it's scheduled for the 22nd (correct me if I'm wrong)

It's 22nd July, not June.