Upgrade to a Core Duo 2 E6600? Parts in mail...

[NumbersHurtMyBrain]

Here's how it goes. Last week I went online looking for new system parts, mostly concerned with gaming, I didn't care TOO much about other periphals besides ordering my ATI 1900 XTX. So I went with some decent parts. Here's the list (manufacturer numbers are in brackets and can easily be found by copy/past into a newegg.com search)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200 (ada4200cubox)
Sapphire ATI 1900 XTX (N82E16814102671 newegg #, can't find mfr #)
2 - Corsair 1gb 240 pin DDR2 667 Pc2-5300 (vs1gb667d2)
Asus M2N32-SLI Mobo (m2n32-sli deluxe)
2 - Western Digital 250gb Sata-300 HDs (wd2500ys)

So now, after more web surfing and research I found the Intel Core Duo 2's. Obviously I wanted to save some money so I didn't buy an AMD FX-60, but it looks like any of the core DUO's are smoking the AMD's in every department. I have only received SOME parts in the mail from online orders, and would like to start returning what i can to go with a Core Duo instead. Should i return the 667mhz ram to get some 800mhz that most of the core duo compatible mobo's use? Please reccomend a GOOD mobo with at least 2 PCI-e 16x slots (staying with one 1900xtx for now, but would like to go crossfire in the future). I would like to return as little as possible, but if i need to return the mobo/processor/memory/hd's i guess that's what i'll have to do. Thanks for the read.

-Jay

 

[Johnthephoneguy]

Just a question, why choose the ATI over the new Nvidea 7950 with 2 GPU's if you are building a gaming PC?

 

[paparazi]

Well I'm also in the process of upgrading! from an X2 4200 to an E6600.
The best motherboard acording to Anandtech is:
The ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe

See Feeding the Monster!!

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797&p=19

Some good buying advice for a Conroe buyer.

Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Frank4d]

Well I'm also in the process of upgrading! from an X2 4200 to an E6600.
The best motherboard acording to Anandtech is:
The ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe

Make sure whichever place you're buying the mobo from sends one with a BIOS version that works with the E6600. Some people on other forums are getting mobos with older BIOS and run into the chicken and egg problem (can't update the BIOS because it won't run with the CPU).

 

[paparazi]

Yes indeed, from Bios 1101 on the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe.
Other 975X boards from Gigabyte/MSI/Intel/Abit are the same and require later bios support.
Intel 965 equipt boards are a safer bet as they natively support Conroe but are said to be slower and have more imature bios.
Things will of course change in time.
Yes, Guinea pigs as usual!!!!
And we pay them lol
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Nelviticus]

I bought the Asus P5B, which is based on the 965 chipset, and I had to update the BIOS before it would recognise the E6600 properly. Luckily it still worked without the BIOS update (just gave me a recoverable CPU error on boot) so I was able to install Windows and update the BIOS from there.

However ... the original poster asked about boards with 2 x PCI-e 16x slots, from which I assume he wants to run 2 graphics cards, and as he's bought an ATI card this will mean boards that support Crossfire. I just checked the article that Paparazi posted and the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe does support Crossfire so it sounds like the board for you.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[WyldeCarde]

I personally am waiting for the nForce based intel boards to start arriving in volume before i upgrade, i want SLI to be an option

 

[Aussie2]

paparazi gone to intel can't believe it lol

 

[paparazi]

The shame of it

Hang on a minute! I did own an Evesham Vale Scorcher!!!! some years back that was installed with an Intel 333 Celerooney and a full 64meg of PC66 lol.

What can I say! the scales have tilted the other way so I'm giving Intel a go, simple as that.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.