Hi all
I have a 3500+ venice core , I would like to go duelcore
I am looking at either a fx 60 or a 185 opty
which is the better choice and I will be overclocking.
thanx in advance to your input
Because of the price and performance of the core 2 duo, even if you factor in the price of a new motherboard, you will get a faster, cheaper machine than any AMD upgrade right now.
Consider this, the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA LGA 775 VIA PT880 PRO ATX Intel Motherboard.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157092 It goes for $58. I picked this motherboard specificly because it can run DDR and DDR2 memory, plus it can use AGP and PCIe video cards. It is in the lower end of the pack as far as core2duo motherboards out there, yet it will still trounce pretty much anything AMD has. And it is dirt cheap.
For a CPU, as everyone is saying, look at the $189 Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005
This is the slowest Conroe Intel has, and it is more or less neck and neck with the best AMD has right now.
You add that up and you are paying $247. Bear in mind, this combo is the worst Intel has, yet it will beat the best you can get if you upgrade using AMD chips. You do not even have to get rid of your memory or video card. This combo OC's to 3 ghz with no voltage tweaks, which is nice considering this board is not the best over clocker. Still I am guessing price/performance is a much higher priority instead of pure performance in this case.
You cannot upgrade 939 to Core 2 without spending a whole bunch more than the $350 I spent on the OPTY. The 185 should hit 3 GHz without too much difficulty plus I can keep the ram timings very tight (the ram I use is corsair and currently will hit 225 FSB at 2-2-2-6) since AMD is sensitive to the RAM latencies I will benefit in overall performance (timings would have to be relaxed to get a 170 or 175 to 3.0 GHz). My upgrade was well thougth out and your door to door sales of the INTEL chips should be kept to your self. If I build a whole new system (next year) then Core 2 will probably be my choice (I am not sure that AMD will yet have a competing product).
$217 is less than $350. You can upgrade to a 4 meg cached E6600 if you really wanted to spend $350
You could get a 6300 and motherboard for 350. Memory would add to the cost, but you can sell DDR ram for about as much as replacement ram costs.
Or for $247, you would not have to spend any money on new ram. just get the ASRock board.