I know there are a lot of Core 2 threads existing, and I have read at least some of them (e.g. $630 Core 2). However it didn't match my upgrade situation, and I wanted to bring up some slightly different hardware and my reasons for (at least for now) liking them more.
What I have now - Athlon 64 3000, Geforce 6600 GT, 1gb pc3200 ram (kingston value, after looking at many benchmarks with minor percentages I decided to go with the circuitcity rebate deals), 350w Antec power supply, generic case, nice monitor and peripherals. I have two 160gb Caviar 2 hard drives, but took them off raid after terrible experiences with cheap software drivers and terrible Linux compatibility.
e6400 - the clock multiplier for the E6300 is not worth it. This has a 14% faster clock for 20% more money. The E6600 has a 12% higher clock for 43% more money (compared to the E6400). Thus, as I don't mind the extra $35, I think the E6400 is the best price/performance for me. Also, I do plan to overclock, hopefully to around 3 ghz, so I won't have to worry about an excessively fast fsb and heat. If these are mistakes (I don't know if lower clock multipliers result in lower heat output at the same frequency), please correct me.
Crucial DDR 2 800 cl4 - usually I get cheaper RAM, but for $120, this doesn't look like a bad deal.
foxconn motherboard - after searching for a good Core 2 motherboard, this one seems like the best to me. the latest antec buyer's guide recommended it. It has good ratings from users, not only a few professionals (not common with a lot of others), decent overclocking, good memory compatibility, external sata is always a plus, and "hd" / 7.1 integrated audio (I don't listen to much music so a $70 card doesn't make sense). It has a 3 year warranty and the price seems right. I don't want sli.
I don't know what graphics to get. I don't want to spend a lot of money; obviously none of the other components are excessive. I was looking at the 7900 GTO, but it looks like it would become a $300 purchase because I would need a new power supply. The 7600 GT seems a bit like a non-upgrade. My current graphics was about a 5x upgrade from what I had. I will absolutely not have an ATI card; I use Linux frequently and ATI's linux drivers are awful and they have no real OpenGL support compared to nvidia.
What I have now - Athlon 64 3000, Geforce 6600 GT, 1gb pc3200 ram (kingston value, after looking at many benchmarks with minor percentages I decided to go with the circuitcity rebate deals), 350w Antec power supply, generic case, nice monitor and peripherals. I have two 160gb Caviar 2 hard drives, but took them off raid after terrible experiences with cheap software drivers and terrible Linux compatibility.
e6400 - the clock multiplier for the E6300 is not worth it. This has a 14% faster clock for 20% more money. The E6600 has a 12% higher clock for 43% more money (compared to the E6400). Thus, as I don't mind the extra $35, I think the E6400 is the best price/performance for me. Also, I do plan to overclock, hopefully to around 3 ghz, so I won't have to worry about an excessively fast fsb and heat. If these are mistakes (I don't know if lower clock multipliers result in lower heat output at the same frequency), please correct me.
Crucial DDR 2 800 cl4 - usually I get cheaper RAM, but for $120, this doesn't look like a bad deal.
foxconn motherboard - after searching for a good Core 2 motherboard, this one seems like the best to me. the latest antec buyer's guide recommended it. It has good ratings from users, not only a few professionals (not common with a lot of others), decent overclocking, good memory compatibility, external sata is always a plus, and "hd" / 7.1 integrated audio (I don't listen to much music so a $70 card doesn't make sense). It has a 3 year warranty and the price seems right. I don't want sli.
I don't know what graphics to get. I don't want to spend a lot of money; obviously none of the other components are excessive. I was looking at the 7900 GTO, but it looks like it would become a $300 purchase because I would need a new power supply. The 7600 GT seems a bit like a non-upgrade. My current graphics was about a 5x upgrade from what I had. I will absolutely not have an ATI card; I use Linux frequently and ATI's linux drivers are awful and they have no real OpenGL support compared to nvidia.