New Gaming Rig

[jonny_uk]

Either get the AMD X2 6000 which is clocked at 3.0GHZ and is very cheap now, cheaper than a E6600 core 2 duo and they perform the same or get the E6600 if you plan on overclocking as it oc's better than the X2 6000 i believe

 

[maroon1]

Either get the AMD X2 6000 which is clocked at 3.0GHZ and is very cheap now, cheaper than a E6600 core 2 duo and they perform the same or get the E6600 if you plan on overclocking as it oc's better than the X2 6000 i believe

Athlon 64 X2 6000+ $240
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail

Core 2 duo E6600 $235
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

E6600 is cheaper


I would go with E6600 because it consumes less power, more overclockable and cheaper

 

[Trepkos]

Are you trying to infer that the 5200+ will bottleneck the performance of the 8800 gtx?

 

[Sora]

The sad part is...actually tests have shown that at stock speeds no CPU completley does not bottleneck them...but it's so minimal it doesn't matter too much.

Now that the price cuts have come the E6600 is the better choice for sure.

 

[Trepkos]

Yeah, I was aware of that, I was just wondering about the best minimal bottle-necking for the price.

I'm guessing that the e6600 would be the better choice, which would mean that I would have to choose a Intel based chipset.

The 5200+ clocked freq of 2.6ghz compared to the 2.4ghz of the e6600, what gives the distinct advantage that the e6600 has over the 5200+. Memory switches, pipelines?

 

[Sora]

Stock...they are similar while the X2 5200 is actually faster in some cases. It's the fact that an E6600 can be overclock so effortless and safley to 3.0ghz and beyond for that price...

 

[Trepkos]

Media Center would also be a better OS instead of the standard XP Home edition....

 

[Sora]

Xp pro is the best for gaming i think...but any XP or Media Center is fine..

 

[Trepkos]

Xp pro is the best for gaming i think...but any XP or Media Center is fine..

What sets Pro apart and above the other OS's for gaming?

 

[maroon1]

Stock...they are similar while the X2 5200 is actually faster in some cases.

X2 5200+ is faster in some cases !!!! Can you prove it ?

I looked at many benchmarks and E6600 was better than 5600+ in all cases

Intel vs. AMD: Today's generation compared - The Tech Report - Page 3