Whats the best processor I can throw on my Mobo ?

[illnastyimpreza]

So what do you guys recomend for a budget MOBO and AMD processor ?

I'm thinking that even with a x2 4600 I can overclock it to at least 3.2 GB right ??? and with the ECS 8800GTS card for 170 I should have a decent platform to run AoC...

will I see much of an improvment running 4 Gigs of ram over 2 gigs ??

EDIT: CRAP ! newegg just raisted the price on the ECS 8800gts to 250 today !

 

[Apokalipse]

So what do you guys recomend for a budget MOBO and AMD processor ?

I'm thinking that even with a x2 4600 I can overclock it to at least 3.2 GB right ??? and with the ECS 8800GTS card for 170 I should have a decent platform to run AoC...

Newegg.com - DFI LANPARTY DK 790FX-M2RS AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Motherboards

and go for a black edition processor if you can (unlocked multiplier)

will I see much of an improvment running 4 Gigs of ram over 2 gigs ??

Depends.
In Vista, yes.
In XP x64, yes if you play Crysis or other very demanding games
in XP 32, maybe.. if you play Crysis

 

[NosBoost300]

So what do you guys recomend for a budget MOBO and AMD processor ?

I'm thinking that even with a x2 4600 I can overclock it to at least 3.2 GB right ??? and with the ECS 8800GTS card for 170 I should have a decent platform to run AoC...

will I see much of an improvment running 4 Gigs of ram over 2 gigs ??

EDIT: CRAP ! newegg just raisted the price on the ECS 8800gts to 250 today !

no one likes ecs anyway... get the oc'd 8800gts by MSI

 

[Redmo0n]

Why get a 8800gts and a low end chip.

If you willing to spend the money go to intel. ****, Why not just get a low end intel, they work out to be the same as AMD unless your only spending like $300 for an entire rig.

E2180 or a E7200 + A Cheap board will do you great and you can overclock them like mad.

 

[Apokalipse]

Why get a 8800gts and a low end chip.

Black edition chips aren't low end when they overclock past 3GHZ.
And it'd be very easy to do in the DFI motherboard I posted.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

If you can, get an E7200. At stock speeds it will beat any AMD dual core and is capable of overclocking to 3.8-4ghz at 1.4v. The E2180 is also a geat option, I have had mine up to 3.3ghz.

but either way its not worth it because this was back when Intel was crap at making processors, after using AMD and seeing how smooth it is, after coming from a Pentium 4, I'm not going back to Intel ever again...

p4 vs Athlon x2 isn't a fair comparison. Comparing my E2180 to my brothers 5200+ x2 I don't see a difference as far as smoothness is concerned with both cpu's at stock speeds. To be fair I have allot better ram then he does so I will try his system running my XMS2 so I can compare them more accurately.

 

[NightSurge]

Although, watch out for the 8800GTS from MSI.. A friend of mine just got theirs and his is faulty to say the least. Plus they seem to not have 64bit driver support for Vista, which could be why his didn't work. I'm not saying all cards are faulty (I myself have used 3 MSI cards without flaw), but just to warn of a possible Vista x64 and MSI 8800GTS 512MB driver issue.

 

[Apokalipse]

If you can, get an E7200. At stock speeds it will beat any AMD dual core

Not really. They have a higher IPC, but being Core 2 doesn't automatically make them above all X2's.

AMD ATHLON 64 X2 DUALCORE 5000+ - 2.6GHZ (AMD ADO5000DSWOF) : Moogr.com

Although, watch out for the 8800GTS from MSI.. A friend of mine just got theirs and his is faulty to say the least. Plus they seem to not have 64bit driver support for Vista, which could be why his didn't work. I'm not saying all cards are faulty (I myself have used 3 MSI cards without flaw), but just to warn of a possible Vista x64 and MSI 8800GTS 512MB driver issue.

There are always Vista drivers for Nvidia cards, which you can get on the Nvidia website.

You shouldn't really use the drivers on the CD for any card; there are always bug fixes and speed improvements with newer driver releases.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

I know Core 2 does not automatically make it faster. I was referring to these benchmarks.

X-bit labs - Three Cores vs. Two: AMD Phenom X3 8750 Review (page 5)

Plus you have to admit 4ghz on air cooling is an impressive overclock for a $132 cpu.

 

[35g700]

STARMICRO INC. - Detail

that is a celeron 2.8GHz for $17 (without tax and shipping)... you can just OC it to 3.0GHz. I have never bought anything off of star micro so I don't know how good it is, but if it's good I may get that for my system.


best of luck to you