Conroe v X2

[viperman5000]

I know for a fact everyone is sick and tired of new "What should I do?" threads, but this might be a bit different.

Ok, I'll just get to the point, I have $1200 to spend. I can either spend it on:

AMD Athlon X2 4400+ (Socket 939)
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium (Socket 939)
eVGA nVidia 7900GT
Antec Truepower II 550W
Corsair XMS 2 x 1GB DDR400 (PC 3200)
Lian Li PC-V1000BPlus II

= About $1150

OR

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
ASUS P5B Deluxe
OCZ Gold 2 x 1GB DDR2800 (PC2 6400)
eVGA nVidia 7900GT

= About $1100

Ok, here's the deal, I'm not really going to overclock it. I doubt I will keep up with current games. I doubt I will upgrade after this upgrade. My real concern would be about being "future-proof." Question being, which should I choose? I could either get almost a completely new machine (sans HDD, sound card, and DVD) for a realitively good price, or just get a Conroe build. I'm thinking to go with the AMD build but I could also wait 'til Christmas for either Kentsfield or more motherboards for Conroe. I don't know anymore. I should really stop sleeping.

So any help would be appreciated. Even though most of you are sick of seeing these threads.

 

[Yoad]

If you have the patience for conroe then why not... either way ifyou go AMD go AM2 not 939. however i'll tell you this, between the two highest end chips of amd and intel [amd- fx-62/intel- x6800] theres a 30% performence diffrence on peak, and 2-3% performence diffrence at minimum while on avarge its around 10-14% diffrence [all of those are on the conroes x6800 side] but on the lower end chips its not really that high unless you are a very experienced overclocker, so frankly the diffrence is not all that huge, both AMD x2 and Conroe will stand at whatever you throw at them for at least 2-3 years with a good video card.

Another tip, ifyou can affored, get the Asus ATI Radeon EA X1900XT, those are amazing cards.

-Jo.


-Jo.

 

[idiotec]

The Conroe build would definitely be the more powerful option, so I see no reason not to go that route.

 

[viperman5000]

The Conroe build would definitely be the more powerful option, so I see no reason not to go that route.

Because say I wait for new motherboards to come out (I've got my eye on the new DFI one), I'll most likely wait 'til Christmas when all the deals come out. By then, Kentsfield will be out. Then I will be in the same conundrum, trying to get the latest and greatest, while still getting my money's worth. Whereas if I get the X2 build, not only will I get a fast (based on my experiences), I will have a pretty much brand new computer with case and all. If I get the Conroe build, I will still have my crappy PSU and my crappy case with horrible air flow design. I know the power behind Conroe and what it's capable of, but then if I wait, I'll always be waiting for previous stated reasons. Like I said before, I highly doubt I will continue gaming at the state-of-the-art level of games. Like DX10, I doubt I will play any of those new games. So that being said, I agree, but disagree. Damnit, I should really stop reading and sleeping.

 

[idiotec]

I think your just reading too much into it. Right now, Conroe is the best CPU out, it should be a pretty easy decision.

You could always go a little cheaper on the Conroe build. A E6400 and a Gigabyte DS3 would be a great combination. That would leave you enough left over to get a new case and PSU.

You could always plop a Kentsfield in there later when they come out.

IDK, buy what is best at the time, and don't over think it too much

 

[viperman5000]

Thanks for your opinions. Any others want to take a stab at this?

EDIT: How does a spam thread about getting a free MacBook get more replies than this?

 

[Ridlyn]

I would go with the conroe build. Much more powerful.

 

[bum]

If you hate intel (like me) go with AMD.

Another guy said get an ATI card and if you want to do that definitly go AMD, because they bought ATI and intel is going to stop supporting ATI because of it.

Oh and do keep in mind that you don't have to have the fastest machine out there to be happy. I did an Opteron build afew months ago and its kinda lost value, but other than my video card my system can do just about anything, so I'm still happy with it.

 

[Ken11235]

I'd definately go with the conroe build, but, you could probably use the XMS memory.

 

[viperman5000]

How long would each build last? Basically, how future-proof are they?