My current build is awesome but keeps giving me random problems such as bios hangs and BSODs even random resets from time to time. Im pretty skilled at PC builds and have tried to pinpoint the issue for so long now without success that im just over it. The main problem being the inconsitency with the errors so tough to diagnose. Im not even O/Cing.
Anyway - im thinking of getting a new mobo and cpu - and just trying to make my mind up if i should jump ship now or wait, for, dunno... a better phenom??? Not sure if i can drop from my 6000+ @ 3.0 to a 2.4 phenom. I mean apart from some apps 4 cores are far from being utilized.

Ive been an AMD fanboy since i can remember but i do think that they really dissapointed the crowd with the latest chip release. I mean - come on!! 2.4ghz???!?!?!? Who are they kidding. It basically saying to me that if I want to UPgrade my PC i need to either jump to the power and seriously high power and stability of intel; or fry my build by horredously OCing my 6000+. Not much of a choice really.

So, if the general consensus is Intel - then any recomendations on a board and a CPU? I dont want the extremes etc but am keen for a decent high spec quad. Not that clued up on the boards either - i like to OC from time to time so prob need a flexible one in that respect.

Hope I can get some decent pointers from the THW experts...

What do you need? What are you saving from the old system to use in the new one? What features do you want the new board to have?

This would be my suggestion
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128059
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115017
or this board with the same CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131219

An X2-6000+ is plenty... you'd be crazy to get rid of that rig now for the current batch of Intel CPUs (that are admittedly better than your X2, but not by a huge magnitude)

If it were me I'd wait for the next-gen Intel stuff to become available... if you're having trouble playing games, I imagine it's your GPU not your CPU that is holding you back.

And if you wait, Phenom might come around and be a viable upgrade option for you... saving you a crap-load of money in the process (assuming your board is compatible)

From what has been shown and what Intel has given spec wise, Nehalem looks very promising and worth the wait.

They showed a 3.2GHz Nehalem quad core with their new HT called SMT(simultanious multithreading) for a total of 8 cores.

There is a post on this forum with a link to a video showing it doing particle physics for a game.

Wait for Nehalem. Or if you get antsy get a Q6600

If you're having system problems NOW, and money is not an issue, I'd say try an Intel.

If you can, wait until 4/20 for Intel's price cuts, on the heels of AMD's price cuts of 4/7.
You don't say what mobo you have now, nor what GPU or PSU.
If you think you might prefer to stay with AMD, at least wait until 4/7; or buy a mobo now. If the mobo alone fixes your problem, you're done. If it doesn't, you can continue replacing after the price cuts.
Will you get a new case? Have you ruled out static or grounding related problems on your current case?

Speaking of a new AMD mobo... if you're going to go with that route, and think you'll be sticking with AMD a while longer yet, you may want to wait a few weeks anyhow. Nvidia's 780a chipset is supposed to be released tomorrow (4/4/08). I haven't seen any kind of reviews, but I know for a long time the 590a was considered the best AM2 chipset. Since 780a will be AM2+, it'll let you get a little more out of a Phenom. On paper, anyhow... we'll see what the reviews say.

heck, im still using a 4400 X2 939 socket, the only reason i have to upgrade is *some* games are becoming CPU limited with my 8800GTX....

other than that i wont be upgrading my cpu or other components until the next revision of Intel and AMD chips, probably late 08, early 09.

i may upgrade my ram to 4GB if the price of my RAM ever comes down, the XMS Twin X stuff i have is still £100+ for 2gig. i use vista with SP1 now too, SP1 fixed alot of the complaints i had with vista, and i enjoy the speedy login/startup speed, compared to XP.

Sounds like you need to regrease and reseat your cpu / hsf mate at the very least ... you might have thermal problems.

Sticking a high end graphics card in it will get you a better result than spending the same amount of money on a new mobo and cpu from Intel.

Unless your into apps that make use of a quad core then that might be a bit of a waste of money for a casual gamer ... plus the E8xxx series cpus are gret for gaming.

It is hard to offer you much advice because you havn't told us enough.

Flakes advice is also sound.

Another problem that you might be having is the memory. Have you tried checking your RAM by using Memtest86 for a few hours? That should stress the memory and let you know if you have any faulty memory (Which could be the cause of your lockups and BSODs).

Also what is the rest of your system (PSU, GPU, etc), even though I don't think so, it could be that it's not getting enough power. I would honestly try to fix the issue before you go off buying a new platform, that would be money better saved for the next architectural change (Nehalem).

I had a similar problem a couple years ago and after many headaches and replacing my video card, sound card, and trying different ram, I located the problem as the PSU. It would usually start the computer alright, but then the power would fluxuate or something else and the computer crashed. Since I put in the new PSU, no problems.

Since you're not overclocking, the AMD chips can do a fairly good job. They're not great chips, and they don't overclock as well as Intel chips, but the B3 Phenoms can be overclocked, with some reviewers getting it up to 2.8-2.9ghz and a couple sites getting 3.0ghz with a 9650 BE. The new Phenoms will be out this month and a 9650 would be a good chip to use. Its not blazingly fast, but its competent from everything I've read so far. There will also be a revision in the motherboards and the SB700 southbridge will come into use, a good impovement over the SB600.

Took the words out of my mouth!

I agree with emp, try running memtest for a while (linux live cds also come with memory test you can use), and let us know the specs of what you're using now. The 6000x2 is still plenty of power. The money would be much better spent on new video card or memory.