Conroe 6600 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (AM2)

Hi, I am building a system. Tell me what you think. :?

I cant decide on CPU..... Which is better for game's and future upgrades? The intel is about $200 more... then the AMD.

Conroe 6600 OEM -ThermalTake Golden Orb II
ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard

OR

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 2.40GHz / 1MB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket AM2 / Dual-Core (Windsor) / Processor with Fan
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail




My Rig

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

EVGA GeForce 7900 GT KO / 512MB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card

NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black

Microsoft Windows XP Professional X64 Edition

Ultra Black Aluminus ATX Mid-Tower Case w/550-watt

Viewsonic VX2025WM / 20.1" / 8ms / 800:1 / WSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 / DVI-D · VGA / Widescreen LCD Monitor

C2D?

forgot to add, get retail it has 3yrs warranty, oem has only 1 yr

Hmmm,

Think about it this way.. under games the Core 2 Duo E6300 is about on par with an AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+. The Core 2 Duo E6600 you're contemplating about is faster then any AMD processor (including AMD's flagship Athlon64 FX-62).

So it's not really choosing between two comparable systems. The price difference of $200 is mainly due to the Core 2 Duo rig being totally dominant over the Athlon64 rig you posted.

As for upgradeability, well, we know that current 965P and 975x Intel chipset based boards support Intel's Quad Core Kentsfield processor (as Xtreme Systems have shown) as for the nForce board you're looking at... who knows.

I'd be more inclined to believe that the Intel based board offers a longer lifespan. But seeing as it's not an Intel chipset I cannot claim this with certainty. Therefore my opinion is firmly only based on the performance. Which still brings the E6600 as my recommendation.

If the price difference means you need to penny pinch in order to purchase the Core 2 Duo E6600 then you're better off getting the E6400. Either way, in your price range.. AM2 is out of the question.. especially for a long term gaming rig.

c2d= core 2 duo = E6XXX

get e6600 retail (not OEM), retail comes with a stock cooler and 3 yrs warranty.

if you are not going to oc it then stock cooler will do the job just fine(make sure you have a good case thou)

if you are going to oc then get zalman 9500

The future of the human race is bleak indeed.

check this out 4mb vs 2mb

LOL, check out the link i posted, extra 2mb will help in encoding/rendering apps like divx etc 8)

pay no attention to those prices, bs, check out the perfomance gain chart and decide if you need an extra 2mb

true that

I would say C2D but there is a big price difference.

+-$100 dollers on the board and CPU so that's +-$200 more, but if you have the money go for it.

Should i go with the ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX Intel Motherboard? or another?


BTW i just got the 6400 it will be in my mitts in 4 days

The Conroe 6600 would slap the AMD X2 4600+ hard, bend it over for vigorous anal, and then wipe on its curtains after finishing.

In short, owned.

lol hmmm I wander if i should of got that?.... Oh well to late now i bought every thing... i might send back the n32 for that other nvidia board... O well... thinks of all the input guys.


FUC*ing gfx card sold out when i was doing check out..... GGGRRRRr i went with the 256mb insted of the 512 >.< I went to tigerdirect and they would not pricematch newegg so i said screw it. When it gets here i will be happy any way.