Jorsher

Hey, my motherboard died the other night so it's time for a new comp. I haven't looked into components since I built my last one about 4 years ago so have been a bit out of the loop when it comes to whats good or bad... Here's what I plan on getting so far and have a couple questions:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 Conroe 2.13GHz Processor (takes overclocking like a bitch and price isn't bad, have seen it easily oc'ed to 3.7ghz)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) (supposed to take overclocking alright, and cheap)
SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (don't play games much and it was the best performing for the price of $170)
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink (balla fan for the cpu)
Maxtor DiamondMax 21 STM3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

I'm having trouble with finding a motherboard. Almost all the motherboards I've found have their memory standard described as "DDR2 667." Does this mean that the DDR2 1066 I'll be using won't perform to it's potential, or is the memory standard just the minimum it supports?

I'm looking at these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128057
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131189

BTW I don't want to hear what's better blah blah this ***** slow blah...I don't give a ----. I'm trying to buy something that's not slow but isn't gonna rape my wallet either. Total I won't be spending more than $800 and it'll haul *** and be able to do the media encoding without taking a week.

ichbinsobose

pl5d2 or similar mobo from asus via newegg.com
core2duo cheapest one you can get, all will oc roughly the same
8600 for gaming, the card you have is very solid fi you cant go 8600 or better
ram shouldnt cost you more then 100$

slickdeals.net
overclocking.com

cant believe you didnt ask me for advice

Econo-Box

You mem will more than likey work but obviously it will run at teh 667 not 1028, your CPU is badass and it deff worth the dough.

On the vid card I just got a 1950 and I love it solid choice, is that the one with the 256 interface?

Econo-Box

I just re-read that and check your links. I like both MB's and it seems to me that both of them will run your ram, if you got one that was 667 I would think your RAM should still work but it will run at 667.

Jorsher

Ichi - the 8600 is good, but I was looking at the benchmark charts on tomshardware and oddly the 1950 was beating the 8600s and is cheaper. It's only $170. And you're never online to ask, not to mention my computer is dead :P Yeah I read an article on a site where they overclocked the e4400, e6320, and e6420. While the e4400 and e6320 could be overclocked to about the same 3.1-3.2ghz, neither of them could keep up with the e6420 which went to 3.7ghz without a problem. The other two have the "FSB hole" problem or something where over 500mhz fsb a lot of mobos can't take it and no performance is gained by increasing the fsb.

97EconoBox - It is the $170 x1950xt 256mb card on newegg, might be the same one you're talking about. For under 200 it was the best performing. Later I can add another if it doesn't run as well as I want, but I don't play many games so it should be more than sufficient. The ram is supposed to be pretty good, is cheap, and is from a reliable manufacturer (Crucial). It's stock timings are 5-5-5-15 but supposedly it'll handle 4-4-4-12 without a problem.

d16forlife

Labtops, bumbers...lol!

baker_jeff

You might want to check out the E6550, faster, better price.

Jorsher

Well if I wasn't overclocking, it'd be my choice. However, it has a 7x multiplier as opposed to the 8x multiplier of the e6420. So to match the speeds I can get with the 6420, id have to raise the fsb up a bit higher. This would mean I'd need more expensive ram and motherboard. 6420 is 8x1066 and 6550 is 7x1333. I can get more speed out of the 6420 with lower fsb meaning cheaper ram, lower temps, and cheaper mobo.

I think the overclockabilitiness of the 6420 is the reason its a few bucks more. 6420 ftw!

fork

Id get a DX10 card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130085

and how bout this mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188017

or this fatser ram support
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188019

rsmith2786

There still isnt really a Core 2 Duo mainboard on the market i really like. Im running the MSI P965 Platinum v2 until i can find something i like. I do love these processors though. They run so much cooler and more stable than the P4's.