The upcoming upgrade

[Cabbs]

So, I will be upgrading to Core 2 Duo soon, and wanted to know what your advice would be. I'm not doing a full build, just replacing the mobo, ram, and cpu.

For the motherboard I was thinking of going with:

The DFI Infinity 975x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136168

Asus P5W DH Deluxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025

Intel Badaxe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813121016

And I was looking at the Abit AW9D Max, but it doesn't have enough pci slots for me. Also I will be overclocking.

For the CPU, I was gonna go with a E6300, but I saw the LGA 775 Conroe Xeon with the 4mb cache, and want to go with that if it's compatible with standard motherboards.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819117103

As for ram, I really don't know much about ram, but I know of some good brands, but would like to keep it under $300.

I was looking at the Corsair xms2 DDR2 2gb set
[/url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034[/url]

OCZ Platinum Rev. 2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227139

Or the Patriot 2gb set
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220144

I am open to suggestions, so your help will be appreciated.

 

[freestyler105]

That DFI board looks good, out of those 3, I'd get that. Unless you need the WiFi, I'd say that Asus Board is overkill. I haven't heard anything about Intel boards, so I can't really comment, but most of the reviews say that it's not very good for overclocking.

Xeon processors are really more for servers than everyday computing. I'd recommend the Core2Duo E6600. It's really fast to begin with, and it has amazing overclocking potential, despite the locked multiplier. If that's too expensive, then the e6300 or e6400 should be fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003

As for the memory, those are all mostly the same. The Corsair set is getting rave reviews though.

 

[Raffaz]

Heres a review from toms hardware, not all the boards your looking at are there but it might help you with ya decision.
http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/10/11/four_975x_motherboards_for_core_2_duo_uk/

 

[Cabbs]

I read on Legit Reviews that the Intel Badaxe 2 allows for better overclocking than the first one, and managed to get the quad core qx6700 from 2.66 Ghz to 3.66 Ghz, so I guess I will wait until that comes out and what people have to say about it, and i'm not in a rush either, I would rather wait and buy something I will be happy with than rush and be pissed that I paid for something I don't like. Thanks for the help.

 

[ownage]

lets see, out of those three boards, i would choose the ABIT if you dont want to do mods, but if you want to voltmod, and such, Intel is the best board. But out of those three, i would really choose neither. I would go with the DFI RD600 board. And what do you need PCI slots for? PCI is dying, no point in getting anything PCI anymore, except sound cards, which creative is refusing to make PCI-E.

 

[Cabbs]

I didn't know about the RD600, but I read a little bit about it and it looks good. I need the pci slots for my soundcard and maybe my usb 2.0 card, depending on how many usb ports it has, which I imagine may have plenty enough, so I guess I shouldn't worry.

 

[ownage]

you shouldnt need any more USB than it already comes with. It comes with a bracket with 2 extra USB 2.0 headers and it has 4 on the I/O part. So 6 should suit you fine.

 

[Cabbs]

Yeah, 6 is plenty. Thanks for your help