Hey guys I have a 4600 x2 and it does everything I want, except encode lame fast enough. Now I've over clocked it to 2.6 and i get about 40x in lame. My friends e4300 at 2.4 does like 70x (if I remember correctly). My question is this, should I get a 6000 which has double the cache for $169? Or should I get a 4400 (when the price drops) a p35 board to drop in the new Intel chips when they drop? What would be a good cheap over clocking p35? Thanks in advance.

so u want to upgrade because u want to be competative with your friend? ic. if your into AMDs, try to wait for the new 5200X2. its going to be Brisbane and clocked in at 2.7Ghz, that means OVERCLOCK! if you have no preference go for an E6320 proc and P965(OVERCLOCK!) mobo AFTER the price cuts kick in on the 22snd.

p35 is not worth it, x38 is a different story and a nother thred

It looks like lame uses SSE instructions, which run twice as fast on the C2D. So upgrading to a 6000+ wouldn't bridge the gap by much (assuming linear scaling you'd get 46.15x with a 6000+).

Oh, and skip the E4x series if you want to 'own' your friend's CPU. Go for the 6420 and OC it to 3.3+

Hey I'd Get this:

E6320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115015

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128050

Thats a good overclocking motherboard right there. With 4mb of cache and a processor at around 3ghz OC, Lame will be running Very Very fast. For a higher OC get this:

Thermaltake V1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835106102

I'll vote for the 6420 and o/c. But I'd want it on a P35 board in case your friend's up to the challenge! You could slap on a Q6600 and own him for a year.

f61

If it does everything you want except LAME, don't upgrade and enjoy your computer.
Trying to compete with the way new technology is always released is a very expensive game that serves no real purpose. One of your friends will always have something a bit newer and a bit faster and a bit cooler.
Learn to appreciate what you have, not what you do no have.

However, if you seriously want to slap down your friend, be sure to grab a P35 Mobo, at 1333 FSB Intel Chip when they are released and some DDR2-1066 RAM.

The new chips will have a new stepping which seriously cuts power requirements and allow for insane OCs.
The since the FSB is 1333 by default, you will need very fast ram to allow you to OC these chips to their potential. The P35 motherboards should also easily handle the extreme FSB speeds required. With a top of the line air-cooler, you may be able to hit a stable 4.0Ghz.

Of course, be sure to read lots of reviews when these chips are unwrapped on the 22nd.
Much or what I have read now are from various leaks and the such which are not always 100% reliable.
I am just waiting for the reliable review sites to confirm these reports.

Thanks for the advice guys. For the record, I'm not competing with my friend (I built his computer for Gods sake) I was just using his computer as a comparison. I built my am2 rig after his to ensure compatibility with Phenom (a very dumb move). I was shocked that my 4600 was so slow compared to his. The main reason I want an upgrade is because during this month I'm going to be converting thousands of lossless files to mp3's and doing alot of video encoding as I'm going back to school.

go 6000+. I'm loving mine!