Good Upgrade for a 4600+?

[jjblanche]

My brother has a Falcon Northwest fragbox from about a year and a half ago. It has a 4600+ AM2 in it (not sure of the mobo at the moment, looking into that...although I know it's SLI). He just picked up an 8800 GT, and I suggested he grab a new CPU to compliment it. I was thinking of suggesting the 6000+ because of the upped cache, and the obvious clock increase, but is there a better AM2 choice in the sub $200 range? I'm going for the best price/performance ratio. How far can one OC one of the better AM2s without messing too much with the voltage? The fragbox is a small case, and has a tendency to heat up...

 

[Grimmy]

I'd say the Black Edition 5000+ should OC fairly easy to 3ghz, from what I read. Would definitely get 3rd party HS.

If OC isn't possible/good on the MB then the 6000+ should suffice.

Removing air filters or any thing that blocks airflow should help out. Also perhaps buying something that can help push the heat out (8800GT) would also help. This is just an example:

Thermaltake TMG SL1 A2414 80mm Blue LED Dual PCI Slot Fan

That type of setup pushes air out of the slot, rather pull air in from the rear. Its a bad example, since it takes up 2 slots, I was trying to show/see the type of airflow it provides visually. I'm guessing the 8800GT will force hot air down, which may cause a heat loop.

Edit:

Here's the B/E off NewEgg:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 65W Black Edition Processor

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor

 

[jjblanche]

I've looked at the Black Edition, but the 6000+ has double the L2 cache. Plus, it's rated at 3.0GHz out of the box, so I won't need to really bother with OC. Don't get me wrong, I love to tinker, but as of now I'm not sure what mobo he has, and it's a year and a half old, so I don't want to start pushing it now. Besides, I really don't want the Northbridge to heat up and raise the temps in an already hot case.

I was looking into one of those slot coolers. I saw one that's a single slot, and pushes over 30 CFM, so I'm probably going to roll with one or two of those. I was also thinking about changing out the stock fans in the case to high capacity ones.

Thanks for the help.