Hey there...
I have an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (2.2GHz, 512KBx2 L2) with 1GB of DDR2-667 and a 7600GS 256MB video card.
I am considering the following upgrade options/paths:
1) 3.0GHz Athlon 64 X2 6000+ with 4GB of DDR2-800;
or
2) An Intel system. This would be based on an Asus P5N-E SLI and the processor would be either an overclocked E2160 or a Q6600. All of the benchmarks that I have seen on the internet show that the E2160 overclocked to 3.4GHz with DDR2-800 ram has more bandwidth than all but the 3.0GHz Core2Duo;
or
3) Bite the bullet and buy a Dell XPS 420 (Q6600) with 4GB and a 500GB hard disk for $1,100. Add my own video card and whatever else.
As far as the video card goes, I am considering the 8800GT regardless of how I build the rest of the system.
This will be an all purpose system, with a dual boot between Kubuntu Linux and Windows Vista. Some photoshop, some moderate gaming (WoW, Guild Wars, Crysis), but also 50% use will consist of Word processing, spreadsheets and tax/accounting software.
Thanks in advance,
Jon
I have an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (2.2GHz, 512KBx2 L2) with 1GB of DDR2-667 and a 7600GS 256MB video card.
I am considering the following upgrade options/paths:
1) 3.0GHz Athlon 64 X2 6000+ with 4GB of DDR2-800;
or
2) An Intel system. This would be based on an Asus P5N-E SLI and the processor would be either an overclocked E2160 or a Q6600. All of the benchmarks that I have seen on the internet show that the E2160 overclocked to 3.4GHz with DDR2-800 ram has more bandwidth than all but the 3.0GHz Core2Duo;
or
3) Bite the bullet and buy a Dell XPS 420 (Q6600) with 4GB and a 500GB hard disk for $1,100. Add my own video card and whatever else.
As far as the video card goes, I am considering the 8800GT regardless of how I build the rest of the system.
This will be an all purpose system, with a dual boot between Kubuntu Linux and Windows Vista. Some photoshop, some moderate gaming (WoW, Guild Wars, Crysis), but also 50% use will consist of Word processing, spreadsheets and tax/accounting software.
Thanks in advance,
Jon