Core 2 Duo - mobo - ram - help

hapveg · Post by **hapveg** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:38 am

Hi,

I upgraded most of my system a few months ago, but was waiting for the Core 2 Duo to reach these shores (UK) before upgrading the CPU / Mobo / Memory.

It's a lot of cash, so please let me know if I'm overlooking something or making a bad decision.

I'm currently looking at:
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.4Ghz / 1066FSB)
Mobo: Asus P5W-DH Deluxe or P5B Deluxe
Ram: GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 800MHz
Heatsink: Scythe Ninja Plus, or Mine (fanless, in a P180 with Nexus exhaust)

Heatsink: I'm undecided between the Ninja and the Mine. Any advice on which works better in a P180?

Mobo: The Asus P5W-DH Deluxe seems popular, but I have a single X1900XTX, don't plan on upgrading to CrossFire, and have a PATA-USB converter for the few times I'll need a PATA (hd/cd) drive. Is it accurate that 965P mobos natively support Core2Duo, while some 975X's need a bios update? My last few CPU's have been AMD / DDR1, so flashing the bios would prove problematic.

Mobo recommendations especially appreciated.

I plan on doing as much overclocking as I can *quietly* manage.

The rest of my setup, which I upgraded a few months ago:
Video: X1900XTX (with Arctic Cooling Accelero X2, which I highly recommend).
PSU: Nesteq 620W semi-fanless (recommended in a P180 with an undervolted Nexus in lower chamber, I wouldn't recommend it in any other case).
HDD: 4 x SpinPoint 160GB.

I'll be getting a PC gamepad too, I have absolutely no experience with them, any recommendations?

Once again, advice is really appreciated, I get nervous spending this much cash in one session.

ceselb · Post by **ceselb** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:56 am

Unless you plan to overclock heavily, you could get away with cheaper (slower) memory. A 1:2 ratio is ideal, so 533Mhz / PC4200 without any overclock.

More info:
http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=472

L3thal · Post by **L3thal** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:24 pm

I have the E6600 with the P5B Deluxe WiFi. I chose the P5B Deluxe because it is a newer design, designed especially for C2D's, which with a few BIOS updates, should be faster than the 975X, and I too, don't have any plans on using SLI/Crossfire.

One side note: You will probably have to update the BIOS to the latest revision before you can install windows. Mine gave me an Intel CPU loading error when I first started it up, but it went away after the update.

I went with the Corsair memory, I had the Geil stuff in my old puter, and had a lot of problems with it.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:05 pm

L3thal - did you need to start it up with a different CPU in order to update the BIOS, or can you do it with the Core 2 Duo installed ?