AMD X2 4600+ system now or wait for Core 2?

[Richard Brooks]

Hello.

I've been watching PC prices fall recently and as of now I can get the
following for about £800:

AMD64 Athlon X2 4600+ 1Mb cache
2.0GB DDR 400mhz (2 x 1GB)
300GB S-ATA2 3.0Gb/s 16MB buffer
16x Double-Layer DVD+/-RW
NVidia GeForce 7900GT PCI-E 256MB
1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive
Windows XP Home SP2
Thermaltake Soprano case
580W Hiper Modular Silent PSU

However it appears that the Intel Core 2 Duo are significantly better than
the AMD X2:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2006/07/14/core2_duo_knocks_out_athlon_64_uk/

How much would a similar/better system cost based on a Core 2 Duo?

Would you pull the trigger on the AMD system (which I reckon would have cost
me at last £250 more back in May) or are there more big price drops and
better systems on the way soon i.e. in the next month?

Thank you.

 

[Dave]

Hello.

I've been watching PC prices fall recently and as of now I can get the
following for about £800:

AMD64 Athlon X2 4600+ 1Mb cache
2.0GB DDR 400mhz (2 x 1GB)
300GB S-ATA2 3.0Gb/s 16MB buffer
16x Double-Layer DVD+/-RW
NVidia GeForce 7900GT PCI-E 256MB
1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive
Windows XP Home SP2
Thermaltake Soprano case
580W Hiper Modular Silent PSU

No Motherboard?

However it appears that the Intel Core 2 Duo are significantly better than
the AMD X2:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2006/07/14/core2_duo_knocks_out_athlon_64_uk/

How much would a similar/better system cost based on a Core 2 Duo?

Roughly 1000 of your monetary unit. The processor is a bit more (but
WORTH IT), and you apparently forgot to buy a mainboard for the other
system. That's why I'm guessing 1000.

Would you pull the trigger on the AMD system (which I reckon would have
cost me at last £250 more back in May) or are there more big price drops
and better systems on the way soon i.e. in the next month?

Thank you.

At the moment, I wouldn't build ANYTHING that is not a Intel Core 2
uo. -Dave

 

[Richard Brooks]

No Motherboard?


Roughly 1000 of your monetary unit. The processor is a bit more (but
WORTH IT), and you apparently forgot to buy a mainboard for the other
system. That's why I'm guessing 1000.


At the moment, I wouldn't build ANYTHING that is not a Intel Core 2
o. -Dave

No, I didn't forget it!

Motherboard for the £800 system is the Gigabyte K8N-SLI Pro.

But you obviously think it would be better to wait and go for Core 2
regardless?

Cheers.

 

[Dave]

No, I didn't forget it!

Motherboard for the £800 system is the Gigabyte K8N-SLI Pro.

But you obviously think it would be better to wait and go for Core 2
regardless?

Cheers.

Core 2 Duo. Definitely. Oh, and if the 800 system included the mainboard,
then you can probably build Core 2 Duo system right now for about 900, if
you shop carefully. Probably less than 900. -Dave

 

[Richard Brooks]

Core 2 Duo. Definitely. Oh, and if the 800 system included the
mainboard, then you can probably build Core 2 Duo system right now for
about 900, if you shop carefully. Probably less than 900. -Dave

£765.54 from www.komplett.co.uk and it looks as though they build it as well


Komplett Intel S775 Core 2 Duo :
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz Socket
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, P965, Socket-775,
Corsair Value S. PC4200 DDR2 2048MB
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA2
NEC DVD±RW burner, ND-4571A, 16x,
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2
PowerColor Radeon X800GTO 128MB DDR1,
Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Black,
Gigabyte GZ-FSCA1-AN Black
Cooler Master Real Power 550W w/Power

The main drop from the AMD spec would be the graphics card.

 

[MadFox]

£765.54 from www.komplett.co.uk and it looks as though they build it as well


Komplett Intel S775 Core 2 Duo :
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 1.86GHz Socket
Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, P965, Socket-775,
Corsair Value S. PC4200 DDR2 2048MB
Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB SATA2
NEC DVD±RW burner, ND-4571A, 16x,
Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2
PowerColor Radeon X800GTO 128MB DDR1,
Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Black,
Gigabyte GZ-FSCA1-AN Black
Cooler Master Real Power 550W w/Power

The main drop from the AMD spec would be the graphics card.

Seems pretty good, though a geforce 7600gt will perform better than a
X800, I'm going to be be building, well actually upgrading to a similar
system, personally I'd get slightly better ram so you can OC as the core
2's OC very nicely, you should be able to get 2.3 with stock cooling.