This might be a little irrational if you actually compare the performance of both cache sizes on an apples-to-apples clock rate basis, but so be it. I'm a big believer in cache, so I'm not willing to drop down to the E6300 or E6400 which only have 2 megabytes of L2. The E6600 is the cheapest Core 2 Duo with 4 megabytes of level 2 cache. I've been a long time AMD enthusiast, but Intel finally abandoned the problematic Pentium 4 architecture and built a better mousetrap this time. Core 2 Duo is clearly the benchmark champ at the moment. And all the value DDR2-533 memory AnandTech tested ran fine at 800 speeds, as long as you bumped up the voltage a bit. Even if you push the front side bus up to 400 MHz- what I consider an extreme overclock- that's still only (400 x 2) or DDR2-800 officially. That's why I went with a nice midrange DDR2-667, specifically the AData Vitesta memory which did quite well in a recent AnandTech value memory roundup. Have you priced 2 gigabytes of DDR2-1066 lately? Personally, I think buying extremely fast memory is overrated by the time the system has to reach beyond the L1 and L2 cache into main memory, the performance penalty is already so severe that a few additional nanoseconds isn't going to matter in the big scheme of things.

And I won't go below 2 gigabytes, which is what I consider a mainstream memory configuration these days. Modern northbridges run very hot, and cooling them quietly can be a PITA because of their proximity to the CPU and video cards. ASUS is a well respected brand name, and I really like the fact that it has a silent heatpipe on the northbridge instead of a fan. It's the most modern chipset for the Core 2 Duo, too. The 965 Express was an editors' choice at Tech Report. After all, that's what the internet is for. Allow me to share my freakish obsession with you, dear reader. Computer hardware is one of my few indulgences, but I do a freakishly obsessive amount of research before buying anything. This is a straight 'drop in' replacement for my existing Athlon X2 4800+.įirst, a few words on why I chose these specific parts. I'm not replacing my video card, hard drive, power supply, or case. I just pulled the trigger on the following Core 2 Duo upgrade: It's been over a year since I built my last PC, and all those killer Core 2 Duo benchmark and overclocking results were making me anxious.

Building and Overclocking a Core 2 Duo System

Core 2 duo 2.4 ghz