Preparing for Intel Core 2 Duo

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Anthony Fiti
Kurtis
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Jul. 25, 2006

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The Processor

First is the E6600 - 2.4Ghz 1066Mhz FSB. The biggest issue I've read about so far is that the processor might be in short supply for the next few months. Intel's own data shows that they aren't wiping out Pentium 4 production and replacing it with Conroe wholesale so the transition to Conroe will be comparatively slow.

For you uber-enthusiasts, you should be pleased to hear that people are getting the higher end Core 2 Duo models up to 3.5Ghz+ with air-cooling. Some are getting over 4Ghz on air, which is astounding. With this particular model, the ideal overclock (if there can be such a thing) would be 3.6Ghz. This would represent 1600Mhz FSB (400MHz quad pumped) with a 9x multiplier. It has some nice other benefits I'll mention below. And there is a good chance you can get close to that mark.

Price: $350 (est.)

The Motherboard

I've been looking around and the 975X boards, and they're extremely expensive! $250+ expensive. There is no way am I going to spend $350 on a processor and $250 on a motherboard, so I look to the 965PE. The Asus P5B is just starting to arrive in North America. The regular edition is showing up around $170 plus shipping, meanwhile the deluxe edition is around $230 at many reputable online dealers. I expect the prices to drop slightly as supply gets more plentiful. I don't think I will be using the Wifi, extra LAN port, or need a PCI-E x4 slot (it's physically x16, but only electrically 4x) anytime soon. I'm sticking with the non-deluxe edition.

Price: $170 (est.)

The Memory

The whole Core/Core2 architecture is interesting. Instead of having a 1:1 ratio between FSB and memory bandwidth, you have odd ratios so there is more memory bandwidth than there is FSB bandwidth. I don't have my hands on enough hardware to figure out if this matters or why, but it seems odd to me. Granted there is DMA and integrated graphics that can eat into memory bandwidth, but I would hope you aren't running integrated graphics on your rig. Anyways, back to my RAM recommendation! I'd go after some DDR2-800, but hopefully you can push it a little past 800 if you get an amazing overclock where a 1:1 ratio requires you to push the RAM further (though the motherboard I mentioned above is supposed to only go up to 400Mhz FSB so you really can't go beyond 800Mhz. So unless you select a different motherboard or hack the firmware or something, this might be an issue).

The Video Card

Finally there is the video card. I still have an AGP rig so I'm in the market for a new video card. Sadly, I don't think Nvidia or ATi is timing their launch well, although it's really not their fault since Intel did move up the release dates on the Core 2 Duo processors (Woodcrest, Conroe, Merom). Regardless, the G80 will probably launch in September or October, and the R600 and its unified shaders will go in November. I'm leaning towards Nvidia since it's being released earlier (and I'm impatient). Unless you can pick up a current generation card on the cheap and you don't want to wait for the next generation, then go for it. However, I'm basically building a rig for MS Flight Simulator X (FSX) which is optimized for DirectX 10 and Windows Vista (yes, I will have to say goodbye to Windows 2000). I want to make sure that I have a hardware compatible DX10 card to go with FSX. For now, I think I can find a cheap PCI-E video card to hold me over. Many of you out there might have an existing PCI-E video card to use, so this might not apply to you.

Other Parts and Total

One of the nice things about this processor is that it consumes up to 1/3 less power than the processor in your box now; 65 watts, less power than that P4 or Athlon64 you have (all running at stock of course). So you probably won't need a new power supply if you have a 24-pin w/ PCI-E graphics card aux power slot. If you do need a new PSU, you can find an excellent one for around $65 if you know what you're looking for.

You'll also need a beefy heatsink (Sunbeam/Tuniq Tower 120 or a Scythe Ninja) or watercooling rig to get good overclocking results. As I mentioned above, the CPUs are showing outstanding overclocks on good air cooling. The idea of a 3.2Ghz Conroe is awesome. Again, it'll be GPU limited in games, but if you're doing rendering work, I can't imagine a better setup (assuming you can get stable, reliable results out of it). And that's it. I'm ready to go; the approximate price will end up being around $1100 or so.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600: $350
2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800 (or faster) RAM: $200
Asus P5B P965 Motherboard: $170
Future G80/R600 Video Card: $250
Heatsink: $50
Power Supply: $60
Total: $1080 + Shipping/Tax

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