[Akulamkii]

I am going to be getting a new PC sometime soon, but I'm debating whether or not I should wait until Quad-core (Kentsfield, I believe they are called?) processors are available at the end of 2006/early 2007. How much better/more expensive are the Quad-cores expected to be about a month after they hit (as with Core 2 Duos right now)? Also, if I do decide to stick with a Core 2 Duo, is it worth upgrading to the E6600 for the extra .5ish Ghz and 4M shared L2 cache? Or is the performance increase over the basic E6300 minimal given the large increase in price?

I won't be running a ton of high-end applications on the computer aside from Vista (Aero?) and a few spec-busting games (notably Oblivion 4 and Battlefield 2142), but I want something powerful enough to give me the capabilities to run mid-to-high tier applications in the future so I don't wind up having to completely overhaul in 2 years.

Here is the setup I'm looking at right now:
Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86Ghz 2M shared L2 cache $191.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115005
Case w/ Power Supply $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811156164
Motherboard $76.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131586
Graphics Card $115.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102688
200GB Hard Drive $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148066
2GB Patriot RAM $204.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220079
Sony DVD Burner $29.59
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827131031

Also, I've read in Elbatrop's guide to RAM that DDR2 is better for new Core 2 Duo systems... should I change to the Patriot DDR2 2x 1GM? And if so, will I need to change anything else (mobo/case/psu/cooling/whatever)?

Any advice appreciated... I got myself up to speed on most of this tech in the last 24 hours so I'm not too comfortable with compatibility and such quite yet... 2 days ago, I didn't even know dual-core processors were the new standard .

[Deathawk]

Get a real PSU, and change your MB and RAM so you can have DDR2 ram

[talldude123]

The case and power supply, for $30, won't last too long.

[Akulamkii]

Thanks for the advice.

I'm still wondering about the processor though - how much difference does the extra Ghz and doubled L2 cache on the E6600 make? And is it worth waiting for Quad-core?

[Apokalipse]

well we won't know how good they'll be until release

[Deathawk]

Do you know how to overclock, or plan on it? Because you can overclock C2D's a lot...

[Akulamkii]

I don't know how to overclock yet, but that's one of the next things on my to-learn list. As I understand it you really only need to get a good cooling system to offset the heat increase from OCing, otherwise anything that works with your processor before Overclocking will work after, right?

So I take it that the extra $200ish for the 6600 as opposed tot he 6300 isn't worth it?

[The General]

I don't think that motherboard even supports Core 2 Duos.

[b1gapl]

Yea that motherboard doesn't support C2D like General said.

[Akulamkii]

After some more research, this is the build I have so far:

Proc: Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86Ghz 2MB shared L2 cache
RAM: G.SKILL (2 x 1GB) 240-pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit
Mobo: ASUS P5NSLI Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI Intel Edition ATX Intel Motherboard
VCard: (Recertified) eVGA 256-P2-N516-RX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
Drive: West Dig Caviar SE WD2000JB 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
DVD: SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner

Still looking for a decent+compatible Case & PSU. Also, I don't think I'll need additional cooling but I'm not sure. This seems like pretty solid performance for the price, but if anyone has better alternatives I would love to hear them (cheaper for same specs, same price for better specs, etc).