Hey Geo
Well it was a hard choice made knowingly, the Intel CPU I was looking at was E6850 core 2 duo at 3.0 running $277, throw in the mobo I was looking at, Asus P5K3 at $240, then I'd need a new cpu cooler another $70 for the ThermalRight Ultra 120 and Vantac Stealth 120mm fan so I could over clock it when I got it; I'd be out $587 plus $25 shipping so $612. Current rig, M3A $97 free shipping, X2 6400 $179 free shipping. Kept the same cpu cooler for a while so I'm out $276 take $276 and divide by $612 and you get .45 or 45%. So at 45% of the cost of the Intel Rig I run at 3.2 dual core as opposed to 3.0 dual core stock. Now it's currently accepted that Intel is running 13% faster so the 3.0 stock would be equivalent 3.39GHZ adjusted. So I get a stock gain of 190 mhz for $345 more. Then they say but you can over clock the cheaper 2.66 I didn't want a 2.66 I wanted 3.0 or above native speed. But you could over clock the 3.0, would that be worth the $345 with the new 45nm Intel on the horizon, probably not. Right now I'm running at 3.52 comfortably, flipping 12000+ on 3DMark2006, Same graphic card on a much more expensive Intel setup, running water flips 14000. So I'm running 14% below that, less expensive, no water cooling on the video card or cpu. Figure water cooling $200, makes the $617 up to $817 so now I add the cpu cooler i got, makes me up to $346. Run the percentages again, and I'm running at 42% of the Intel water cooled rig. (not to knock water cooling at all, my first water cooling parts ship tomorrow) Save 58% or $471 and run 14% slower not a bad trade off. All that said it was partially loyalty, last 10 years I've had AMD, figured I'd try the last and fastest X2 and maybe Phenom will catch a break. Probably sell the guts off the AMD after I go intel (planning on it this year). Sadly enough I know I'll break even money wise on the AMD I have now, the Intel I'm going to build not so much.
On the M2N-E I could get my 3800 to 2.4 - 2.5, 2.4 was fsb 220 stock voltage, 2.5 was fsb 230 vcore up one notch, HT lowered to 4x, memory was 667 ddr2 transcend jet ram. To get to 230 FSB I cable tied an old cpu cooler I had to the NB heat pipe, had some Artic silver between the HS and the NB cool pipe. With out the old cpu cooler i hit 223 FSB and BSOD every time. Never tried higher than 230 FSB. Now it's running a 4200 2.2 @ 2.42 - 220 fsb. If you look on your board at the fan connector by the NB it says NB fan connector. Given that it's got a cool pipe why would they put a NB fan connector on the board if they didn't know it would need extra cooling to achieve higher enthusiast FSB speeds? The connector was what clued me in (8 months after I got it). Might get better speeds with a NB cooler, the M3A is the same way hit above 220 with out extra cooling and BSOD and it's a passive heat sink. I have a NB cooler on back order, the ThermalRight 80mm, it's another monster sized cooler. Runs like $40 w/shipping. IMHO to get much higher than 220 it's going to require better NB cooling, and I could be wrong, it's been known to happen. It could be voltage regulation, the replacement board I got from Asus has the same voltage fluctuation's the first one did. I'm betting that it's not that cause the M3A does the same thing and it's voltage regulation is great. In the end OC with AMD is still a crap shoot for me. That was a contributing factor when I got the 6400, I figured if it wouldn't OC very much at least it'd run fast enough.
Some one once said (I saw it on Mad Max) speed is nothing more than a function of cost, how fast do you want to go? It's kinda true. So now I'm fledgling starting into water cooling. As usual one part at a time, pump first, then probably a water block next, snatch a radiator, dig a fan out of the collection, scrounge a water tank for it. Run to the hardware store for some tubing and clamps, call 7 people, go online read every thing Bio-Hazard and Stev ever wrote, PM them until they want to kill me. Then whack it all together out side the case, pressure test it, the whole while getting stink eye from my better half, spend the whole next day figuring out how to drain it and get it inside the case with out drowning the PC. Tease all the bubbles out of the system, fire it up and watch it for hours wondering if it's going to go postal on my Mobo/video card. Why you ask, several reasons only one of which is better cooling/performance. I gave up regular drinking, I don't get to chase wild women any more, I'm old enough to know better but gonna do it any way, and lastly maybe just maybe it'll quench this techno lust. I doubt it, in the end it'll just keep me off the street and put a smile on my face for a while. Then I'll think of some thing else I want to try. Best advice I can give, try it all, or run while you can; obviously it's to late for me.
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