Yeah, I’d go with the 800MHz option—but honestly, I’d probably lean toward OCZ instead. Since the multiplier on the Intel Core 2 Duo is 9x, it changes things... if you're looking at a lower multiplier, you really ought to pick up some faster memory...
Nah, it’s not just about necessity—it's more about being able to tell my friends, "Yeah, sure... I'm pushing for 4 gigs per core"... hehe... But realistically, I don't think I need anything beyond 3.0. Right now I've got an AMD Athlon XP running at 2.17, though I overclocked it slightly to 2.3, which is plenty—the other components are the actual bottleneck here... For instance, the GPU—an NVIDIA FX 5200—is too weak to be any more significant... 😁 Or how the hard drive starts "screeching" whenever I'm typing or reading something... I run a defrag and it's fine for maybe two days—quiet and smooth—and then the grinding starts again... 😁
edit: But seriously now... 3.0 is more than enough for me, especially paired with an 8800GT. Plus, I'll pick up some OCZ memory... aiming for 800MHz. 1066 is just too expensive for me right now... but we'll see... If I actually find myself needing more than 3.0 in two years, I'll just grab a BigTyp 120 VX, though that would mean I should have gone with 1066MHz memory today...
I’d probably go with the P35-DS3 for the motherboard—it should be solid enough. I’m thinking of aiming for about 4.0 GHz to start with. Honestly, in this day and age, I doubt I’ll need anything more than that. Would the stock cooler handle it? If not, I’d just grab a BigTyp 120 VX, then I'm certain it would work fine.
Aha. So, is the 8400 actually better? Because if the Intel Core 2 Duo hits 4GHz, and this one can reach 5GHz using just the stock cooler—what's the catch? Is that 5GHz per core or what? I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to Intel processors—I've always been more of an AMD guy myself.
You misread me—I was asking about the 200. As for DDR3, the price is just too high for me right now. Unless you have a solid recommendation for something more budget-friendly? Also, regarding what you mentioned about 5GHz—is that per core?? I know this sounds like a total newbie question, but I honestly can't believe if that's actually how it works... Anyway, I’ve been looking at the E8400, and I've seen it available at some stores for $400, which is more than fine by me. I might just go with that instead...
Hey, I'm not sure if this has been covered yet—I don't really have the energy to scroll through everything right now. How high can I push an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 using just the stock cooler and some 800MHz DDR2 memory?