Fry's Labor Day Mobo/CPU Combo

[colossus]

Fry's is going to have this combo on sale for Monday (Labor Day) only. I haven't bought Intel stuff since my P3-700 days so I have no idea how good of a deal this is. The combo price is $5 less than the price of the retail CPU at Newegg.

ECS P4M800PRO-M @ Newegg for reference
Pentium D 915 CPU @ Newegg for reference



OT
Now, I need to buy a new Mobo/CPU combo that supports DDR2 and preferably has onboard video. Would I be better off getting the above combo or the AMD combo for the same price:
ECS C51GM-M @ Newegg for reference
AMD AM2 3800+ @ Newegg for reference

The Intel combo is dual core, but the AMD combo will probably run cooler. I like overclocking, but I think both of these boards don't even support basic OC. Anybody have experience with either board? Machine will be used for basic workstation tasks. Since both combos are $129 I don't know which to get.

 

[ty42]

or Core 2 Duo E6600 & ECS MB for $380.

http://shopping.nwsource.com/ROP/ads.as...0914&adid=3446797&subid=13049265&type=

 

[tigerslicer]

I bought a frys combo last december and the ecs board has options to change fsb and memory divder i think. and thats all. In addition to basically no options i could not raise the fsb past 205 on my socket 939 3700 so that sucked. basically dont expect to overclock. at all.

 

[Craig234]

I'm wondering whether to jump on this E6600/ECS P965T $380 one-day deal too.

I'm not into overclocking, I just want it to work reliably and support reasonable components.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Originally posted by: Craig234
I'm wondering whether to jump on this E6600/ECS P965T $380 one-day deal too.

I'm not into overclocking, I just want it to work reliably and support reasonable components.

I'm debating this deal too. I'm looking at the ECS mobo as something to use til the newer
Conroe boards come out. However, if you're not into overclocking, the reviews at newegg peg it as a solid board. http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?Item=N82E16813135022

 

[Lurker1]

If, like me, you don't own DDR2 RAM, then this becomes a discussion purely of processor/MB costs, and future intentions. Do you intend to upgrade to a nifty quad CPU within the next year without buying other new parts? If yes, AMD is your choice. If this box is to stay as is until your next fully new box, then buy a Core 2 system. (the socket 775 MB's will not be upgradable to the next Intel CPU from everything I've seen)

If you have spare DDR RAM sitting on your desk like I did, then a AMD 939 is your cheaper alternative by far, even if you pick up an "expensive" DFI MB (they're only about $120 now, still far cheaper than a comparable Core 2 MB). I picked up my new AMD X2 system for a mere $160 for CPU/MB.