Upgrading conundrum

[Jax Omen]

Ok, I currently have an E6600 OC'd to 3GHZ on a 680i mobo.

My girlfriend has an Athlon 64 3200+ on some random socket 754 mobo.

I want to upgrade her to a C2D of some sort.

I have two paths I want to go down:

1) Upgrade my CPU (Q6600, most likely.), give her the E6600.
2) Buy her an E2160 or some similar CPU, OC the hell out of it.

Either way, I'd be buying her a mobo (probably a P35, from what I've read). I plan on getting more RAM with my upgrades I'm doing, so she's just going to get my current 2x1GB pair.

Essentially, my question is: would it be worth the $150 price difference between the E2160 and the Q6600 for the upgrade? We mostly game, and a large amount of our gaming is RTS (hence why I'm considering the quadcore, I know SupCom can use it and most RTS in the future seem likely to use it).

 

[bryanW1995]

first of all, where did you find a chick who likes to game??? lucky bastard...

Q6600 will probably last much longer imho, just make sure that you are ready to deal with the heat.

 

[Jax Omen]

would an AF7Pro be capable of keeping a Q6600 <60C @ 3GHZ? I don't plan on OCing it higher than that.

If not, what air cooler should I get that offers the best value/dollar for cooling a Q6600?

 

[Markfw]

First, the Athlon XP 3200 is socket A, not socket 754. Also, she will need a new video card, as all new motherboards are PCI express.

I vote option 1

 

[Jax Omen]

Ok, well she has whatever is a 3200+ socket 754 Athlon. Sorry.

She has PCI-E already, but she'll be inheriting my current 8800.

EDIT: Looked it up in my order history, it's an Athlon 64 3200+ not an XP. Sorry.

 

[Markfw]

NP. Sounds like a plan.... Get the Q6600

 

[Jax Omen]

Would the AF7 Pro be adequate for a Q6600 @ 3ghz? Now I'm all worried...

 

[LOUISSSSS]

yes it will be fine for 3ghz

 

[Jax Omen]

Sweet. Thanks for the replies.