Originally posted by: firewolfsm
If you feel it being slow in everyday tasks and you think you need the upgrade then go ahead. I doubt you need the 6600 though. This AMD X2 3600/Biostar Mobo combo is only $170. All you need to buy is ram and a cheap graphics card (the 7300GT is only $40). It's much cheaper than the Intel upgrade.
Also, it's the new 65nm revision, so it should run very cool.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103036
About the computing power, yes, but about 65nm, no. AT reviewed their first batch of 65nms and the performance is lowered, but it didn't OC any better, don't remember about temps though, you can look it up yourself. Anyway, the L2 latency is higher than 90nm chips, probably because they're restructuring things to get ready for quadcore where they'll also have an L3 cache. So if media stuff is L2 intensive, a 65nm chips might not work as well, but if it's an HTPC, the lower temps might just be worth it.
Edit: I have a T2300, and apparantly each core is comparable to a 2.8c P4, though media stuff can often take advantage of dualcore, so it's not entirely comparable to your computer. Anyway, while I'd like a T7500 or something, that's just not going to happen, and this thing does pretty well for me, and probably will for another three years. My guess is your computer still has a good bit of life in it.
But if you are getting tired of the machine, a better use of your money would probably be finding a dirt cheap PD 805 or 920 in FS/FT or maybe down at a Fry's or something like it, then OC the thing at least 400Mhz. For media, the dualcore does make a decent difference, but it's not worth the price of a C2D+mobo+ram. Then again, depending on what bundles you can find, a K8 could fairly easily be more cost effective.
you'll be impressed with C2D
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