I am thinking about either the 6600 or the 6300. Is the 6600 hundred worth the extra $150 ish?

Question

I am thinking about either the 6600 or the 6300. Is the 6600 hundred worth the extra $150 ish?

I mainly use my computer for fooling around. I watch movies, play music and play games. I have no problem lowering the quality of a game to make it work better.

Another thing I see is that the 6600 will be more upgradable later on in life. (I have had an AMD 1700 XP for about 5 years now)


Here is what I will need, help me if I am wrong

6300 cost 170
6600 cost 315

New case? Or can I get a new PSU and keep my current one?
PSU? 40?
Ram? 100?
Motherboard? 100?
Video Card? 100?

Would I be better off getting I dell?

I built my last system, but that was a long time ago.

I have a hard drive, I have optical, I have monitors and speakers I like.

Why would I not be able to use IDE. I understand that SATA is the new thing, but I would assume MB's still come with IDE

Answer 1

The 6300 and 6600 use the same socket, so they are equally upgradeable. If you plan to overclock, the 6300 should be just fine, if not I would recommend you move up to the 6600. As for the rest I would spend about 80 on the PSU, you want quality there, and bump it up to about 200 for the video card. Don't forget new motherboards use SATA for hard drives and your old one might be IDE. As for a Dell, you might look into their E520 line once you have all your parts picked out, you might be able to get a Dell for cheaper.

Answer 2

For upgradeability sake, if you can afford the extra $150, then choose the upgraded model.

Usually, the "upgraded" ones offer more flexibility for future upgrades.