Upgrade Winny? Win x64+P95? 2GB RAM

[Somnambulator]

ok so i've been sorta out of the loop for 6 months. i have a 3200+ winchester and hynix RAM (see sig) and have been nothing but disapointed with them. my main question if you choose to ignore the rest of the post is whether i should buy a new A939 (~$200 limit but the cheaper the better) or new RAM.

 

for CPU: i could buy a 3500+ Venice E6 (what's E6?) for 207 from newegg or simply buy the venice 3200+ for $50 less (huge plus). would the $50 extra be worth it? i know the 3000+ and 3200+ seemed to have been sweet spots for OCing (my winny isnt too great) and i cant imagine it being worth $50 for the 3500+ when my net result will (hopefully) be the same 2700+mhz OC. does the "E6" of the 3500+ on newegg make a difference or is it just some sort of revision code?

 

for RAM: tons of choices for ~$200, and cheaper here is also a big plus. (looking for a new vid card soon). my Geil sticks use Hynix chips and dont want to run >250mhz too well. they can do it in a non-A64 system without problems, but i bought them thinking they were TCCD (they changed the chips without many knowing about it and my purchase was among the 1st Hynix shipments and i didnt know it until much later). oooh almost forgot (last minute edit). if i do go with the RAM route, how much of a clockspeed hit would i take by going with 2GBs (2x1GB) over my current 2x512? now that i think about it, i cant see myself buying new ram that isnt a 2GB kit so that may actually put RAM out of my price limit for the time being but i'd love some advice in that respect. best OCing 2GB models?

 

what do some of you think will open up my overclock more, a venice core CPU or new verified TCCD/BH5 (not as comfortable with 3.2+ vdimm so TCCD prefered)? if RAM, what exact models do you recommend? Corsair makes some pretty good stuff but is usually much more expensive. ive always liked OCZ, what current OCZ models use TCCD and would be best for my system? not comfortable with Patriot, but most other overclocking name brands would be considered.

 

system is running 2350mhz right now, 10x235, but i havent Primed it in months. going to x64 really hampered my OCing since i couldnt use WinFlash anymore and i really dont feel comfortable with FDD flashing (most unreliable hardware AND media made for PCs ever, i dont even own a FDD between all 5 of my PCs). been burning those BIOS CDs someone's been making but kept failing Prime usually almost instantly. same exact settings, BIOS, everything was 12+ hr prime stable in XP Pro but fails instantly under x64, both 32bit and 64bit Prime95. not being sure about Prime's accuracy or WTF was going on i clocked my HTT way down (from 250 to 225 and 230) and have been running it there ever since. i'd really like to get back into OCing but i know i need a CPU and/or RAM and need to resolve these issues with x64 1st.

 

also as i stated in the 1st sentence, i havent been around for a good 6 months and am lost as to which BIOS' i should be testing. which newer revisions seem to work the best for the majority of us? if anyone has experience/knowledge of Hynix chips in my board, what BIOS number generally works best (-1 -2 -3). -3 seems OK but either -1 or -2 was horrible (dont have the files anymore to remind me which it was)

 

i know i could search the boards for possible answers but i have too many questions and i dont want to spend an entire day seeking answers i may or may not get or may not be tailored exactly to my situation.

 

thx, ~Somn

[Somnambulator]

bump

 

no one has any advice??