Upgrading Rig - Need Some CPU Guidance

[CrackHead]

I've been away from the PC parts game for a little less than a year now, and already am I in the dark when it comes to picking the right component. Luckily I can always turn to my fellow members of OCC for direction. Since my current system(see below) just isn't cutting it anymore, I have been toying with the idea of upgrading for some time now, the only problem is it wouldn't be a single component swap but rather multiple.

 

PSU: Antec - Neo HE 550-Watt

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+

RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400

GPU: XFX 6800GS

 

I was looking at up'ing the memory from 2GB to 4GB as my system boots up with ~58% already in use, courtesy of Vista... Althought this would be cheapest and fastest route, I didn't much care for the idea of investing money into new ram if I couldn't use it in the future. My other idea was to upgrade my CPU, but there was a catch to this too, only bigger. Since I am using the discontinued socket 939, one there would be no new models coming out(duh), and two there is only a couple of models that operate above 2.2GHz. Not to mention dropping ~$200 for a .2GHz doesn't seem worth it to me.

 

Due to all those factors I just mentioned, the only logical solution I could come up with would be to suck it up, shell out a few more dollars, and upgrade the motherboard, processor, and memory all at once. Here is where you guys come in; which processor should I go with? I am looking to spend ~$200 on the cpu but am unsure wether it would be better to go with an AMD or Intel.

 

What are yall's thoughts on these two processors, and is it better to have a processor with a higher GHz or a larger L2Cache

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz

 

Before this turns into some sort of fanboy peeing match, let me mention that I am simply looking for the pros/cons of each one. Also keep in mind I'm not the guy who knows the inner workings of a component, but instead just your everyday user with a little bit of experience; try and keep your answers as idiot proof as possible lol. As always any comments, questions, or concerns please let me know.

 

Thanks in Advanced...

Edited December 15, 2007 by CrackHead

[philbrown23]

Intel.

[iKillSteal]

Intel.

Because it runs cooler, is more power-efficient, and is actually capable of being overclocked.

[oblivescence]

The architecture is actually more important than the ghz or the l2 cache. Considering you linked to chips of different architexture (amd and intel) you can no longer compare chips by those methods very well. Apples to oranges if you will. Anyways, that being said, from what I can gather if you are not overclocking, then amd and intel are not too far apart. However, amd chips seem to be sold clocked near to their ceiling, whereas intels are nowhere near their ceilings, 50% overclocks are not uncommon on intels by noobs even. This is why you will hear everyone on this forum promote intel (for the moment atleast) because this is an overclocking forum. However, if you look at some benchmarks out there the difference seems to be not as great as we make it to be here, but those benchmarks are often at stock clocks or mild overclocks. Anyways, that is about all of my knowledge, I now cease to be useful. good luck.