PC Parts With a Limited Budget

[h_pavon]

Hello Everyone, I'm a bit confused on the vast variety of CPU's and mobo's in the market. I need a second opinion from the experts on some parts for my brothers PC, they will want to play Mass Effect and Fable 2 later on at decent resolution. And all of this for about 500 dolla or maybe less... I will list my recommendation to him below but I need some comments on my picks.

Intel Core 2 Duo E6550
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L
Patriot [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220314"]Extreme Performance 4GB (2 x 2GB[/URL]
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 3870 512MB

Basically what I'm trying to figure out is:
1. Is the E6550 OK... or E7200 is a better price/performance option? Other recommendations are more than welcome!

2. Don't need a mobo with OC capabilities, just compatible solid and durable. Is there a cheaper and better option for something like the one I picked?

3. Does DDR2 1066 Ram make a noticeable difference? Should I stick with just DDR2 800?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nickc]

all of the above would be good, although I would really think the E7200 would have a better price/performance ratio. that mother board does have good overclock abilities, and yes if u are not going to overclock the DDR2 1066 Ram will be faster although the speed will have to be set manually in most BIOSes and the voltage for it in the GIG. BIOS.

 

[h_pavon]

all of the above would be good, although I would really think the E7200 would have a better price/performance ratio. that mother board does have good overclock abilities, and yes if u are not going to overclock the DDR2 1066 Ram will be faster although the speed will have to be set manually in most BIOSes and the voltage for it in the GIG. BIOS.

10X for your suggestion, I'll go with E7200!:grinthumb

 

[Mirob]

Just get run of the mill DDR2-800. The faster memory is really only good for overclocking headroom and synthetic benchmarks, I doubt you will get even one FPS more with it.

 

[kpo6969]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231145
stock Cas 5 1000mhz
probably Cas 4 800mhz

Use a divider, intel likes speed