New Build with Striker Extreme

[zCexVe]

This is the scenario.Today I won an ASUS Striker Extreme from a contest held from a PC magazine.I'm a hardcore AMD fanboy,Have used AMD since 2000 no Intel ever but now have to leave it.
Right now I'm with
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ S939
MSI K8N Diamond Plus
Sapphire radeon X1950XT 256MiB GDDR3
2x512 MiB KVR DDR400
Astrix Silentpower 500W PSU
Hitachi SATA II 250GiB 7200RPM 8MiB
Sony DRU 830A DVD RW
home made case and some other things.

I have suggested to keep the PSU,HDD & VGA and sell the other stuff coz I'm tight on money.
I have thought of the following rig.Prices are in our country converted to USD.
ASUS Striker Extreme (380 USD-free)
Intel C2D E6550 (2.33\4MiB\65nm\with TXT)(225 USD)
2x1 GiB Kingston KVR DDR2 667 (72 USD)
Sapphire radeon X1950XT 256MiB GDDR3
Astrix Silentpower 500W PSU
Hitachi SATA II 250GiB 7200RPM 8MiB
ASUS SATA DVD RW

Now I dont know much about Intel things nor issues with striker and intel CPUs.So I need help from you ppl to select a best a CPU and RAMs for this rig and need your ideas about it.
And pls tell me what I have to do with it first like BIOS updatesand configs.
AND I have a chance next month to import some light weight parts from USA.So It would be great If You can suggest what CPU and RAM would suit this board which I can get from USA.
Looking forward to your great contributions.TIA.

 

[malware]

The best price/performance ratio for an Intel CPU right now i Q6600 quad core processor. BIOS config as well as the overclock follow the same basics as the AMD. You only don't have to worry for the HT bus. You'll find overclocking an Intel based system very easy.

 

[Davidelmo]

Yeah, that sysem will work well.

The Striker Extreme isn't so great for quad cores, but it will overclock a Core 2 Duo like CRAZY! The E6850 would do well I think. 3.0Ghz stock speed.

The Striker Extreme can be quite fussy about what RAM you use. Asus have a list of approved models so have a look and pick the best you can afford from the list.

It's a good motherboard, stable with TONS of overclocking options. Just make sure you update all the drivers for it.

 

[Davidelmo]

The best price/performance ratio for an Intel CPU right now i Q6600 quad core processor. BIOS config as well as the overclock follow the same basics as the AMD. You only don't have to worry for the HT bus. You'll find overclocking an Intel based system very easy.

Coming from someone who owns a Striker extreme and a Q6600, I can tell you that they aren't a match made in heaven. Overclocking it is an absolute nightmare. I posted on this board about it and TONS of other people came out and said they had the same issues.

 

[keakar]

sell the ASUS Striker Extreme and put the money to better use than trying to frankenstien a new rig.

if not then sell your whole rig as is and start over with the ASUS Striker Extreme

 

[Davidelmo]

True - you could sell it. It's pretty expensive.

I think you could be very happy with a fast Core 2 Duo though!

 

[mrw1986]

I would definitely use different RAM...pick up some DDR2-800 Crucial Ballistix or DDR2-800 Transcend AxeRAM...you can get both on Newegg.com for the same price as that crap Kingston...

 

[zCexVe]

Yeah, that sysem will work well.

The Striker Extreme isn't so great for quad cores, but it will overclock a Core 2 Duo like CRAZY! The E6850 would do well I think. 3.0Ghz stock speed.

The Striker Extreme can be quite fussy about what RAM you use. Asus have a list of approved models so have a look and pick the best you can afford from the list.

It's a good motherboard, stable with TONS of overclocking options. Just make sure you update all the drivers for it.

Thanks.I actually had Q6600 in mind but heard of those issues and backed a bit.Since Only Maya,3DMax,Premiere,After effects like programs only know to use Q s well,I thought of staying with a duo.

 

[zCexVe]

True - you could sell it. It's pretty expensive.

I think you could be very happy with a fast Core 2 Duo though!

U knw what? In ma country ppl buy new PCs(they call it new )for like 420 USD.95% of ppl buy PCs between 420~500USD range with brand new parts and 2nd hand CRTs. Nobody will everpay 300 USD for a Striker.The only one brought in to my country was won by me in the contest.

 

[zCexVe]

I would definitely use different RAM...pick up some DDR2-800 Crucial Ballistix or DDR2-800 Transcend AxeRAM...you can get both on Newegg.com for the same price as that crap Kingston...

Me too.But only crap available here is KVR.No OCable RAM.There are a very few but the price is insane.

 

[mrw1986]

I didn't know that and honestly that deserves a thanks because that is good to know!

 

[Davidelmo]

But make SURE you check the Asus Qualified Vendors list to make sure it is compatible with the Striker.

If you get incompatible RAM you are in for a world of misery

 

[zCexVe]

thanks a lot guys.Yesterday I got the board.Got it with 3 years warranty too.
I have a question about some RAM called " SLI Ready Memory"?They operate at 1200MHz which I was very impressed coz its @ DDR3 Range.Does anybody know what these do and are?