I’ve been holding off on upgrading my computer for a while now partly because technology changes so fast nowadays that it’s hard to know when to jump in and be happy with what you have before it becomes second fiddle a month later. Well as it happens, I decided to hop on to the Thoroughbred and AMD releases the XP 2400+ and XP 2600+ with some overclocking ability that wasn’t present in the XP 2200+. Not much time was given for the XP 2200+ to reign supreme as the fight between Intel and AMD for the best CPUs continue to produce faster chips at a quick pace. Such is the life of computers. No matter how fast yours is it’ll be old news in a matter of months.

Well today I look at a combo that’s nicely priced and will get you some performance that’s nothing to sneeze at. For the CPU I decided to pick up an AMD XP 2200+ and for the motherboard the MSI KT3 Ultra2. The AMD XP 2200+ was purchased at TCWO for $145 at the time of this writing. It’s the OEM version with no heatsink so you’ll have to pick up a heatsink of your choice to cool this puppy off. Since TCWO gives you a 1-year warranty with a purchase of a heatsink/fan, I decided to also pick up the Coolermaster Pure Copper HCC-002 HSF for $25. Without a heatsink/fan purchase, the CPU only has a 20-day warranty. The motherboard was picked up from NewEgg for $85 at the time of writing. NewEgg has a good rating on Reseller Ratings but TCWO has a lower rating than I think it deserves. I’ve used TCWO for a few years now and have no problems whatsoever. Even recently when I ordered the AMD XP 1600+ and wanted to change my order that day to the 2200+, the customer service representative was very helpful in changing my order and providing times and an extension to call him back to make sure the order change was processed. If you’re looking for good service and great prices, check both of them out. NewEgg has always been great to me also and that`s one store I would also highly recommend to anyone in need of great price and service.Total cost for the motherboard and CPU with heatsink upgrade with shipping was ~$245.
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