Hey guys, it's looking like a new Intel rig will be costly so i've decided to head back to AMD. now here's my question, which processor would overclock best and have the best price-value ratio. here's what i will be doing with it, counterstrike: source and other games in the future, most of my time will be spend with high res photoshop and illustrator files while multitasking with messengers and music.

here are the CPUs available to me and approx prices in my area (Canada):
AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+ (2.0 GHz) $184.95
AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+ (2.2 GHz) $227.95
AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ (2.2 GHz) $269.95
AMD Athlon64 X2 4600+ (2.4 GHz) $292.95

thanks, also, feel free to input on a new resonably priced motherboard (preferably with crossfire option as i am partial to ATI and may hook up a crossfire unit eventually)

It'a actually all a luck of draw.

I bouth a x2 3800 and goes 2450Mhz at 1.4v. I could pust it further but requires much more voltage and I think it's not worth it.

I have read on the forums that these new athlons (sin January 2006) are not so good overclockers, thy hit 2,4-2,6GHz.
But you never know maybe you get one that does 3GHz but thats unlikelly.
I would say they clock about the same so it's better to buy the 3800 maybe you could get the 4400 to 2,6 or even above but is it worth the price premium? I leave that to you.
I would consider the 3800, if not that one then 4400 because of the bigger cache.
Look at the Opterons 165, 170 if they are on the same price range. They overclock better. I would suggest Opty 165 if your mobo is good (can go to 300FSB and beyond).

Is this socket 939 or AM2?

If a reasonably prices mobo you are looking for then consider the ASUS A8R-MVP... it's got the ATI CrossFire™ Xpress 1600 chipset I think it's very good for overclocking and the mobo has got RAID 5. Supports Crossfire.
I wouldnt suggest you get 2x graphics cards I think thats a waste of money.

I just bought a 3800 from NCIX. Right now the price is 179.99(canadian with no pst ) and it overclocks to about 2.8 and will boot at 2.9. I haven't pushed the voltage too much at all though. I'm at 2.4 right now, and my voltage is 1.35.

I'm very happy with it! Its actually not a manchester, but a toledo with half the cache disabled.

Your one lucky guy if your goes to 2,8-2,9. Try and get it prime95 stabe. I booted windows at 2,6 but it wasnt prime stable and it probably needed 1,55v to get it prime stable but thats alot for another 150MHz.

yeah 2.8 was prime stable, but 2.9 wasn't. A voltage boost may fix that, but I dont want to run it that high anyway.

I would run it at as much hight frequency as it can go as long as your not uping the voltage too high and keep your temperatures low.
What voltage are you running yours at 2,8 and what cooling are you using?

I'm using an arctic cooling freezer 64 pro, and my load temp at 2.8 was probably around 50 according to speedfan, and the voltage I used was probably just a little over 1.35. I haven't gone over 1.4

I just dont like my rig to create much heat because I tend to live in smaller rooms (dorms) and I dont want to have to restrict my computer use because my room is hot.

I idle at 33, and hit 44 on full load when at 2.4, so I'll probably leave it