Trying to build in-expensive cruncher

[donuts]

Just like the title says,

Here's what I've got so far,
Used psu on it's way
used ddr2 800 (4 gb)
Xigmatek (sic?) cooler
Misc vid cards and pretty sure a SATA hd.

I want to stick with an Intel quad setup. Is the extra cache worth the extra $?
q9650,q9550 vs q6600.

I'm also going to need a board. I would like overclocking options, but I don't need it to be bleeding edge. My main is p35 based, (for that matter all 3 quads I have now are p35) would p45 or another chipset bring more to the table?

I'm not trying for a complete budget build, but more a bang for the buck build.
I posted here because my teammates have a variety of crunchers and opinions on what would work best for what I'm doing.

 

[Is_907]

I really like my P43 board... Asus P5QL Pro.
It was like $80something on the Egg.

 

[NUTNDUN]

I think you should go with the 9550, the recent price drop brought it down 20-30 bucks and it looks like it is going to outfold my 6600 2 to 1.

I think the next folder I build which will end up being my dad's machine is going to be the one gigabyte board newegg has with on board video and oc'ing options for 52 bucks. I forget what chipset it was.

 

[donuts]

That's what I was wondering about the 9550 over the 6600, there's still a 90.00 price difference even after the price drops. (q6600 about 180.00, q9550 about 270.00)

 

[NUTNDUN]

I am getting all kinds of compute errors on my 9550 now. I don't know what is going on. The 6600 is running 3.3 and is churning away without problems. I am running windows 7 on both machines. I have no idea what the problem is. I dropped the 9550 back to stock clock to see what happens. Might wanna stay with the 6600 lol.

 

[baditude_df]

The 9550 out produces the Q6600 quite significantly due to the doubled cache. Not to mention the 9550 clocks like crazy and runs cooler, even at higher overclocks. I would say it is most definitely worth the extra few bucks if you're buying new.

The q9550 is the best 45/65nm chip for folding IMO. And yes, I have used the Q6600 for folding extensively.

As far as Board goes, the P5E-VM-HDMI is a great choice if you want to go mATX because it has integrated graphics and clocks quads very well. Good way to save money and get a kick *** DDR2 board at the same time.
If not, a P5Q or P5E from ASUS or a P45 from Gigabyte would do you well.

I'll be putting an EP45T-Extreme up on the classifieds soon if you're interested.

Actually, I'd jump on the X48T-DQ6 that Paul just put up. For $140 there's no way you could go wrong. Along with the 4GB set of DDR3 he listed, you could get a killer machine going for a relatively small amount of money.
That board, 4GB of GSkill DDR3-1600 and my Q9550 is by far the best setup I have ever put together.

 

[donuts]

Just an update (and I've cluttered up the "status" thread enough) I did end up getting the 9550 and bad's EP-45T. I'm waiting for the board to arrive, although it does have to travel damn near the entire continent. While all this was coming about, my main rig decided to take a vacation. The MOBO left and I don't think it will be back.

The 'egg delivered a little box to the house today, a shiny, new 9550 and a UD3R. My old q6600 is now in said board and is letting me run @ stock settings. (I'm on it now!!) Tomorrow I should be able to push it back up to 3.0 and get it crunching again.

And yes I'm excited. I've been stuck on my antique P3 laptop.

 

[NUTNDUN]

I am glad to see everything is coming together.

Now you need to get em crunching asap because I just passed you.