>About your E6600. I would recommend you get the E6700. If I>were to do my sys allover again..I would get the E6700 because>of the extra multiplier. I tried and tried..but the max I>could OC is 3.3Gz. If I increase the FSB freq anymore..I can't>boot. If reduce the latency of my memory anymore... I am>ahving memory problem.. So thats my upper limit I guess. The>limiting factor was not the CPU temp. Thats just fine..at>40Degrees C. Thats chill. :)Based on my experience of attaining 3.5GHz out of an E6400, I could recommend going the other way and save your money by going with a lower CPU to achieve similar overclocks. It's a crap shoot any way you play the overclocking game. In general though, Manny is right that the higher multiplier provides greater flexibility when other components may not be handling the high FSBs. I find the best way to pick which CPU you should choose in a given class is to find out where the majority are overclocking to with current batches, then pick the one that gives you at least a 95% chance of an overclock to a level that provides a reasonable FSB. In the case of C2D's (and I am quoting from data available at HardOCP forums), the following are average overclocks per family member with associated FSBs in brackets and pricewatch.com lowest price following that:X6800 - 3.64GHz (330MHz) $930E6700 - 3.57HGz (357MHz) $494E6600 - 3.40GHz (378MHz) $313E6400 - 3.26GHz (407MHz) $218E6300 - 3.15GHz (450MHz) $183You can see going for E6700 or above that the price escalates rapidly with minimal increase in achieved overclocks, and the FSB is still way withing current motherboard tolerances. The E6600 and E6400 represent much better value for money for their achievable overclock and a resultant bus speed in the sweet spot range of modern motherboards. The E6300 is quite a battler, but usually requires the more expensive motherboards and RAM to operate at this higher FSB, which offsets the savings you made by going for this little cheapy in the first place.As such, I recommend either an E6600 or E6400 with a mid-range motherboard known to easily hit 400MHz FSB and some brand name DDR2 800 RAM to round it off,Gary

Conceptually you are right on the button Gary. Thats why I went with the e6600. Infact I would have gone with the E6400 but for the 4Gig L2 cache.But...having spent almost $850 bucks on the 8800GTX card ($750+Tax on retail), what is an additional $150 for the CPU. I may have gotten atleast 3.6GhZ instead of 3.3Ghz. And that .3Ghz is probably worth it over all. The CPU is the weakest link in the FSX chain...so a $150-250 is not much when your overall cost is in the range of $3000. It might not be the most optimum point within the CPU cost curve... but who cares about that..when the extra CPU is needed that enhances everything. Infact..I am beginning to think that the X6800 is the way to go....if you are going to spend $850 on a video card.Its a judgement call..thats for sure.:)Manny

jamiee,How do I do that? I looked at the creative Audio console and the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 utilities.. didn't see anything for it.Manny

Yes, if you are buying a full new system and buying other pricey components, then cost difference between CPU speeds is less noticable. Personally, I'd never spend more thant $250 on either a video card or CPU because I buy often enough and just far enough behind the technology curve to save a stack of money and stay within 90% of the fastest performance out there for what I do (mainly FS). Hats off to those that have the buckaroos or just the outright desire to do otherwise, but that's not me.Gary

Hey..Thanks for the info yall...I choose the 6600 as it was affordable...I'm just going to tinker with this one...It will basically roll into the "Back-Up" Rig catagory...I'm kinda doing it backwards..he he..I'm building up the secondary system first... :( This eVga board should be pretty nice...I think it will buy me allot...I kinda have 3.4 in mind...I would like to be able to achieve that...We'll see??I plan on leaving the memory timings loose...Max out the processor..Then see if I can tighten them up a bit??Looks like you got a good 6400 Gary!!"Personally, I'd never spend more thant $250 on either a video card or CPU because I buy often enough and just far enough behind the technology curve to save a stack of money and stay within 90% of the fastest performance out there for what I do (mainly FS)."I'm evaluating my habits as well!! I'm definatly familiar point of deminishing returns!!Have Fun!!