Finally pulled the trigger on a Athlon XP 1800+ and wow, what a difference!

Been there. Here's the trick: You might want to check pricewatch.com for the best deals.

Bookmarked this thread. Just make sure you get a good thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink.

If it helps, Reseat the card and the cables. Half the time that fixes weird issues.

While we're on the subject, I had the same issue and it turned out to be a bad power supply. Try swapping it out.

Same! The stock cooler is fine but an aftermarket one runs much quieter.

Same! Buy from a place with a good return policy in case you get a DOA part.

lol I'd wait a couple months — prices on that always drop after launch.

n00b question: Check your temperatures with Motherboard Monitor. Heat causes a lot of instability.

Yep, exact same here. I built mine for under $500 and it runs everything I throw at it.

This. So much this. Buy from a place with a good return policy in case you get a DOA part.