oh, the mobo and the CPU was 40, when they ring up, the mobo was 20 and the CPU was 20. I've also bought a 2400+ and a mobo for 65, the chip was 40 and the mobo was 25, and i've also bought a 2500+ combo for 75, chip was 45 and mobo was 30. i don't know why they are doing this, last time i looked up, my chip itself is worth atleast more than the combo, hehe unlock 1.8 duron are not easy to find (i just got lucky)
so far my experience with the fry combos are as follow
XP 2000 combo: cheap, 50 -55 bucks only, problem is u might get palomino chips or Tbred A instead of Tbred B (u'll have to tell the guy who gives u the chip to look for the steping that u want), stock at 133 X 12 isn't good because at 166 X 12 it's only 2Ghz, although it'll beat an XP 2400 (due to higher FSB) it's still not good for 55 bucks
XP2200 combos: same reason as above, the dread of having palamino or Tbred A core is just too much to buy this (this is strange but it also shows up sometimes with prices around 50 - 55)
XP 2400 combos (price at 65 bucks): gurantee core will be Tbred B. but with a 15 multiplier perminately locked, u'll be force to be running PCI out of spec and RAM running on a ratio which will take a huge performance hit for AMD. (the board that comes with it is a K7VTA3 which only has 4 setting for RAM speed, 100, 133, 166 and by RAM speed). But because it has the latest week and steping, and if u have a water cooling rig, u can do 166 X 15 and have a 2.5 ghz chip, that's only with water cooling or really good air cooling. Living in CA like me, where the weather is constantly hot all the time is not idealy for this speed. besides, if u spend 65 dollars on a combo, i doubt that u'll be spending 100+ dollars on a H2O rig.
XP 2500 combos (running at 75 dollars): ok this is by far the coolest combo i've seen, running at very low temp and extremely stable. but problem is the KT 333 board. The defalt FSB for 2500+ is 166 already, with this board OC will put it out of spec for both the PCI and RAM, overall, no good.
XP 2600, 2700, 2800 prices at (120): all barton chips. probably ultra locked up. comes with Nforce2 board. will OC real well, but the price is a tad high, at 120 it sux.
Duron 1.6: good deal, only 35 dollars for the combo, the chip ring out at around 15 bucks. this will do 2ghz by 166 X 12 easily at low votage (as many have know). the cache is on the tiny size, but a real easy OC running cool at around 40C idle on my hot CA temp. problem is, if u try running above 166 FSB, u are force to run PCI and RAM out of spec, PCI isn't a problem till u hit 36 mhz, but RAM will take performance hit.
Duron 1.8 combo: cost around 40 dollars. the chip will do 2.24ghz by doing 166 X 13.5, this will usually comes locked, but it seems to be the right speed for the money. i liked this combo
All combo comes with K7VTA3 board, reversion 8. RAM timing can be change, votage can be chang with "pin mod" FSB is 100 to 199, changable. but RAM will have 4 setting of 100, 133, 166 and by ram speed (kinda stupid)
I haven't tested the Intel combos at fry but their prices are a tad higher, in the 80 to 150+ dollars, i don't dare to touch them.
i hope this little guide help u out on ur shopping. just remember when u buy the chip, ask the guy for a specific steping that u want, they'll find it for u if they have it. don't be too specific though, if u buy an XP 2200, just tell them to look for the "B" at the end so u get a Tbred B core, don't go with specific steping cuzz they will probably say that they don't have it
