I have been trying to get my head around the best CPU for my next rig.
I have been oscillating between a Q6600 or a E8400 (each has their pro's and cons) but now I am thinking about a Q9450 which is at the extreme upper limit of my budget (probably a bit over tbh).
I know everyone says wait for Nehalem but you can spend your life waiting for 'the next big thing'.
So do I go for the relatively cheap E8400 or Q6600 and wait for Nehalem to come out only to find I now need a new motherboard, ram, attitude to life etc or just blow the budget on a Q9450 and accept that with a 600-800Mhz OC it's still going to be more than awesome...
Target spec for reference
Coolermaster Cosmos S
Asus P5K Premium WiFi-AP iP35
Swiftech H2O 220 Compact Kit
OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance
Optiarc AD-7191S
Samsung SpinPoint HD103UJ 1TB x 2 (RAID 1)
Corsair HX Series 620W Modular PSU
XFX 9600GT 1GB
VISTA 64Bit
I have been oscillating between a Q6600 or a E8400 (each has their pro's and cons) but now I am thinking about a Q9450 which is at the extreme upper limit of my budget (probably a bit over tbh).
I know everyone says wait for Nehalem but you can spend your life waiting for 'the next big thing'.
So do I go for the relatively cheap E8400 or Q6600 and wait for Nehalem to come out only to find I now need a new motherboard, ram, attitude to life etc or just blow the budget on a Q9450 and accept that with a 600-800Mhz OC it's still going to be more than awesome...
Target spec for reference
Coolermaster Cosmos S
Asus P5K Premium WiFi-AP iP35
Swiftech H2O 220 Compact Kit
OCZ 4GB Kit (2x2GB) 800MHz/PC2-6400 Memory Platinum Performance
Optiarc AD-7191S
Samsung SpinPoint HD103UJ 1TB x 2 (RAID 1)
Corsair HX Series 620W Modular PSU
XFX 9600GT 1GB
VISTA 64Bit
- I think I am going to go for a Q6600 because i do a lot of Graphics and Design work as well as gaming and I feel it's probably going to give me a better balance...