For gaming: CPU, MB, RAM

Curious · 8 Aug 2008 at 13:12

Hiya guys. I am looking to upgrade my current comp a little. I am changing from an amd x2 4400 and a HD 2900.
When not doing e-mails and surfing i mostly game. So while it needs some power it does not need to be the most expensive gear out there. I´d prefere not to overclock, or only mildly. Something that might run a game like stalker very well?

I imagine something like an E8500, would less do it?
I imagine some kind of Asus MB. I like the passive cooling and what seem to like trying to minimize energy use of the boards.
As for RAM I thought about 2 x 4
And then maybe throw in an HD 4870

My main question, i guess, is what CPU and what motherboard to choose.

Any help guys?

pastymuncher · 8 Aug 2008 at 13:54

I would hold fire on the cpu until the E8600 is out. It will be a 3.33Ghz Wolfdale but with a newer better stepping than the current offerings. This stepping will also be available on the current Wolfdales soon but there will be no guarentee which stepping you will get.

For a motherboard i would be looking at a P45 such as one of the versons of the Asus P5Q or a X48 such as the Asus Rampage Formula.

You do not need 2x 4gb sticks of ram if that is what you meant. 2Gb is plenty and 4Gb is more than enough but you need a 64 bit OS to use it all.

Personally, with the launch of Nehalem being so close i would not be spending big money on any upgrade as you will need all new again because it's a different socket with triple channel ram. I would be looking at just getting a new graphics card to tide me over if i was in your position. Try clocking your cpu a bit as well.

Curious · 8 Aug 2008 at 14:22

Hmm. My problem is that my mobo or PSU or a combo thereof is going. One of my harddrives got burned lately and the system are not upto much recently. Even watching a movie tends to make the system crash rather sooner than later. I am getting a new PSU already, and I´m going to see if that makes a difference, though I kinda doubt it. the system has been running fine for about a year and now, crashed sometime last week and now... well very unstable.
I have a 64 bit OS.
When is Nahelem scheduled for? More or less?

Thanks for the response though.

What is the main differences between x48 and p45? DDR3?

Trill · 8 Aug 2008 at 14:42

Personally i would sit on your hands and wait until Nehalem is released and see how you stand budget wise. If it is a tight budget, maybe the E8*** will come down.

When is Nahelem scheduled for? More or less?

Q4 this year.

What is the main differences between x48 and p45? DDR3?

Click Me, although some difference are manufacture changes.

Curious · 8 Aug 2008 at 14:53

Thanks... I will try to hold back a little then. Hope i won´t lose yet another Drive. Seems they are slowly deteriating. Lost a 500 gig drive and are watching my 1t closly. I hope the PSU will do the trick and it is not the motherboard.

Superjeep4x4 · 8 Aug 2008 at 15:04

Well one thing you could do is to simply buy your PSU and HDD's now. I can understand wanting to buy it all at once but if you think you might have a PSU issue and hard drives are dying might as well start with those and then keep an eye on launches in a bit and prices. The E8600 is coming very soon so it wont be to long of a wait at all.

While I understand people waiting on Nehalem one thing I can guarantee ya is the price will not be right for a while as its brand new stuff so the MB's and chips will both be a premium like C2D was. pastymuncher and Trill is pretty much spot on. You could buy a E8600 and a solid board for a pretty decent price a few weeks to a month after it hits.

pastymuncher · 8 Aug 2008 at 15:11

Nehalem will be released in September although it will not be available to buy until October. See here. Hopefully come Christmas the prices should have dropped a bit. There is specualtion though that the 2.66Ghz cpu will launch at or around $300.

Curious · 28 Aug 2008 at 12:57

Thanks for the advise guys. I think I will upgrade my PSU and Graphics and see if that fixes it.

Wildkat · 28 Aug 2008 at 13:01

Trouble with waiting for the next big thing to come out is that "next big things" are always coming out all the time. At some point you have to draw a line in the sand so to speak and buy.

melbourne720 · 28 Aug 2008 at 13:05

...or you could get a p5k from clearance, 2GB of RAM (cheap as, well, chips

) and an e7200. People forget how pricey new chipsets and CPUs are at launch. It could be 6 months before the affordable technology is here tbh.

Curious · 28 Aug 2008 at 13:14

To save cash I might just decide to try upgrade what might be unstabelizing my system... unless ofcourse it is the Motherboard. Then I would'nt try to get a new socket 939, but rather an intel board.
If i would wait I would probably wait for the pricedrops of the "old" cpu's rather than buying a nahelem setup.
If it is as simple as getting a new PSU and a graphics update. I might just fire up my amd all I can and be happy with that. It seems to be able to run pretty ok on low voltage.