Intel E8500 or Q6600 or E2180?

[sastusbulbas]

Hi,

Just thinking about something for the future, but very undecided.

What would the best processor choice be? The Intel E8500 or Q6600 or E2180?

And is it better using a cheaper DDR3 mobo with the E8500, than a midrange DDR2 mobo with the Q6600?

I initially thought along the lines of budget, starting with an E2180 and a Gigabyte GA-P35 DS3L, later with an 8800 series GPU using my Hiper 580w PSU and a new copy of XP pro?

But would the Q6600 with an Asus P5K Premium be a better and longer lasting choice, or would just buying a decent CPU such as the E8500 and getting low range DDR 3 mobo and ram, getting a new GPU and PSU later be more future proof and offer more performance per pound?

Would the E8500 be wasted on the Gigabyte GA-P35 DS3L mobo with DDR 2 and an 8800 gpu?

Unsure if I should just go with newer DDR 3 and take the plunge with Vista and 64 bit?

 

[sastusbulbas]

It will be used mostly for gonking out on the internet while my girlfriend huffs in the corner, plus games, and watching Blue Ray and DVD, and listening to music.

I am unsure if I will overclock or not? Hence I was under the impression of using an E8500 and making sure its fsb matched the ram at 1333 with DDR 3 may be a good start with maybe even a cheap DDR3 board. Going this route would be do-able in stages after I add the BR/DVD drives and HD's to my current system, with the CPU, mobo and ram later, then a bigger PSU, then new GPU.

But still I wonder if it is worth the outlay? Would a budget option with an 8800 card suffice with games Blue ray and DVD?

And do I go Vista 64 bit for future proofing? How far is XP Pro going to go with new games and such?

 

[sastusbulbas]

Hi,

What about FSB speeds? I take it 1066 or 1333 is better? And that matching memory and CPU FSB helps?

How much of an improvement would DDR3 at 1333 have over DDR2 at 1066?

For some standard Corsair DDR3 1333 it is £74 against Dominator DDR2 1066 at £50? A DDR3 motherboard carries a similar price premium? Hence my thought of budget DDR3?

Examples,

DDR2 An E2220 2.4Ghz 800fsb with Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L iP31 mobo and 2Gig 800Mhz ram =£140

DDR2 An E7200 2.5Ghz 1066fsb with Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L iP31 mobo and 2Gig 1066Mhz ram =£189

DDR3 An E8200 2.6Ghz 1333fsb with ASUS P5KC AiLifestyle mobo and 2Gig 1333Mhz ram =£252

Other CPU options I guess Q6600 or E8500, I guess there are better motherboard options too if I set a limit between £150 to £400 for CPU/Mobo/Ram combination? (If worth spending that much I guess).

And what OS? XP Pro or Vista Premium? 32bit or 64bit? More ram?