Looking to buy -- need info please!

RS123 · 12 Jul 2007 at 13:55

Hi folks,

I'm looking to buy a new gaming rig within the next month but would like to ask a few questions first. Incase this is needed, I'm looking to spend £1200 , no monitor. I do not overclock my systems at this time. I use my system for gaming (current gen stuff; Oblivion, Two Worlds and upcoming games like ET:QW, Hellgate:London, etc.) and very light Photoshop work.

First of all, I have noticed people talking about an Intel price drop coming up. Does this apply to all Intel CPU's or just a particular range? If it applies to all, is it worth going for Quad cores instead of dual cores? If quad cores are only worth having if you overclock, what sort of performance difference (I know this is an ambigious question with an ambigious answer, so just humour me!) would I see over the top dual core if I overclocked a quad?

Second, are these price drops indicative of a pending new architecture of some sorts that would be worth waiting for? I've noticed DDR3 is on the boards for memory now, is this something worth waiting for?

Third, what's all this P35 stuff? Guessing it's related to the DDR3.

Fourth, I have a Leadtek 7900GTX 512MB. Would it be better to get a second for SLi (on my new rig) or go for a single 8800GTX?

If you could try and step into my shoes. My current system is an AMD X2 4400+ , 2GB Geil Value memory, Asus A8N Premium, 7900 GTX 512MB. What would you do? Wait or buy?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Admiral Huddy · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:14

Firsly, dual core or quad core.. it depends on your budget. Personally, i'd go for quad because as more applications take advantage of multithreading, the faster the apps will be. That said, C2D are about to take a price tumble so a cheap E6600 will most likely suit you needs. However, you have a X2 4400+ plus and although the C2D is a better CPU, you won't really notice to much in perfomance in real apps. Especially if you overclock to 2.6Ghz.

As for P35 - these support the forthcoming 1,333MHz FSB chips and the 45nm quad core CPUs. These will have both a DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller. I'm not sure if they'll be any advantage of buying a DDR3 system over the DDR2 tbh. They are pushing more data through the prefectch buffer (8bits for DDR2 as oppsoed to 4 of DDR2) by lowering the clock speed so it's a little early to say what benefits are to be had.

ahmm what else, Oh the grapchics card.. no brainer really, Don't waste your money on a second 7900 card.. Get your self a lovely 8800GTS or a GTX if you are playing as higher res (1920 or higher)

I have a simular system as you with the 8800GTX and it rocks.. http://www.huddysworld.co.uk/PCHardware_PC1.shtml

I've just completed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on the highest settings and at 1920 without any problems at all - Lovely.. I'm going Quad core at the end of the year.

edit - I've just noticed that the spec says X3 - that is a typo obviously

PS - welcome to the forums

stickroad · 12 Jul 2007 at 14:28

Hey RS123.

The Intel Price Cuts should hit stores on the 22nd of this month. More information can be found here

If your going to be mainly using your pc for gaming and the odd bit of multitasking and wont be overclocking the Core 2 Duo E6850 would be the most sensible choice. Games will benefit from the higher GHZ more so than the extra cores.

If your going to be using your system for gaming, encoding movies, rendering etc... just basically a lot of heavy multitasking things then the Q6600 will be the best choice, weather your going to overclock or not.

At the moment the Q6600 will hit 3GHZ but pump out quite a bit of heat during the process. When the Intel Price Cuts come their will be a new stepping for the Quads (G0 stepping) which basically means the chips will run cooler so in theory you will be able to clock it higher. So if your going to be overclocking the Q6600 is the way to go.

Intel are indeed releasing new Processors shortly (Penryns) they will be in the form of Dual Core and Quad Core. The difference with these new CPUs will be they will be 45nm technology which will run cooler and onboard memory controller if im right in thinking. Also the Penryn Quads will be the native Quad Cores. Which unlike the current Quads that are out now which are basically 2 Core 2 Duos stuck on one die, these new ones will be built from the ground up so to speak.

The new P35 boards support Intels upcoming Penryn processors and some of them support DDR3. These new boards are the way to go. They are rock solid, great overclocking boards and are just great boards all around.

Theirs no need to go DRR3 just yet. As the DDR3 modules that are out now arnt really much faster than DDR2. So stick with DDR2 for the time being.

At this point in time SLI is a waste unless you play on a 30inch screen or something. Not enough games are capable of taking advantage of a SLI configuration. So go for a single card solution.

As for your current system, you have to ask your self are you happy with the performance it is giving you?

RS123 · 12 Jul 2007 at 15:59

Thank you for your help, both of you.

In regards to the new intel processors, when are these due, and are they worth waiting for from a non-overclocking perspective?

Thanks again. Guess I ought to work up a build for you folks to look at soon

Admiral Huddy · 12 Jul 2007 at 17:17

Based on what we've both said, your best bet for now, even on the 4400+ you have ) is to upgrade the GFX card.

Go for a 8800GTX if you are playing game at res on or above 1920. Otherwise, save a few pennies and go for a GTS..

Then see what happens at the tail end of the year. It's never a good time to upgrade but if your happy with what your got after the GFX upgrade, then why change anything. Typically, I've noticed that a good MOBO/CPU combination lasts at least 2 years.