Me Me Me

[Lonewolf]

Like may of us here I am teetering on upgrading my PC but require some advice and suggestions.

Of my current spec I will be keeping the Chieftec Dragon case and my Pioneer 108 burner. I also have a Dell 2007 screen 1680x1050.

I mainly use my PC for gaming (FPS) recently FEAR & the expansion, CoD2 and now I am taking part in the ET:QW Beta. Crysis would be the future. I also use ConvertXtoDVD which Limits my current set up.

My upgrade would be based around the 8800GTS 640Mb, 2Gb of Ram, a new Hdd, Mobo (preferably SLI) and a C2D.

Question 1. 8800GTS 500MHz or the 575MHz version (Is the O/C version worth the extra?)
Question 2. I have my sights set on either the E6600 or the E6850 yet, I will not be overclocking. Would the AMD be a better choice?

Do your worst and suggest an upgrade for me.

 

[shine]

Get the 500MHz 8800 GTS you can overclock it yourself so no point paying extra for it.

Do you have a budget in mind?

 

[ovia]

Question 2.

The C2D are generally only better if you are overclocking, running both Intel and AMD at stock you will find the the AM2 will be a tad quicker.

Question 1.

Are you prepared to overclock yoru card if you ar not donig the CPU? If yes then get the slower card, otherwise, if your budget allows, then go for the faster card.

 

[Kanifee]

i would say go core 2 duo chances are you will be buying a newer model boared if you do (p35) and your pretty much safe for the next line up of cpus (45nm) if you do so allways the possability for upgrades in the future without replacing out to many parts. ddr3 is going to be sky high for a good while yet so a jump to that will be a lot further into the future.
am2 i think is restricted im 99% sure i wread somewere that the new am3 cpu will be on a new socket so buying am2 means youll be staying on am2 untill you upgrade the mobo but someone correct me if im wrong.

 

[melbourne720]

AM2 is a dead platform going forward, that's the reason they're so cheap. People are getting up to 100% overclocks on e2160s so I would get one of them, a 8800 GTS 640MB (cheapest), and seriously reconsider your stance re: overclocking.

 

[Lonewolf]

i would say go core 2 duo chances are you will be buying a newer model boared if you do (p35) and your pretty much safe for the next line up of cpus (45nm) if you do so allways the possability for upgrades in the future without replacing out to many parts. ddr3 is going to be sky high for a good while yet so a jump to that will be a lot further into the future.
am2 i think is restricted im 99% sure i wread somewere that the new am3 cpu will be on a new socket so buying am2 means youll be staying on am2 untill you upgrade the mobo but someone correct me if im wrong.

Correct me if I am wrong but the P35 boards are not SLI

 

[PhillyDee]

Thats correct. They are Crossfire. Just checked the webbie.

 

[Arterion]

AM2 is a dead platform going forward, that's the reason they're so cheap. People are getting up to 100% overclocks on e2160s so I would get one of them, a 8800 GTS 640MB (cheapest), and seriously reconsider your stance re: overclocking.

Even when it's as easy to OC as it is with Core 2 Duo's, Overclocking isn't for everyone, although I don't see the problem with it if you're willing to overclock your graphics card anyway- if you're open to Overclocking then I think C2D is the way to go.

However, there will be support for AM2 for a little while yet as AMD's next chips will be backwards compatibile, Agena chips will work happily on an AM2 board with a BIOS update...and unfortunately we just don't know very much about these chips at all yet. If you can wait a while, I would recommend you do so; there are price cuts coming from Intel on July 22nd and perhaps by then we might have some info on Agena...who knows, maybe AMD will pull another Athlon 64 out of their bag with this one

 

[Lonewolf]

Would my assumption be correct if I suugested changing the FSB would alone O/C the E6600?

Isn't the E6850 etc already O/C at the factory?

 

[Lonewolf]

Nobody?

 

[Dwbreeze1982]

AM2 is a dead platform going forward, that's the reason they're so cheap. People are getting up to 100% overclocks on e2160s so I would get one of them, a 8800 GTS 640MB (cheapest), and seriously reconsider your stance re: overclocking.

thats not true am2 will be compatable weith the new quad core amds coming out later this year hopefully.

also amds run quicker at stock

 

[Aelred89]

thats not true am2 will be compatable weith the new quad core amds coming out later this year hopefully.

also amds run quicker at stock

Pft stock is for n00bs o/j go for a C2D though as you may not feel like O/C'ing now but you may do later down the line as the hardware becomes dated

 

[melbourne720]

thats not true am2 will be compatable weith the new quad core amds coming out later this year hopefully.

also amds run quicker at stock

Technically true, but it's not the whole story:

AMD confirmed that AM2 processors will work in AM2+ motherboards and AM2+ processors will work on AM2 motherboards. However, due to the lack of support of HyperTransport 3.0 and separated power planes in Socket AM2 motherboards, AM2+ chips will be limited to the specifications of Socket AM2 (HyperTransport 2.0 at the speed of 1 GHz, one power plane for both Cores and IMC). AM2 chips will not benefit from faster HyperTransport and separated power planes on AM2+ motherboards as they do not support them, AM2+ motherboard then fall back to compatibility mode using AM2 specifications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM2+