Want to upgrade to conroe - should I wait for new mboards?

SeriousStu · 31 Jul 2006 at 12:23

I'm planning a big upgrade soon. From what I hear, upgrading to conroe isn't fully worth it until the new mboards come out (back end of August?). I'm a n00b with hardware these days so I thought I'd ask you intelligent lot for opinions. Is it worth waiting for these new conroe-supporting motherboards or will using a current motherboard that supports conroe out-the-box be fine without any noticeable speed difference to what these new ones will offer?

Just FYI, I plan on getting the x6800 and I'm undecided on a graphics card. I don't plan on overclocking as I'm scared of stuff overheating and breaking (especially in this damn weather!). MAYBE in the winter

Thanks guys!

-Stu

SeriousStu · 31 Jul 2006 at 15:16

Anyone at all? Yes, no?

-Stu

split · 31 Jul 2006 at 15:32

This is the problem.

Very few people have actually got retail conroes.
It's just to early to say what's going to be good and what isn't.

Ed · 31 Jul 2006 at 15:33

Aside from waiting for by far the best Conroe of all, the E6600, I'm hanging on for a Motherboard that supports Crossfire at 16x as well as a third PCI-E slot for a future physics cards. It's all about longevity as the rig I'm setting up will last me for about 2 years. In all likeliness, I'm waiting on the RD600 board from ATI. This has been pencilled in for mid to late August but when stock arrives is anyones guess.

From some website providing buzz surrounding the board:

ATi RD600 is ATi's upcoming chipset that supports the Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors. Just like its AMD equivalent, a single chipset RD600 can be paired with the South bridge SB600 for utmost performance. CrossFire performance will be greatly enhanced with its Xpress route within the chipset itself, supporting Dual Channel PCIe. Although there are many ways to improve performance, ATI's goal is to push for higher CLK running in SYNC with the Memory. Some of the other methods include FSB/HTT Link, Memory Freq (via higher FSB/HTT or RAM divider), Memory timings, overclocking the PCIe bus and video cards.

According to information we gathered, the final revision will enhance ASync memory. Currently, with a similarly configured i975X system, the ATi RD600 performance is better due to Xpress Route which is more efficient than then Dual PCIex8.

The ATI RD600 improves the performance with

Independant memory overclocking
Automatic PCIe Overclocking with ATI video cards
Flexible software control over FSB / RAM / PCie
DDR2 1066MHzsupport
Enhanced peer to peer performance
1T Command rate for Single-rank DIMMs

The 90nm process enables low heat output. Passive cooling gives RD600 board designers can make 0 db noise designs.

Buying a board now will mean you may have to replace it again when everyone is doubling up their graphics cards, adding physics cards, going quad etc.

It's a bit early to be buying Conroe for my liking. I need more component [MB] stability.

Edit:/ Oh, and welcome to the forums.

SeriousStu · 31 Jul 2006 at 16:33

You almost make it sound like it's not gonna be worth getting Conroe for a long while! I'd also like to get setup with something that'll last me for a while, but I dunno if I'm gonna go all crazy getting 2 graphics cards and a physics card and stuff like that, I really dunno... like I said I'm not exactly in the know of most recent hardware.

I'm willing to spend quite a bit though.

So I guess I'll wait a while then? :confused:

Ed · 31 Jul 2006 at 16:37

For me it's not about having two graphics cards and every other button, whistle and fizz on it right now, it's about being able to add that later when games require more oomph without having to upgrade the MB. The moment the right MB is in stock, that's the time I buy my Conroe to sit on top of it. Everything else is already waiting in a box ready to fit...

SeriousStu · 31 Jul 2006 at 16:46

Yeah, that sounds cool. I'm not desperate to upgrade right away and getting an mboard that'll assure me I don't need to buy another one should I upgrade again sounds like a logical thing to do. So you recommend this ATi RD600 then? I'll read up on it in a bit - I should get on with work really

Varone · 31 Jul 2006 at 17:38

Don't phsyics cards connect via standard PCI?

Ed · 31 Jul 2006 at 17:51

Varone said:
Don't phsyics cards connect via standard PCI?

Might do but then again, some new boards don't have PCI slots either so ensuring a selection of both PCI and PCI-E helps build a longer term rig.

Ed · 31 Jul 2006 at 17:52

SeriousStu said:
So you recommend this ATi RD600 then?

It's only what I've been reading about that looks like the top dog on the near horizon but as always NVidia chipset will roll out a new MB which will no doubt slightly better it and then ATI and then NVidia and so on...

Mr Jones · 31 Jul 2006 at 17:56

Varone said:
Don't phsyics cards connect via standard PCI?

Not in the new ATi mobos - they're having 3PCI-E slots, 2 for Xfire and 1 for dedicated physics - using another GPU you may have.

Ed · 31 Jul 2006 at 18:09

Dr Jones said:
Not in the new ATi mobos - they're having 3PCI-E slots, 2 for Xfire and 1 for dedicated physics - using another GPU you may have.

Another reason to wait for the right MB.

easyrider · 31 Jul 2006 at 18:28

Dr Jones said:
Not in the new ATi mobos - they're having 3PCI-E slots, 2 for Xfire and 1 for dedicated physics - using another GPU you may have.

By the time games use them we will all have new mobo's anyway.

Ed · 31 Jul 2006 at 18:32

easyrider said:
By the time games use them we will all have new mobo's anyway.

You guys will, I won't with my RD600