CPU for New Gaming Rig Build?

[Rotax]

Whats mainly driving this is I started playing EQ2 and have read its heavily dependant on CPU speed....the faster, the better.

I'm running an dually Opteron @ 2.4Ghz with 2GB of DDR etc at the moment.


Haven't been following hardware for a while now, and all I know is the C2D's are/were in the lead for perf and OC ability.


By what I can find the E8x00 Wolfdale's may be the best bet??

Looks like the 8400 (3ghz) may be the cost efficient route?



What say you? Looking for CPU (and hs/fan suggestions), memory, and mobo suggestions as well...that support OCing well.

I'm on DDR1 mem, so will need to buy DDR2 anyway.


Are there mobos that will support DDR2 and 3?



Thanks for suggestions..I'll keep trying to accumulate data on quality overclocking mobos and memory..

I'm hoping for something that will do 3.5g+ on air..

 

[Hugh H]

E8400 will do 3.6ghz on air without even trying.

Keep in mind that if you don't upgrade often, you may be better off buying a quad since more and more games will start using the four cores. On August 10, q9550 should drop drastically in price; the chip can overclock to 3.4Ghz without trying and may reach 3.5 - 3.8 with a little more Vcore juice.

I am no expert on Intel mobos, but some X48 use both DDR 2 + DDR 3. In my opinion, DDR 3 right now is a waste... it is too expensive and the current CPUs/mobos don't take advantage of it due to their architecture. Nehalem will be the first CPU to truly utilize DDR3.

So, you could go with an Intel X48 / P45 / etc... and DDR2 + a E8400 or Q9550.

Some people might recommend the Q6600, but I don't like the 65nm architecture that much.

 

[DSF]

Don't bother with a combo board.

 

[Rotax]

Thanks guys. I'm not sure if my wish list will be viewable to public, heres the link:
https://secure.newegg.com/Wish...Detail.aspx?ID=8098371

Basically consists of:

130$ Asus P5Q Intel P45
175$ C2D E8400
40$ Sunbeamtech CR-CCTF 120mm (Core Contact Freezer)
60$ G.Skill 2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 1066 [5-5-5-15]

I did some reading on CPU coolers, that one did well on a few different sites that reviewed/compared it.

I did no reading on motherboards yet, only found the Asus on Newegg since it had some pos feedback...and wasn't 200$ + (man what happen to the lower 100$ mobos!)

The memory, I wasn't sure what OCing will require, will 1066 allow me to get the FSB pushed up for OCing? The GSkill I have in my current rig has been flawless, so I'm comfy with using it again..

 

[DSF]

Yeah, you need to make the wish list public if you want people to see it.

DDR2-1000 is all you need to push the E8400 to its limit. I really doubt you'll need to overclock the E8400 to play the game satisfactorily though. The recommend processor speed is 2GHz. I would get 2x2GB of RAM instead of 2x1, and get DDR2-1000 instead of DDR2-1066.

 

[Markfw]

Offhand, the list looks good, and I saw good reviews on the P5Q. But I have one, and my E8400 would reboot even @ stock until I updated the bios, and changed the fsb strap to 333. When after a day, it just shut down, and I had to power off and reboot, and all the bios settings were lost ! Very odd motherboard. I think I should have stayed with gigabyte.

Also, I am about to RMA a set of Gskill sticks for the 3rd time. I will never get gskill again. OCZ is my current favorite.

 

[DSF]

For what it's worth, someone will tell you that they've had horrible experiences with OCZ and that you should get Ballistix, and then another person will be along to tell you that they went through 4 RMAs on their Ballistix and Crucial is the worst company ever.

At some point you just have to pick something. G.Skill should be fine, as would OCZ, Crucial, or any other maker.

 

[Rotax]

Originally posted by: DSF
Yeah, you need to make the wish list public if you want people to see it.

DDR2-1000 is all you need to push the E8400 to its limit. I really doubt you'll need to overclock the E8400 to play the game satisfactorily though. The recommend processor speed is 2GHz. I would get 2x2GB of RAM instead of 2x1, and get DDR2-1000 instead of DDR2-1066.

Thanks, 1000 it is. Just so I'm understanding correctly, that equates to 500MHz FSB?

I didn't think I'd need anymore than what I have to play the game at "balanced" settings, my gear should play it fine, I can play Crysis with out much issue... But I can't get and maintain much more than 10-25 FPS in a group... (Yes, played with settings / resolutions)
Blah, so I decided to upgrade anyway.

I was thinking about 2x2gb and read all the reviews and info on the ~3gb WinXP barrier...
Could I not run 2x1gb and 2x512mb (or add 2x1gb later on) and still maintain dual channel?? Or do ALL 4 sticks need to be the same size?
I was just stuck thinking I don't wanna waste a gig of $ (essentially) since windows (32bit) can't see/utilize it.

 

[Rotax]

Looks like some smokin deals on OCZ.

2x 2gb = 63$ amir
2x 1gb = 35$ amir

For that $ I may as well just go 2x 2gb.

 

[Rotax]

Ok, back on topic about CPU.

Anyone have recent stepping #s from newegg? Reading that the E0 may be superior to OCing to the C0.

 

[OCGuy]

I dont know about the OCing, but here is an older article detaling what the steppings are about:

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,7795.html


Yield optimization, power saving, instructions.

 

[Markfw]

I have an E0 @4.06 53c full load 1.375 vcore.

 

[Rotax]

Bummer, looks like I got the SLAPL (C0). Dated 5/20/2008.

Will see what it can do I guess...

 

[Dorkenstein]

I must have gotten a crappy stepping also because I am just at 3.59 ghz and I had to raise all the voltages to get it stable.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
I have an E0 @4.06 53c full load 1.375 vcore.

sweet man. luck of the draw, or did you specifically choose that stepping?

 

[Rotax]

Well, so far "STABLE". 1.288 v (loaded w/ Orthos) 3825 MHz (425 x 9). I'm not sure what BIOS voltage is, but it doesn't really matter...I go by loaded voltage anyway.

I'm not sure how much further the FSB will go...I'll continue to nudge it forward a bit each day.

Memory seems to be doing well at 1020 (5/5/5/18) 2T . . . I need to figure out if, or how to adjust CR.