help! major upgrade...i7

[nyfirefly11]

I fear that my Asus p5AD2-E w/P4 is blown (it's been over 3 years), so I'm probably due for an upgrade.

I'd rather pay less money for an E8400 & 4GB DDR2, rather than the i7 & 6GB DDR3. Also, my needs aren't that extreme (some light gaming/photoshop/encoding).

That said, I'd like to not feel completely obsolete in 6 months.

Is it better to go with the i7, or stick w/Core 2 duo? (assume I don't upgrade again for another 3 years)

Thanks!

 

[Cheesetogo]

I would go with the Core 2. I purchased an i7 when it first came out, and really, it's not that useful for the type of light usage that you're describing. In fact, I've never actually seen CPU usage go beyond 25% in anything that does not explicitly utilize it to the maximum. Even gaming - even GTA IV doesn't stress it past this mark. Obviously encoding nearly fully the processor, but it's not going to be worth buying an i7 just for that.

I would suggest that you go with a quad core though. Realistically, 2 extra cores will be worth a lot more than a few hundred more MHZ once we start seeing more applications designed for more than one or two cores.

 

[nyfirefly11]

Which quad would you go with? the 6600 seems to have gotten high marks...not much cheaper than an i7, but I guess I save on the mobo and dd2, right?

 

[Denithor]

For the tasks you're describing a quad would be beneficial. Here are your options.

E8400 (3GHz, 6MB) $165
Q8300 (2.5GHz, 4MB) $190
Q9550 (2.83GHz, 12MB) $280
EP45-UD3R $105AR + 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2x $48
Totals: $376/$401/$491

PhII 940 + 790GX combo $279AR
2x2GB DDR2-1066 2x $48
Total: $375

i7 920 + Asus P6T Deluxe combo $565
SuperTalent 3x2GB DDR3-1333 $110
Total: $675

Food for thought: Q9550S review. With performance & efficiency comparisons for the current crop of quads. Very good article, worth a read before you decide.[/quote]

EDIT: Note here, an Intel dual runs the same cost as an AMD quad, which in your apps will kill the dual.

 

[yh125d]

PHII I'd go for

 

[nyfirefly11]

Awesome...thank you all!! I was thinking the EP45-UD3R if I went Intel....what do you think about PC Power S75CF 750W ($70 @ Egg right now)?

Any thoughts on the video card?

 

[yh125d]

That PCP&C is an awesome deal with the rebate, and still a pretty good deal without. As for video card, what games do you play and at what res?

 

[Denithor]

Define "light" gaming - what games, what resolution, etc.

 

[nyfirefly11]

It's basically SimCity4 and FlightSim, at 1280x1024 (my monitor's 3 years old). That's probably it, besides the photoshop work.

On the cpu-front, I'm thinking the Q9550 might be the best choice...have they already dropped the prices on that or do you think they'll go down further?

 

[Denithor]

4670 ~$80 would do you just fine. And the quad will really help push flight sim also, especially at that res.

Prices have already dropped - that one was $320 just a week ago. There's one other - Q9400 (2.66GHz, 6MB cache, $230) that fits nicely between Q8300 & Q9550. For what you're doing I would say Q8300, set fsb to 400 & run @ 3GHz. Plenty of horsepower for the next several years.

 

[JMapleton]

E8400 overclocked ftw. I've been hearing the "we're going to have quad core programs" for at least two years and still little has appeared to make quad worth it yet.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: JMapleton
E8400 overclocked ftw. I've been hearing the "we're going to have quad core programs" for at least two years and still little has appeared to make quad worth it yet.

The Phenom 2 destroys that chip for the same price. What does the E8400 offer over and above a Phenom 2 940?

Many modern games use 4 cores now. GTA4 and Crysis are both prime examples.

 

[RallyMaster]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: JMapleton
E8400 overclocked ftw. I've been hearing the "we're going to have quad core programs" for at least two years and still little has appeared to make quad worth it yet.

The Phenom 2 destroys that chip for the same price. What does the E8400 offer over and above a Phenom 2 940?

Many modern games use 4 cores now. GTA4 and Crysis are both prime examples.

GTA4 is tri-threaded (this is confirmed) while Crysis doesn't manage more than the usage of two cores from what I've read unless a recent patch fixed that.

 

[JMapleton]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: JMapleton
E8400 overclocked ftw. I've been hearing the "we're going to have quad core programs" for at least two years and still little has appeared to make quad worth it yet.

The Phenom 2 destroys that chip for the same price. What does the E8400 offer over and above a Phenom 2 940

Even with overclocking? You know it should be a federal crime not to overclock an e8400?

 

[Denithor]

GTA4, SupCom, UT3, FSX (which he specifically mentions) - all these will use quads nicely.

In fact, in GTA4, a stock q6600 (2.4GHz) matches an overclocked e8500 (3.6GHz) frame-for-frame.

 

[nyfirefly11]

4670 looks good...thx!

Is there a big benefit to getting the Q9400/9500 over the Q8300? (at a $40/$80 differential)

Also, as I've never overclocked anything, where's the best place to learn how to OC one of the Q processors?

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: nyfirefly11
Also, as I've never overclocked anything, where's the best place to learn how to OC one of the Q processors?

That would the sticky thread. Look for Overclock C2Q (Quads) in the title. Not sure how you missed it.

 

[nyfirefly11]

woops, not sure how I missed that either

so the last question is, do I do the upgrade now, or do I wait for i7 mobos/ddr3 to become cheaper (or for i5)?

 

[aigomorla]

in all honestly,

if the 300 is not something thats gonna kill you.

always get the newer tech.

 

[nyfirefly11]

yeah, I'd probably go with Lynnfield, but that's 6+ months away.

ah, decisions....

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: nyfirefly11
yeah, I'd probably go with Lynnfield, but that's 6+ months away.

ah, decisions....

wait til you run with greed.

LOL..

 

[CSGLEON]

i also had the same system p5AD2-E with p4 3.6, i just upgraded to a evga 750i ftw mobo and q9550 and could tell a world of difference. night and day.

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: Denithor
For the tasks you're describing a quad would be beneficial. Here are your options.

E8400 (3GHz, 6MB) $165
Q8300 (2.5GHz, 4MB) $190
Q9550 (2.83GHz, 12MB) $280
EP45-UD3R $105AR + 2x2GB DDR2-1066 2x $48
Totals: $376/$401/$491

PhII 940 + 790GX combo $279AR
2x2GB DDR2-1066 2x $48
Total: $375

i7 920 + Asus P6T Deluxe combo $565
SuperTalent 3x2GB DDR3-1333 $110
Total: $675

Food for thought: Q9550S review. With performance & efficiency comparisons for the current crop of quads. Very good article, worth a read before you decide.

[/quote]

Wow, nice post. Good recommendations, I'd take a Q6600 over a Q8200

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
Wow, nice post. Good recommendations, I'd take a Q6600 over a Q8200

I personally wouldn't. Looking at benchies the Q8200 runs slightly behind the Q6600 at stock speeds. So the Q8300 that I recommended (2.5GHz vs 2.33GHz for Q8200) should run dead even with the Q6600 at stock speeds. Plus it will overclock well & run cooler FTW.

Q9400 @ $230 is certainly tempting.

Keep this in mind.

Q8300 = 2x e5200 (2.50GHz, 2MB cache shared between each pair of cores)
Q9400 = 2x e7300 (2.66GHz, 3MB cache " ")
Q9550 = 2x e8300 (2.83GHz, 6MB cache " ")

 

[Tempered81]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: JMapleton
E8400 overclocked ftw. I've been hearing the "we're going to have quad core programs" for at least two years and still little has appeared to make quad worth it yet.

The Phenom 2 destroys that chip for the same price. What does the E8400 offer over and above a Phenom 2 940?

Many modern games use 4 cores now. GTA4 and Crysis are both prime examples.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com...Deneb_reviewed/?page=7

Fallout III 1680 x 1050 4xAA
Average FPS / Minimum FPS

E8xx @ 3.3ghz : 56 / 48
Phenom II 940 @ 3.6ghz : 48 / 41

Lots of e8400s doing a gigahertz faster than the one in that benchmark.