Holiday Gaming Rig

[chess9]

I'm building a rig for the holidays for my daughter. I have the case, power supply, and Radeon HD 4870 x2. I assume the power supply and video card will work with the boards?

Why shouldn't I wait until around 12/1 to order the board and the i7 cpu? I can buy the ddr3 then too, as the prices might be down a bit? I see i7 boards are out there on test sites already. I assume they will be available in 4 weeks. Or, am I wrong?

-Robert

 

[DSF]

I wish I could give you useful information, but all I have to say is this:

i7 and the Motherboards would make a great name for a band.

 

[imported_Scoop]

I wish I had parents who gave me presents like that. You're talking about ~$800 with the motherboard, cpu and ddr3 in addition to the components that you've already spent a fortune on.

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: Scoop
I wish I had parents who gave me presents like that. You're talking about ~$800 with the motherboard, cpu and ddr3 in addition to the components that you've already spent a fortune on.

LOL. Hang in there kid, once you get a job you'll be loaded for bear.

-Robert

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: DSF
I wish I could give you useful information, but all I have to say is this:

i7 and the Motherboards would make a great name for a band.

Yes, but let's hope they make a better gaming rig!

-Robert

 

[Denithor]

Well, let's see here...You can get an e8400/mobo/4GB DDR2 for about $300.

Or you can get an i7 cpu for about $300. Then add a $200-300 motherboard and $200 DDR3.

Your call. And the benchmarks I've seen don't show much advantage in games from i7 versus C2D architecture (quads still don't have wide acceptance in games -- by the time they do i7 will have dropped significantly.

But if you like paying the "early adopter's tax" feel free. I learned my lesson last time around with an e6400 for $265 the first week the Conroes were launched.

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: Denithor
Well, let's see here...You can get an e8400/mobo/4GB DDR2 for about $300.

Or you can get an i7 cpu for about $300. Then add a $200-300 motherboard and $200 DDR3.

Your call. And the benchmarks I've seen don't show much advantage in games from i7 versus C2D architecture (quads still don't have wide acceptance in games -- by the time they do i7 will have dropped significantly.

But if you like paying the "early adopter's tax" feel free. I learned my lesson last time around with an e6400 for $265 the first week the Conroes were launched.

Yes, I saw the early reviews including a so-so review of the new Asus board. But, one must assume these are early versions of the bios (and mobos). So, maybe going with a ddr2 board for now, and let the market sort out the issues with i7? I see little advantage to the ddr3 boards, and a huge price disadvantage, at least now.

-Robert

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

depends how bad the itch is

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: chess9

Originally posted by: Denithor
Well, let's see here...You can get an e8400/mobo/4GB DDR2 for about $300.

Or you can get an i7 cpu for about $300. Then add a $200-300 motherboard and $200 DDR3.

Your call. And the benchmarks I've seen don't show much advantage in games from i7 versus C2D architecture (quads still don't have wide acceptance in games -- by the time they do i7 will have dropped significantly.

But if you like paying the "early adopter's tax" feel free. I learned my lesson last time around with an e6400 for $265 the first week the Conroes were launched.

Yes, I saw the early reviews including a so-so review of the new Asus board. But, one must assume these are early versions of the bios (and mobos). So, maybe going with a ddr2 board for now, and let the market sort out the issues with i7? I see little advantage to the ddr3 boards, and a huge price disadvantage, at least now.

-Robert

Just a few other words oon past intel launches...

1)Intel is very slow to ramp up in production. This will be another intel famous "paper" launch... But you wont see them in stock for 6-8 weeks, and even then in limited quantities.

2)Never be teh first to adopt... there will be problems with the first few batches, and within a few months a new core A1,B1 etc will appear.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: chess9
Should I wait for i7 and the motherboards?

I'm building a rig for the holidays for my daughter.

* How old is your daughter?
* What types of tasks does she use a PC for?

 

[dmw16]

Seems like the money would be better spent elsewhere; nice speakers, nice mouse and keyboard, etc. The reviews indicate that for now the i7 isn't going to offer much over a C2D chip.

 

[Denithor]

Originally posted by: Blain
* How old is your daughter?

Fishing for a date?

:laugh:

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Denithor

Originally posted by: Blain
* How old is your daughter?

Fishing for a date?

No, I'm trying to get an idea of what PC needs his daughter might have.
That way recommendations can be relative to his specific situation.

 

[chess9]

She's a 20 year old college student who is a gamer, but when when isn't gaming she multi-tasks like crazy. Not unusual for her to have 3 or 4 IM sessions going on while she's writing a paper, researching and emailing.

-Robert

 

[Ichigo]

Most people won't consider that multi-tasking in a cpu-intensive sense.

Just get a quality P45 motherboard and a Q6600. With the components you already, have, that'll be more than adequate.

 

[chess9]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
Most people won't consider that multi-tasking in a cpu-intensive sense.

Just get a quality P45 motherboard and a Q6600. With the components you already, have, that'll be more than adequate.

Yes, good point. It's not like she's doing some ripping of a cd while editing a video or redrawing a 50 gig Solidworks piece. But, I do want the frame rates to be high enough for gaming. Anything over 40 fps average is not really noticeable, I've heard. I'll take a look at some comparisons of CPUS. I saw a piece comparing the q9650 to the q6700, I believe, and if I recall correctly the difference in gaming was very slight. A few FPS. It's tough to decide because one fears leaving something 'on the table' so speak because you didn't spend a few hundred extra dollars. You guys know the feeling I'm sure.

-Robert

 

[Ichigo]

Oh yeah, I'm trying to piece together my own build right now and I'm going through the same motions. I understand.

What I'm saying, is that with 4GB of RAM, a Q6600 will crush any task it comes across and a 4870X2 will crush any game. There is no way that those components won't be enough. If I had the money, I'd be down with that build, no worries.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Get a Yorkfield quad and a nice 4870 or 4870x2 and call it a day.

 

[zerogear]

Originally posted by: chess9
She's a 20 year old college student who is a gamer, but when when isn't gaming she multi-tasks like crazy. Not unusual for her to have 3 or 4 IM sessions going on while she's writing a paper, researching and emailing.

-Robert

Thats kind of multitasking doesn't need a Quad core. Dual would suffice. I multitask with video encoding in the back while burning a CD and encoding lossless CDs while surfing the yet and writing in word

Unless your daughter is into HD (1080p) video editing, there is really no need for i7, hell, there is no need for a Q6600, you'd be better off with a fast Core 2 Duo.

 

[Ichigo]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: chess9
She's a 20 year old college student who is a gamer, but when when isn't gaming she multi-tasks like crazy. Not unusual for her to have 3 or 4 IM sessions going on while she's writing a paper, researching and emailing.

-Robert

Thats kind of multitasking doesn't need a Quad core. Dual would suffice. I multitask with video encoding in the back while burning a CD and encoding lossless CDs while surfing the yet and writing in word

Unless your daughter is into HD (1080p) video editing, there is really no need for i7, hell, there is no need for a Q6600, you'd be better off with a fast Core 2 Duo.

Disagree.

There would be no difference for her between a dual-core and a quad-core except the odd time that she does do something cpu intensive, in which case the quad-core would produce meaningful performance benefits.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: chess9
She's a 20 year old college student who is a gamer, but when when isn't gaming she multi-tasks like crazy. Not unusual for her to have 3 or 4 IM sessions going on while she's writing a paper, researching and emailing.

-Robert

Thats kind of multitasking doesn't need a Quad core. Dual would suffice. I multitask with video encoding in the back while burning a CD and encoding lossless CDs while surfing the yet and writing in word

Unless your daughter is into HD (1080p) video editing, there is really no need for i7, hell, there is no need for a Q6600, you'd be better off with a fast Core 2 Duo.

True...
Evaluated on a Price/Performance basis, the higher clocked 45nm dual cores are a much better value than the 65nm quad cores.
There just aren't enough consumer applications that would benefit from the extra two cores, to justify the higher price point of the (45nm) quad cores.

TechReport

 

[Ichigo]

What does that link prove, that her Word 2007 would be 0.01% quicker on a higher clocked dual core?

She won't notice that.

On the odd chance that she is using Nero and encoding some video for her iPod or whatever, she *will* notice the benefits of a quad core.

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
What does that link prove,

Nothing, it was only posted as a reference for the information I stated. Which was...

"Evaluated on a Price/Performance basis, the higher clocked 45nm dual cores are a much better value than the 65nm quad cores.
There just aren't enough consumer applications that would benefit from the extra two cores, to justify the higher price point of the (45nm) quad cores."

I see that there are basically three CPU issues here.
1. The cheapest CPU that will perform at a basic level for what chess9 needs.
2. The best balanced Price/Performance CPU that maximizes the dollars spent vs performance delivered.
3. The absolute best performing CPU for the tasks listed, regardless of price.

* Is there an agreement here that the QX9770 / 3.2GHz / 12MB L2 cache processor would deliver chess9 the best performance possible?
* I assume those that feel the QX9770 delivers the best performance, would also agree that it's not the best CPU for the build that chess9 has planned... Correct?

 

[Denithor]

Correct, QX9770 would be complete and utter overkill for a college student rig.

I would suggest either an E8400 or possibly a Q9400 if you really think she'll use the extra power. I would stay away from the Q6600 as it's a major heat generator, especially if overclocked.

 

[Blain]

The E8400 is nice, but I'd be very tempted to buy the cheaper E7200, dial-up the FSB to 333 and be happy with a 3.16GHz dual core @ $120 shipped.
The lesser L2 cache isn't that much of an issue in the real world.