Long term upgrade. E8400 vs Q9450

[mikedi]

Hi,
My last desktop PC dates back to 2002, and the dusty sucker needs to retire soon

I would really like the new system to last me about 4 years, since i don't like the hassle of going out to replace mobos and cpu, ram etc very often.

The PC will be used for gaming, moderate amount of video encoding, 3D rendering. I will replace the GPU (likely a 8800GT) once within the 4 year life span.

Now the question: I am having a tough time desiding between an E8400 vs the Q9450 to power the system. There is a 70-80% price difference currently between the 2 options. But my concern are, will a dual core be sufficient for gaming in 2-4 years, and what is more, for video encoding I am concerned it will not be enough once i start playing around with HD video.

Any suggestions welcome really.

 

[brock01]

to last you 4 years, im saying Q9450 for sure.

 

[Tweakin]

If your going to keep it for that long...any quad that you can afford.

 

[GEOrifle]

Wait to thise year's Q3 NEHALEM.

 

[mikedi]

Yeah,
Guess i'll go for the Q9450 after all. At least it should meet my video encoding needs for a while. I might be able to do a mild overclock.. guess 3.3 Ghz should be within limit on stock cooling.. or maybe I can find a good zalman cooler.

What will happen btw if i push it too far? I have heard modern CPU's have some kind of overheating protection. Will it just revert to last speed, or simply refuse to boot until I change the settings in BIOS?

 

[Jax Omen]

depends on what exactly you pushed too far. They throttle speeds at a certain temperature, and if temps don't drop they shut down.

In that case, it'll boot again when you boot it, and if it overheats it will repeat the process.



If you save an overzealous FSB, the worst that will usually happen is that you'll have to clear the CMOS to get the board to boot again.

 

[mikedi]

Dont think i can wait for Nehalem, it might be another 6-9 month before the mainstream CPU's will be at acceptable price levels. And right now I am in the USA where hardware are dirt cheap.. so I better try to take advantage of this and make a good bang for the buck PC to last me a while.

 

[mikedi]

Thx for answer Jax,
Clearing CMOS isn't too bad.
Burning a brand spanking new CPU is

So i guess that its usually the FSB and not the clock multiplier that it's common to set these days. Haven't really messed around with this since late nineties, early 2000'es.

 

[GEOrifle]

Originally posted by: mikedi
I am in the USA where hardware are dirt cheap.. so I better try to take advantage of this and make a good bang for the buck PC to last me a while.

Wait, will be MUCH CHEAPER, USA loosing jobs to ILLEGAL's from MEXICO and CHINA,
they are over 50 MILLION and counting, and that GOV rates are droping too, so now bussinesses leaving USA and going to EUROPE and ASIA, so do americans.
And results will be SHOCKING: NO JOBS and DIRTY CHEAP STUFF.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: GEOrifle
Wait to thise year's Q3 NEHALEM.

enthusiest/Server line?

You know its gonna start at a couple G's?

 

[Jax Omen]

Yeah, you can't adjust the multiplier upward unless you buy an Intel "Extreme Edition" or AMD "Black Edition" CPU. The Intel ones carry an obscene ($1000+) price tag, and the AMD ones are on a (currently) drastically inferior chip, although the pricing is very reasonable.

Overclocking on Core 2 processors is done by adjusting the Front Side Bus.

 

[mikedi]

Thx for answers,
I am going to choose the Q9450. Hopefully I should be able to pick one up without having to wait too long.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Originally posted by: GEOrifle
Wait to thise year's Q3 NEHALEM.

The Q3/Q4 Nehalem will be an extreme edition $999+ job, on a separate socket from the mainstream Nehalems...

 

[Zenoth]

Q9450 for long term, definitely.