NForce3 & Geforce 6800 or nForce4 and geForce6600GT????

[Poop Shoe]

Alright guys, I am trying to upgrade my rig for Xmas and am having trouble making a decision: here is my current thought:
I already have an Antec Sonata case I got at CompUSA on Black Friday for $69.
I also picked up the Maxtor DiamondMaxPlus 300GB, 7200rpm, 16mb cache HD for $199 to use as my primary drive.
I also got the PNY GeFroce 6800 AGP video card for $200.

My initial thought is to get the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum nForce3 MB and a Athlon64 3200+ retail chip: together ~$365 shipped from multiple places.

Now that I hear ZipZoomFly is expecting the Asus nForce4 MB with PCIe mid December for $220 shipped, my question is thus:
Get Asus MB with PCIe, step down on the chip to Athlon64 3000+ retail and return my video card and step down to a GeForce 6600GT with PCIe for ~$200?
So Asus MB $220 + Athlon64 3000+ $150 + 6600GT PCIe $200= $570 with free shipping

OR

MSI nforce3 + Athlon64 3200+ Shipped together: $365 + GeForce 6800 $230-$30 rebate= $575-30=$545 with a faster processor and a faster video card.

So, get the upgradeable MB and video card capabilities, or the faster rig now and expect to use it for ~2 years and then do it all over again, new MB, CPU Video card.

See the dilema?
Would love some help!
Mike

 

[davidos]

That is the 64,000 dollar question my friend..... I don't know. Get something that is great now or get something that is 'supposed' to be better in the long term when everyone knows damn well that in 6 months there will be an nforce5 and Geforce7800 (or whatever). I'm leaning towards nforce3 and then maybe in a year or two whatever is hot. It all changes so fast and the SLI benefits don't seem so huge over just one 6800GT.

 

[Poop Shoe]

Yea, thats what I was thinking...
In two years the 939 socket and athlon64 may be the 996 and the Athlon128+...my PCIe motherboard then becomes useless, just like the nForce3 MB.

 

[Dynamix3D]

I myself am also debating on this exact same topic.

I am deciding whether to get a Asus A8V and a 6800GT, or most likely go with the Asus A8N SLI Deluxe and dual 6600GT setup. I really am having a hard time deciding. It sucks.

 

[ChineseDemocracyGNR]

The 6800GT is faster. If you want PCI-E, then get the PCI-E 6800GT.

 

[stelleg151]

I say NForce4, but really depends if you are gonna upgrade a lot or not. If you are going to keep the computer and not upgrade for 2 or 3 years, then I would definately go with NForce3 etc, but if you want to replace parts or stick new ones in within the next year or two, I say NForce4.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I would say go for the nforce4 and 6600GT. The performance difference between the 6600GT and 6800 are next to nothing, and the upgrade path really makes a difference to me.

Also, I think all the hype surrounding pci-e and sli are overshadowing some really nice added features in the nforce4 platform. SATAII & NCQ, 8 x SATA, Active Armor, nTune, more OC friendly voltage options, bios driven overclocking of GPU, seperate locks for PCI, PCI-e, & IDE buses.

If your are the type to build a system and not touch it again for a couple of years, then rebuild or replace. then you should go for the 3200/6800 system. If you like to overclock, or upgade your system periodically, go for the 3000/6600 system

 

[oldmuggle]

I just made that call and went with nforce3, 6800, Athlon 64 3200+ but with the Epox 9NDA3+. The video card is faster, the cpu faster and think of all the bios problems you are going to avoid, by not going with the first nF4 board.

a bird in hand ...

 

[gobucks]

the 6800NU isn't really that much faster than the 6600GT. It's a bit slower in lower resolutions, a bit faster in high-res, but nothing really to shout about. I'd still personally take a 6600GT at $180 over a 6800NU, even at $200+ tax, much less pay the retail price for a 6800. Anyways, either card will eventually need replacing, since you already have to make some sacrifices in current titles like Doom3, farcry, and HL2, and it will be worse with next-gen games. I'd rather have to replace a PCIe card than an AGP one in a year, since the options and prices will be a lot better on PCIe. Oh, and the $220 mobo you're looking at also has SLI, so you can double up your 6600GT later down the road for a dirt-cheap upgrade. Also, with low-end 90nm socket 939 processors, they all overclock a ton, reaching around 2.6GHz on air for all models. So, if you get a 3000+, you just need to overclock it a bit more, which it's plenty capable of doing. As long as you have good memory and cooling, a 45% overclock is not at all out of the question. Basically, for the price difference you're looking at, go for the newer platform.

P.S. PNY sucks, I've seen 3 different cards die (2 in my system, 1 on my friend's), so they aren't that reliable.

 

[jose]

Check your prices.. You can get a DFI NF3 UT for around $90 & get a A60 3400+ 754 for about $200 that's a total of $300.

Pair that w/ you $200 6800GT agp and your set. It will be a very long time before your system is considered slow..

BTW, I think the DFI mobo is better quality..

Good Luck

Regards,
Jose

 

[bay]

Originally posted by: jose
Check your prices.. You can get a DFI NF3 UT for around $90 & get a A60 3400+ 754 for about $200 that's a total of $300.

Pair that w/ you $200 6800GT agp and your set. It will be a very long time before your system is considered slow..

BTW, I think the DFI mobo is better quality..

Good Luck

Regards,
Jose

I just did that. lanparty and 3400 but i had a 9800pro left over and it games excellently in cs:source and HL2, have a 6800gt coming for x-mas. I highly recommend it, that mobo is 2nd to none for 754

 

[Mrvile]

Hmm $200 6800GT. Sounds like a typo to me.

 

[Electric Mayhem]

Bump.

I've been waiting for NF4 for months but now I'm thinking NF3 w/ a passively cooled gigabyte 6800. I'm replacing a 5 year old comp and I don't upgrade often. I'm tired of waiting....

 

[desteffy]

I'm sitting here waiting too. WHERE IS NFORCE4 OMG!

If it dosent come out soon I may have to get the nforce3

 

[Electric Mayhem]

The only thing that's stopping me from getting an S939/AGP setup now is the VPU issues with the Nvidia 6800's.
I don't upgrade very often (last time was about 5 years ago) so by the time I'm ready to upgrade again in 2010 or so, I'm sure there'll be something better than pci-express. Although I would get a NF4 setup now if it were available.

 

[meson2000]

I think he meant $200 for the 6600GT not the 6800GT since the 6600GT has pretty much the same performance of the 6800NU

 

[Kabob]

I wouldn't buy 2x6600GT's and SLI them. Performance on SLI'd 6600 GT's isn't much better than on 1x6800 GT. But 1 6800 GT and throw another in when you have some extra $$ to throw around.

Also, if you're going the s754 route, you can get the 3200+ and MSI K8N Neo cheaper than $365. If I were you, I'd get a s939 Athlon 64 3200+ w/Asus A8V Deluxe (or whatever mobo you really want, but it's probably the most stable) for $326 from mwave. If you really want your MSI Neo2 Plat, add another $10 to that.

Then you can get your 6800NU for $200 (or however much it was).

Just my thoughts though