Planning on upgrading the computer sometime this summer...

kcporsche959

Senior member
Oct 17, 2004
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I'm currently using an aging machine. Specs are:
3200+ s939 venice
1 gb pc 3200
x800xl

Sometime this summer, I'm planning to upgrade my computer to a more modern system. Here is what I currently am looking at:
CPU: E6420
Motherboard: Not so sure what I should buy here, I was thinking between (I mainly want a stable board, however I plan on doing some moderate overclocking (only going to use a stock heatsink))
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813131142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813130081
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820148069
Video Card: Hmm, not too knowledgeable here either. I was thinking either the 320mb or 640mb 8800gts, any advice on which to get?

Also, are there any major price cuts/new lines coming out soon that I should wait for? I'm not in a hurry to buy these parts immediately, but I plan on buying them before the summer is over. I know that in Q3 Intel is cutting the prices on all quad cores, but I haven't heard anything about C2D's. The main things I do on my computer are photoshop/moderate gaming (Oblivion is by far the most demanding game I'd play) and multitasking while gaming. Do all of these parts suit me or do I need more/don't need as much CPU power?
Oh and one last question, I have an Antec Neopower 480w, with 36a on the 18v rail, is that enough in today's standards? Or do i need to upgrade my psu too?
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
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Originally posted by: kcporsche959
Hmmm, I heard the quad cores aren't spectacular for gaming, or was I severely misinformed?
You are severely misinformed.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
I'm looking to upgrade this summer, too, and it looks like the Q6600 is far superior to the e6850. They both are 9x, the q6600 is 9x266 vs the e6850 at 9x333. Strangely, I've never heard of an e6600 that won't oc to 3ghz. Hmmm, I wonder if maybe the e6850 is a rebadged e6600? Normally, a quad core is much harder to oc than a dual core. I'm not so sure that a Q6600 won't oc just as much as an e6850, however. Say that you end up at 3.2 Qcore vs 3.8 c2d. The industry is moving towards quad cores so you would be helping to future-proof yourself. Think of it that way and there is no decision. I heard that the GO stepping for the Q6600 that is coming out in sept is supposed to help them a lot with oc'ing, but I don't know if I can wait that long.

For those prices, you might want to check out a p35 board. There is not as much info available on them yet, but they will support a penryn upgrade in a couple of years.
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
22,071
885
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By memory NOW, because EVERYONE is going to upgrade in the summer and memory will probably go up!
 

betasub

Platinum Member
Mar 22, 2006
2,677
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Originally posted by: Oyeve
By memory NOW, because EVERYONE is going to upgrade in the summer and memory will probably go up!

Fortunately the market will be split between DDR2 and DDR3.