Processor help

[imported_Irse]

Going to upgrade wife's PC Have a choice of three processors/motherboard.
75% internet browing
20% photo editing (mostly Nikon Capture 4)
5% video editing (only if my machine breaks down, I have a q6600)

My choices
1) AMD x2 6400+
ASUS M2R32-MVP AM2 AMD 580X CrossFire ATX AMD Motherboard

2) E8400
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P

3) E7200
GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P

Both the E7200 and the AMD are about the same price, the E8400, about $70 higher. Which would be the best buy for what she does? Will probably try to overclock whatever I got.

Would the AMD, which used more wattage, run hotter and less able to overclock? That is the main thing I have regarding the AMD.

The memory I plan to buy is the G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1000

 

[hans007]

just get the e7200.

it will save electricity. for the things you are saying you are going to run on it, i dont thin kthe extra $60 between an e8400 and e7200 is worth it.

the e7200 is probably as fast or faster than the 6400 and if you overclock much faster. that and itll save a ton of electricity.

i figure you could probably save some money on the board too. why would you buy a $150 crossfire board for a machine that is not doing anything but photo editing and internet browsing. you could probably just buy a $70 or so board, and the e7200 and invest in say a giant monitor.

 

[imported_Irse]

That's the only board I could find with the amount of connections (SATA, USB2, firewire) that I like. I'll check around more. Thanks. What type of chipsets should I be looking for and I want something that will recognize the E7200 right off the bat without flashing the BIOS.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Irse
That's the only board I could find with the amount of connections (SATA, USB2, firewire) that I like. I'll check around more. Thanks. What type of chipsets should I be looking for and I want something that will recognize the E7200 right off the bat without flashing the BIOS.

i think most of the newer chipsets support it .

even some older 965g / 945gc can support it since its 1066 bus (i know a bunch of boards will have bios updates for it). you just have to get a board with a new bios revision on it.

i would assume anything that supports wolfdale would at least boot with it.

 

[imported_Irse]

Looking around Newegg, I did an advanced search for firewire and either 4 or 6 SATA and there was not that many boards that I liked. Since I already use the same Gigabyte board for my Q600 machine, I think I will stick with that one. I appreciate all of your help. I will go with the E7200.

 

[imported_Montana]

if u nedd for browsing and ets take
2) E8400 & GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3P ...best choice

 

[Denithor]

e8400...naw, just overkill for a surfing/photo editing machine.

e7200 uses less power, generates less heat, and is probably faster at stock speeds than the X2-6400 (and you can overclock much higher for drastically improved performance).

Plus, as mentioned already, the mobo costs less.

Simple no-brainer.

EDIT: Oops, that motherboard doesn't cost less than the AMD board. Hmmm...Intel is still the better option as it will use less power over the years, eventually saving more than the initial cost difference.

 

[imported_Montana]

that's true ...

 

[DeepThought86]

What about video card? If you go for a 780G board (~$80) you won't have to spend extra for the vid card and the board itself is cheaper than the options you suggested. Then get a X2 4600+ for ~$70 and you'll have saved yourself about $140-$150 for a perfectly adequate surfing and photo-editing machine.

You could then go from a low-res 22" (1680x1050) monitor to a much higher res 24" (1920x1200) one, which would probably be more of a benefit for photo editing.

 

[imported_Irse]

Originally posted by: DeepThought86
What about video card? If you go for a 780G board (~$80) you won't have to spend extra for the vid card and the board itself is cheaper than the options you suggested. Then get a X2 4600+ for ~$70 and you'll have saved yourself about $140-$150 for a perfectly adequate surfing and photo-editing machine.

You could then go from a low-res 22" (1680x1050) monitor to a much higher res 24" (1920x1200) one, which would probably be more of a benefit for photo editing.

Thanks

I was thinking about getting a 780g board but wanted it with a 6400+ processor. I looked around at the different boards and didn't like what I saw. Plus I didn't know how stable a 780g bord would be with a 125W processor. I know the mircoATX boards were having problems. The guy who helps me with my computers doesn't think a 4600+ is that much of an ugrade to what I have because I also considered that a while back. Don't quite remember the processor I have but do know its on a 939 board. and was one of the better processors.

I was about to send my order in when he calls. Tells me he'll help me overclock my current machine and we'll see how it goes. Plus since I've gotten my Q6600 machine, I'm going to get rid of some of my stuff from my older (wife's) machine and that should clean it up a lot. Don't know how much difference it will make but we'll see.

I haven't learned how to overclock yet. That's my next mission.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Irse
I haven't learned how to overclock yet. That's my next mission.

It's as easy as taking candy from a baby. This guide explains it all.

 

[Ratman6161]

Originally posted by: Irse
Looking around Newegg, I did an advanced search for firewire and either 4 or 6 SATA and there was not that many boards that I liked. Since I already use the same Gigabyte board for my Q600 machine, I think I will stick with that one. I appreciate all of your help. I will go with the E7200.

For some reason that escapes me, firewire ports built into motherboards seem to be kind of rare. If you were to accept the idea of just getting a cheap PCI card for the firewire capability, your search would yield many more choices.

 

[nanaki333]

i say get the e8400. it's like the old saying about having a condom. better to have it and not need, than need it and not have.

everything is so cheap right now anyway, may as well go all out in case you decide later to use that pc for something else

 

[imported_Irse]

Originally posted by: Ratman6161

Originally posted by: Irse
Looking around Newegg, I did an advanced search for firewire and either 4 or 6 SATA and there was not that many boards that I liked. Since I already use the same Gigabyte board for my Q600 machine, I think I will stick with that one. I appreciate all of your help. I will go with the E7200.

For some reason that escapes me, firewire ports built into motherboards seem to be kind of rare. If you were to accept the idea of just getting a cheap PCI card for the firewire capability, your search would yield many more choices.

I did use a firewire PCI card once but it failed after a while so I'm more hesitant to use them. Plus by the time I put my TV tuner cards and some other adapters, I start to run out of those slots pretty quickly. One question though, is running firewire off the PCI slot just as fast as on board?

 

[imported_Montana]

good for Ts ..keep posting okay...

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Irse
One question though, is running firewire off the PCI slot just as fast as on board?

No, but running one from a 1x PCIe slot is.