Quad 8400 for a budget System or go Core i7 ?

[LePew]

Hi Guys

First post on the forum and I;d like to pick your brains on putting together a budget (£500.00) system built around the Q8400 or should I bite the bullet and go Core i7 for the long term? I have thought about the AMD XII's but price wise they are that much cheaper than the C2 Quads in the UK at all.

Usage - Primarily Lightroom/CS photo editing and the occassional bit of gaming. I know the Q8400 will be fine for what I want to do but is it worth spending an additional 200 to just go for the Core ?


Here's the specs of the system I'm looking at putting together:

Q8400
Case: Antec 300
PSU: Hi Power Black 600W
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP43 S3L
CPU: Intel Quad 8400
CPU Fan: Artic Cooling
RAM: Corsair 4Gb PC2-8500
Graphics: Saphire HD4670 512MB DD3
DVD/RW: Pioneer DVR 216
Hard Drive: WD 640GB SATA II
Total 486.49

Case: Antec 300
PSU: Hi Power Black 600W
Motherboard: MSI X58Pro iX58
CPU: Inte Core i7 920
CPU Fan: Artic Cooling
RAMCZ 6GB DDR3 133MHz
Graphics: Saphire HD4670 512MB DD3
DVD/RW: Pioneer DVR 216
Hard Drive: WD 640GB SATA II
Total 665.99


Cheers

H

Harj

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

i7 - don't look back

and welcome

 

[SunSamurai]

666$ for a computer is asking for crashes!

 

[KBTuning]

get the i7 and you need to get someone to airbrush 666 on the side of it and a pentagram on top lol

 

[PlasmaBomb]

If you can afford the $180 difference the i7 is the way to go.

Get a good CPU cooler though - Arctic cooling have several different coolers... so which is it?

Photoshop will be quicker with the i7.

If you overclock the i7 upgrade path is update the GPU when needed and your are good for a few years. Maybe drop in a 32nm chip later if they are compatible (and cheap)...?

Upgrade path for s775 isn't great - GPU when needed.

 

[Cookie Monster]

You just have to remember that upgrading your i7 in the nearby future will be expensive.

 

[imported_SLIM]

Originally posted by: aeternitas
666$ for a computer is asking for crashes!

He's talking British pounds.

@OP- It seems late in the game to consider a socket 775 system, so it's probably worth your while to go i7. You might look at the MSI x58 microATX board to shave a few pounds.

 

[LePew]

Now that made me laugh.. hadn't even noticed that the price was hitting the ol 666!

I realise getting a socket 775 socket is pretty late and the best thing to do is getting a Core i7 but I'm also going upgrade to a new LCD - a Dell 2209WA as well.. so for the price of the Corei7 I could get the Q8400 + Dell 2209WA. I'm going to see what I can do about trimming the price a bit definitley have to get rid £666 !

 

[heyheybooboo]

The PhII 550BE and Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 is £138 Inc VAT at Scan.

 

[kyotousa]

jw is Raid 0 worth it?

 

[jadopt1999]

I am totally satisfied with my i7 purchase - go for it!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

i7 will never be this cheap again. All mainstream (ones we can afford) will be for "i5" platform and LGA 1366 will only be for extreme ($1000) processors. So buying it to upgrade is almost like picking up a used Mercedes with a dying transmission. You'll need to replaced it soon enough and damn its expensive. I would know.

 

[GEOrifle]

I guess for BACK TO SCHOOOL time CPU's should have price cut, will they ?
I also thinking to upgrade from my PIV 478 CPU but waiting for price drops.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
i7 will never be this cheap again. All mainstream (ones we can afford) will be for "i5" platform and LGA 1366 will only be for extreme ($1000) processors. So buying it to upgrade is almost like picking up a used Mercedes with a dying transmission. You'll need to replaced it soon enough and damn its expensive. I would know.

Id be interested in what software is in the pipeline that would make you need to upgrade from an i7?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: OCguy

Originally posted by: Scholzpdx
i7 will never be this cheap again. All mainstream (ones we can afford) will be for "i5" platform and LGA 1366 will only be for extreme ($1000) processors. So buying it to upgrade is almost like picking up a used Mercedes with a dying transmission. You'll need to replaced it soon enough and damn its expensive. I would know.

Id be interested in what software is in the pipeline that would make you need to upgrade from an i7?

Skynet