Questions about building an Intel Quad-Core Comp

[ZombieRitual]

I'm planning on building a new computer to replace the AMD Athlon 64 3800+ machine I put together three years ago. It's a solid machine, gig of RAM, x800xt All in Wonder, nForce 3 motherboard, etc. It's a bit long in the tooth though, especially since my cpu is single-core, and since seeing the news about the July 22nd price drop in Intel's Quad Core Core 2 Duos, I've settled on getting the Q6600 when it starts selling for around $260.

I don't really know much about RAM though with Intel machines. I haven't had to deal with a FSB yet and I've heard some stuff about trying to get RAM to run 1 to 1 with the FSB. I've pretty much settled on getting 4 gigs of it, probably value ram since I don't intend to ever do more than a even a mild overclock, if anything at all. So what RAM would i need to get? 667, 800, 1067, etc.? Furthermore, should I get 4x1 sticks or 2x2 sticks, I've heard of motherboards having problems when filling all the slots. DDR 3 isn't a real consideration right now since I'm trying to keep this machine under $1500.

On the topic of RAM, I'm not entirely sure what motherboard to get. I don't see the need for SLI since it's expensive to get graphics cards, and the motherboards that do support it are pretty expensive themselves. I'd probably go with a motherboard from MSI or Asus, since I currently have an MSI and when I RMA'd my motherboard one time it went relatively smoothly. I'm also aware Asus makes good quality motherboards. I've read a bit on the new p35 motherboards Intel has just put out and their improved memory controllers, but I'm still in the fog as to where to go.

As for video cards, the last time I did heavy research on them was during the GeForce 6 series and the Radeon x800 series generation. I realize nVidia destroys ATI on the upper end. However, I really would like to avoid spending more than 300 dollars on a GPU and then just upgrade in 2008 when the DirectX 10 graphics cards are more mature, and they all have hardware HD content decoding. Plus, I figure by then the mid-range cards will not be the crap they are now. On that note though, I'm not sure if I should go with an 8800 GTS 320 or with a card from the last generation, which is still fast for the games I'm playing (mainly WoW). I game at 1680x1050 and it'd be nice to crank up all the settings in WoW, but I don't know how the 8800 GTS 320 would handle that resolution, it's supposed to be best for lower resolutions after all. Still though, how good a deal would a Radeon x19xx something be, price and performance-wise? How well the card would help decode HD content is another concern, though HD-DVD and BD drives are too expensive to purchase one currently.

Lastly, I would like to get a new case for this computer. I'm looking for one that's not too big or heavy and is also relatively quiet. I'd really like a case with only 120 mm fans, this current one has 5 80mm case fans and sometimes I swear I have a mini-jet engine in my room. A friend had one of those Lanboys, but I'm not sure if they still sell them and whatnot.

Anyway, thanks for reading all this and any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[Roguestar]

RAM: Get 2x2GB of whatever is cheapest, or if that costs too much, two 2x1GB sets. You can go as low as DDR2-533. Don't worry too much about it; if you get better RAM it'll run at DDR2-533 speeds anyway.

Motherboard: Screw SLI, it's a waste of money. Get a P35 board like the Asus P35K or the Gigabyte DS3R.

Graphics card: If you want decent DX9 performance with video decode to save your cash for DX10 next year, get the X1950 Pro.

 

[Nebor]

Is a Q6600 any better for games than an E6600?

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: Nebor
Is a Q6600 any better for games than an E6600?

depends on your game.. mostly supreme commander - it benefits very much from multicore setups, even going from dual to quad. supposedly UT3 will also be able to take advantage of quad cores.

 

[ZombieRitual]

Anyone else who can weigh in on this?

 

[Ruptga]

the 1950pro was the best bang/buck for a while, but I'm told it's no longer as good? I don't really know, I follow graphics, but not that closely.

What Fenix said about quad/dual core is correct, most games hardly benefit from dual core (I mean the game itself, ignoring the gains from having a core for the game and a core for OS/etc). The P35 is a good bit better than the 965 boards, which aren't bad themselves. AT did a review of the P35 chipset not too long ago, it shouldn't be hard to find.

And unless you're fundamentally opposed to OCing, I'd recommend it, simply because C2Ds are so ridiculously easy to clock, most don't even need a voltage increase until you get past 3Ghz. C2Qs are harder to OC, since they're hotter, but they're still getting good overclocks, and the new 1333FSB chips are supposed to OC even better.

8800GTS 320 does just as well as the 640 until you get to 19x12 with AA, they perform the same at that res without AA. Again, AT did a review of this, though it's a bit older than the P35 review.