Replace my 2005 Rig!

[Penley]

Hello all! It's time to upgrade my computer again. Everyone was very helpful back in summer of 2005 when I got my previous rig, but it being 2008 I have the upgrade bug again. I looked up my old post just for the heck of it and it is interesting to see what I paid back then for my current rig:

• AMD64 "Venice" 3200 @ 2600 MHz - $197.99 @ Newegg
  DFI UT NF4 Ultra-D - $139.99 @ ZipZoomFly
  2x512MB OCZ "Value VX" - $104.91 @ Newegg
  PowerColor Radeon X800XL - $283.00 @ NewEgg
  XP-90 w/ PL1B - 92mm - $46.23 @ Jab-Tech
  OCZ PowerStream 520W - $130.00 @ Newegg

Looking at those prices I think we are actually better off today because you get a lot more bang for your buck on memory and video card (even including 2 years of inflation).

• The new rig:
  E8400 or Q6600?
  P35? X38? or other?
  2x1gb or 2x2gb DDR2 800?
  Ultra120 HSF?
  Which GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB?
  Is my PSU enough?

I've read several threads about quad vs dual, and I'm really not sure which way to go. I primarily play RTS and FPS games and do a little bit of photoshopping. No vid encoding here. I'm leaning toward one of the new 45nm duals but my friend says I can get more our of a Quad. Thoughts?

If I do go with the E8400, what motherboard should I pick to allow decent overclocking?

Will my 520W OCZ PSU be enough to handle the system?

Finally, there seem to be a dozen different 8800 GT offerings. Any recommendations? Why?

I would really appreciate any advice or links you folks could offer. Thanks!

 

[RussianSensation]

Gigabyte DS3L - $100 or MSI P35 Platinum for $125 (after MIR) are good boards for the $. Depending on the features you want though, you can spend more $ on motherboards. The price increase for X38 boards is significant without bringing any tangible performance to speak of.

For a processor I would go with the quad since you kept your last system since 2005. In that case I would choose Q6600 G0 stepping. Although E8400 will certainly overclock a lot better and will be faster in the short-term for your tasks. Remember with Q6600 and its multiplier of 9x, at 400FSB you will most likely max out the processor and almost any P35 board can do that

For aftermarket cooling:

ZeroTherm Nirvana NV120 - $33 (after MIR) newegg
Tuniq Tower 120 - $43 or so
Thermalright Ultra 120/ex are very good indeed but the extra cost of the fan makes them a bit more pricey.
Also Xigmatek HDT-S1283 - $40 has performed really well here. But it's fairly new and doesn't have a proven history.

Some good website to purchase heatsinks include:

www.svc.com
www.heatsinkfactory.com
www.frozencpu.com
www.xoxide.com

You can compare prices between them.

Keep the power supply. That one was one of the best and should be sufficient with 33A on 12V rail. Its peak load is 620 which means it's a true 520 watt unit.

I'd go for EVGA 8800GT because of their step-up program (90 days in case GF9 comes out and you get some extra $) and lifetime warranty. But if you get a good ideal on a slightly overclocked card for not much more $ then it might be worthwhile for that one. Example : Gigabyte 700mhz w/Zalman fan

For ram I find that 2GB is enough for my uses (and I only run 32-bit xp). But with prices so low, might make sense to get 2x2 and leave 2 slots empty (if you plan to keep this system for a while). Although 4GB should be enough for a while!

 

[Penley]

Thanks for the quick reply RussianSensation! I appreciate the links and long response!

Will the DS3L be able to keep up with an E8400?

What about waiting for the Q9X00 (Yorkfield) cpu? I hear it is supposed to come out at the beginning of Feb. Is the 45nm quad likely to have better longevity than the Q6600?

 

[Penley]

Also, I should not that I run XP and don't intent on upgrading to vista anytime soon. (Can't wait til XP SP3!).

 

[RussianSensation]

The E8400 is a 3.0ghz 1333FSB with 9x multiplier. To get to 4.0ghz, the DS3L would need about 440FSB which is doable. However, the MSI board will most likely to that. Of course Gigabyte has boards with 6-phase design such as DS3R. Those should do 500FSB. Of course ideally waiting for a 45nm Q9450 or something along those lines would both offer you the cooler 45nm process and the quad core. If you are willing to wait, you can't lose. I am not sure if they'll come beginning of February though as Intel has discovered a Quad core 45nm bug which caused a delay.

In 32-bit xp you'll see 3.25gb of ram with 4GB. Then again, I dont think someone like you needs 4GB for gaming.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3169&p=5
MSI P35 board review

Here is another great board I would consider ABIT IP35 Pro - $150

The tricky part is that either board supports the 45nm processors only with latest BIOSes. Those boards might not come preloaded with them so you will most likely have to flash the BIOS with an older intel CPU.

 

[Regalk]

Originally posted by: Penley
Also, I should not that I run XP and don't intent on upgrading to vista anytime soon. (Can't wait til XP SP3!).

What do you mean you can't wait until XP SP3?? And you are waiting for??

I have 2 DFI Ultra-D boards already mothballed - gonna keep them for messing around then give away to some of my buddies

 

[Penley]

Oh flashing bioses is no problem for me. I think I went through maybe 6 different bioses on my LanParty Ultra-D until I got one that OCed well. Though the thing about the Q9450, with only an 8x multiplier it might have some trouble getting a high OC. People are talking about 4GHz with the E8400, but on an 8x Q9450 that would require 500MHZ FSB.

At this point I think I'm leaning toward the Q6600 because I'd like to buy in the next two weeks and I think it will last me longer than an E8400.

Anyone else have a suggestion for motherboard, HSF, or brand of 8800 GT?

 

[xj0hnx]

Originally posted by: PenleyAnyone else have a suggestion for motherboard, HSF, or brand of 8800 GT?

I recently upgraded my rig from 2004, I was really considering the E6850. but scored a cheap Q6600 instead. For the HSF I'd say get a TRUE, awesome heat sink, and an easy install make it a winner. I personally like BFG for video cards, so that's my recommendation, but Evga also makes a quality product, but I have heard some stories about their customer support that make me second guess tham. As far as a mobo, meh, I'm not that schooled in them, as far as which ones are out performing which. I got the BFG 680i LT, and it's pretty easy to work with.

 

[taltamir]

Ha, I just spent the past 6 hours researching the stuff and just ordered my own upgrade. (as in, what a coincidence that my first thread to look at after I was done was yours)

The e8400 is pretty the only CPU to get... The best price is currently from mwave.com
209$ +6.5 shipping (+1$ for 3rd day, another +2$ for 2nd air)

For mobo I was limited by needing 6SATA ports and wanting them all off of the southbridge. (I am running a SATA raptor OS drive, a SATA DVD burner, 500GB SATA RAID1 array (2x500GB drives), 750GB SATA RAID1 array (2x750GB drives)).
So I ended up getting the gigabyte EP35-DS3R. only avaiable from NCIXUS at the moment at 129$ + 20$ shipping.
You could get the NON energy efficent version of that board for 122+ 7$ shipping here: http://www.clubit.com/product_...830711&cmp=OTC-fr00g13

They should all OC that e8400 from 3ghz to 4ghz.


E8400 or Q6600?
The Quad cpus are going to be slower then the dual core for EVERYTHING with the sole exception being video encoding. At which the SSE4 instructions on the 8400 give it a 80% speed boost, meaning it will annihilate the non SSE4 quads in that as well.

The only quad you should get is a wolfdale based one with 3ghz or faster, but those are SO expensive right now it is simply not worth it.

P35? X38? or other?
P35 costs about 100$ and will easily OC the e8400 to whatever you want. The X38 is simply not worth it at the moment as it costs too much and gives too little.

2x1gb or 2x2gb DDR2 800?
I would definitely go with 2x2... and vista64bit. Most programs require more then 2GB today. While you can choose to run XP32bit with it (3.3 or so GB of ram is also good enough) I would go with vista64 because there are several 64bit programs which are MUCH faster then 32bit ones. (for example, compressing/decompressing files with 7z 64bit is 25% faster, IE7 and firefox are about 5 times faster, and hash calculations are 300% faster)

Ultra120 HSF?
No idea, sorry.

Which GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB?
What is your monitors resolution?
1280x1024, 256MB = to 512MB.
1680x1050 (or lower res with higher quality textures), 512MB offers modest improvements.
1920x1200, less then 512MB will cripple your video card.

Is my PSU enough?
More then enough. You could easily run SLI on that PSU. am 8800GTS 512MB only requires 400watt PSU. (but it might be cutting it too close)