Which chipset and which brand?

[steve1616]

Hi, I am putting together my first computer, and I am having a hard time knowing what motherboard to get. I thought I had my mind made up about going with the P35 chipset, but then Anandtech came out with the article on the new X48 chipset and now I am confused again. The X48 sounds awesome, but would it really help me? I don't play any video games so I don't know if there is even a need to overclock my cpu. I want a board and chipset that is compatible with either the q6600 or the q9450. If it matters, I use my computer to access several mapping web sites for download while I am mapping on my own program that utilizes very high resolution imagery. I use a wireless dsl modem also. I think I can put a wireless card into any motherboard for this. I also stream and record live sports, movies, etc. with my computer. What chipset do you think makes the most sense for me? Also, can you recommend a brand of motherboard for the chipset that you think is best? I will list the components I will either buy or have already purchased for my new computer. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Case- Coolermaster 690
Motherboard- ?
CPU- Q6600 or Q9450
Memory- Corsair DDR2 (2X2 gig) 800MHz Already purchased
PSU- Corsair 620HX Already purchased
Graphic card- 8800GT probably EVGA
Monitor- Samsung 226BW Already purchased
Hard drive- Whatever is a better value or on sale

Thanks,

Steve

 

[Vixx]

Though it's not necessarily a "cutting edge" board, you may want to consider the Asus P5K Deluxe wifi board.

It'll run the Q6600 and is compatible with DDR2. If you want to go with an X48 board (WHICH ISN'T EVEN AVAILABLE YET), you'll have to add DDR3, which isn't cheap.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[hennethannun]

P35 should be fine for you. X38/X48 has all the bells and whistles, but many of them are video card related (PCIe 2.0, 2x PCIe x16 slots) that won't really be of any use to you if you don't game.

high resolution images can be a real memory hog (and manipulating them can stress your CPU), but unless you are doing 3d mapping or HD video recording you don't really need a high end video card. And in any event, one video card should be sufficient. Stick with the P35 chips and spend the money you will save on other components.

Q9450 is great if you can wait for it. But the Q6600 isn't too shabby and the price is pretty attractive.

As for what particular motherboard. I favor Asus myself, and would steer you towards one of their middle of the road boards, say the P5K. That's IF you don't want to overclock that much. If you do, then a high end board with more options is called for. But there's no reason to look just at asus. If you have your own preferences in terms of manufacturers, then go for it!

 

[steve1616]

I was definitely leaning toward the P35 chipset. I only became interested in the X48 chipset when Anandtech said that Asus had a X48 board that was meant for DDR2 memory. My mapping program says that it is 3D, but I only edit the maps in 2D mode. The 3D is neat, but isn't all that functional for what I am using it for. The biggest reason I thought about the X48 chipset was because of memory. I think my mapping program uses RAM more than anything, and it looked like the X48 boards showed the most potential to get the most out of RAM performance, but this could be wrong also. Anandtech's article made it sound like the X48 chipset was the best thing on earth, but maybe they were just saying from an overclocking stand point. Also, I definitely will not ever use more than 1 graphics card. Will the P35 support the Q9450? I know that it is suppose to, but then supposably the Q9450 wasn't released because of motherboard compatibility problems. So will the Q9450 run without a hitch on the P35 motherboard? Heck, I am starting to think that I might be happy with even an E8400. I have only used this pentium 4, so I might be astounded at how much more the current dual cores can handle.

 

[hennethannun]

Obivously I don't have any specifics about what you really do with your PC, but it sounds like you one of the few people who should be thinking about quad core over dual core. video encoding and image manipulation (at least in photoshop and 3dsmax and most other programs of that type) are exactly the type of activity that gain the most from quad core processors. By contrast, games are generally better served with higher speed dual-cores (games just don't multi-thread as well, especially now when most games began development before quad cores were even available). I'm sure you'd do just fine with a dual core, but you sound like the sort of user who has the most to gain by holding out for quad-core.

Ram is definitely something that you will want for dealing with large images (I would say at least 4GB if you are dealing with big/detailed maps), but even that is more reason to stick with a DDR2 board. There might be an X48 board with DDR2 coming out, but it doesn't seem particularly useful for you. again, most of the improvesments of the X38/48 family are video card related (though X48 also officially supports 1600FSB), and not too important for you. As far as I know, P35 is compatible with wolfdale and yorkfield (the Q9x50 cpus), but i have not seen it confirmed.

Assuming that I am correct about compatibility, I would suggest P35 with a quad core (penryn is great if you can hold out a little while longer), but the E6600 would be fine too.

However, I want to emphasize that I am making these suggestions based on the assumption that you do a lot of map editing and video encoding type activities. If you are just a casual user, then dual-core is fine and quad-core is probably more money that you need to spend. But if this is stuff that you are doing every day, or even every weekend, you might enjoy the performance gains of q-core.

 

[steve1616]

I probably map with my computer for about 3-5 hours every working day. Even at that, if my task manager is correct, my processor only works super hard when I manipulate the image (my computer freezes a lot if any other application is opened when I manipulate the image). It refreshes the screen at the blink of an eye on lower resolution images, but will take at least 5-10 seconds to refresh the screen after I manipulate very high resolution imagery that I have scaled out on. I am thinking that this is because of the RAM almost entirely because there is so much extra detail. I must also admit that my mapping program states that I need a minimum of 2 GB of RAM, and my current computer only has 512 MB. I actually have contacted my mapping software company and they said that they personally only use Dual Cores, but they also only use the normal resolution imagery that they supply. They use 1 meter resolution imagery, and I use 6 inch resolution imagery. I will definitely be buying a P35 based motherboard thanks to all of your helpul information.

Thanks,

Steve

 

[hennethannun]

If your doing that much mapping then you will definitely want at least 4gb of RAM. high res images take up lots of space, and it sounds like you can personally attest to the slow down that results when your comp has to start swapping out page files becuase an image is too big to fit in the RAM.

Dual-core will undoubtedly be an improvement on your current setup, so if you just can't wait for Q9450s in March then I think you will be absolutely fine with the E8400. especially if you overclock it a bit. Buy something like a P5K-E motherboard from Asus (ie a mid-range P35 board with decent overclocking potential, but not an extreme $200 product), throw in the E8400 and 4GB of DDR2 800 RAM. With that set up you should be able to run the FSB at 400mhz, and get a cpu clock speed of 3.6 ghz, without much trouble or heat. That sort of setup will be significantly faster than a Q6600 for single-threaded processes and not much less efficient for multi-threaded programs either. And all three components will cost you something like $425-450.

 

[bigsnyder]

Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 at the egg for $199 might be a good choice.

 

[DSF]

If you're not playing games, how much benefit does the 8800GT actually provide you over a less expensive card?

Edit: And if you do need the video power, should you be looking at a workstation class card?