Which way should I go?

[NYHoustonman]

Ok, so I'm upgrading around Thanksgiving (I mean my entire system, graphics card, everything). I've been an AMD fan for a while now, and I initially wanted to stick with an Athlon 64 X2, maybe a 4800+ or so, but I've gotten back into looking at benchmarks and it seems like this cpu just doesn't keep up with much of anything in the core 2 duo lineup.

So, my question is this: Is it even worth going with AMD at this point, or should I just switch to Intel? I've heard things about motherboard/memory prices being high (and I've seen this first hand as well), but it seems like this is the case for both sides. Essentially I'm looking to spend roughly $600-650 on processor/motherboard/memory (2GB or so, leaving maybe $400 for motherboard/cpu), and I'd like the motherboard to be SLI-capable. Any ideas/recommendations?

 

[Kromis]

I think the choice is clear...

(Somebody quote this to make nested quotes!)

 

[InlineFive]

Can we get a C?!

 

[LW07]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
Get this Core 2 Duo E6400 for $220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141224
Get this Ram for $190.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131071
Asus P5N32-SLI nForce 590 SLI mobo- $250

Total: $660 plus shipping.

This would be perfect for you.

Or you could get this E6300 for $180 instead of the E6400 and have the total be $620 plus shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005

 

[NYHoustonman]

So, basically, it's worth it for me to go with Intel? Good deal .

Now, is DDR-2 800 much faster than 533 (edit-or 667), or is that something that isn't worth the price increase (both in motherboard and memory cost)? Basically, I want this PC to last as long as my current one did (~3 years), so I don't want to skip anything I'm going to regret.

 

[DrMrLordX]

The only reason why you'd want memory faster than DDR2-533 is if you plan to overclock. You want RAM that will run as high as your plan to run your FSB. Otherwise, you won't get that much more performance running RAM faster than the stock FSB speed.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Well, I won't be overclocking (that much) initially as I don't expect to have any real reason to... But later in the rig's life I certainly will be.

So I'm guessing the multiplier is locked on these... I suppose I should have known that given they're Intel. I've done some overclocking on A64 rigs (with locked multipliers) where you can have the FSB:Memory speed adjusted automatically, is that available on Intel motherboards?

Either way, I may go with the more capable motherboard, maybe not with faster memory, just so I have the ability to go there should I choose. Thanks for all the help; I've really fallen behind on this stuff since my last upgrade :\.

 

[eelw]

Why settle for Conroe with Kentsfield just around the corner?

 

[DrMrLordX]

If you read the original post, you can tell that he doesn't want to drop $1k on the processor alone. Kentsfield's initial incarnation will be very expensive.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: DrMrLordX
If you read the original post, you can tell that he doesn't want to drop $1k on the processor alone. Kentsfield's initial incarnation will be very expensive.

Yea, that's definetly way above what I'm going to be looking at - I'll drop $500 on an 8800 GTS, but not more than $300 on the processor .

 

[lyssword]

Originally posted by: LW07
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004
Get this Core 2 Duo E6400 for $220

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141224
Get this Ram for $190.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131071
Asus P5N32-SLI nForce 590 SLI mobo- $250

Total: $660 plus shipping.

This would be perfect for you.

Or you could get this E6300 for $180 instead of the E6400 and have the total be $620 plus shipping:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005

590 sli? isnt that mobo a terrible overclocker? or is that 570?

 

[DrMrLordX]

The 590 is a pretty lousy overclocker I do believe. It's about the same chipset as the 570.

 

[twjr]

If you really want to have an sli mobo and you are thinking about waiting for the 8800 gts, then why not wait and get the 680i mobo?

 

[Vette73]

Yea if you can wait get the 680i board.

 

[homestarmy]

I say wait till January.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Originally posted by: homestarmy
I say wait till January.

I doubt I can hold off that long :x. In any case, I've been there before... I can wait and wait and wait, but really it isn't that big a difference to me, assuming you're talking about the release of this other chipset.

Is there anything out within the next month or so that would make a better overclocker than the 590? I mean, I would imagine there has to be given the fact that people are apparently having much success overclocking the lower-end core 2 duo's...

EDIT - Just looked it up, and 680i is out next month, so I'll probably end up doing that (assuming prices aren't too high); it does look like the way to go.

 

[The-Noid]

680i overclocking wise blows the 590i out of the water. Just wait for final version benchmarks to see by how much .

 

[Markfw]

If money is a concern, a 3800 X2 and $60 motherboard will OC to ~2.4 almost all the time, is a decent setup.

Now for a little more, you can get a E6300 or 6400 core2 setup, but to OC, the cheapest motherboard that OC's worth crap is the $120 Gigabyte S3, and you need good memory to get a good OC, and a decent HSF. (~3.4-3.5 range I mean) So this option would be $120-300 more depending on what parts you end up with.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Well, I'm theoretically operating without any limits, but I don't want to go top-of-the-line, for obvious enough reasons.

I'm thinking I'm most likely going with an E6600, a 680i-based motherboard (ideally by Asus), as well as some sort of halfway decent memory and an 8800GTS/X depending on price.

As far as the cooler, for the X2 I was looking at the Freezer 64 Pro, but now things have obviously changed. There is of course the Freezer 7 Pro, but according to reviews the Scythe Ninja is a better cooler and it's not that much more expensive (and from the shots I've seen of the 680i boards, looks like space won't be a problem). I'd like to go with a heatsink with that kind of design (blowing air out the back).

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: eelw
Why settle for Conroe with Kentsfield just around the corner?

Because not very many people want to spend $1k on a CPU that offers them nothing since there's hardly anything that they do that can benefit from dual core.