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Upgrading


soul .gc

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Alright - It is that time, my AMD3700 and 6800GT card are almost outdated haha.

 

I am looking at the following for my basics:

 

DFI Inifinity 975 x/g

Intel Q6600 Quad processor

7900gt Video Card

 

 

Anyone know if that is a decent board? I have read various reviews but all seem to think it is a good board. I can get all 3 items for right under $300 - trying to understand if that is a decent price and would be a good upgrade from my 3700/6800 setup.

 

Thanks for any help!!

 

Soul

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The video card would not be much of an upgrade over your current system, especially with the newer games. You will want to go with the 88xx series or the new ATI 3800 based cards to make it worth your money. The board and cpu are good, I say no on the video card.

 

Depending on your current system, you may need a RAM upgrade as well. Is that an older 939 pin system or is it AM2?

Edited by ZeroDamage
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don't go for the expensive quad core either, you can easily overclock the cheapest one

 

That being said, why the devil would you go quad core and not 8800 series on the graphics card? bad soul! lol...seriously though, definitely 8800 series

 

I've got my core2duo clocked at 3ghz and it's a dual core...there isn't a game out there that's been taxing it heavily enough to make it stutter--and if there is, I can still get it up to 'bout 3.5 on air only (at leasT)

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for mobo don't get the 975 board as it's nearly 2 years old and some of them don't even support quad core. go with a newer p35 or x38/x48 board.

 

for vid go with a hd 3870 if ~$200 or a 8800gt if ~$300 to spend.

 

also, don't listen to these other ppl. that's the exact cpu i would get now if i had to buy new today. it will do 3ghz without breaking a sweat. just bump the fsb to 333 and you're set.

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for mobo don't get the 975 board as it's nearly 2 years old and some of them don't even support quad core. go with a newer p35 or x38/x48 board.

 

for vid go with a hd 3870 if ~$200 or a 8800gt if ~$300 to spend.

 

also, don't listen to these other ppl. that's the exact cpu i would get now if i had to buy new today. it will do 3ghz without breaking a sweat. just bump the fsb to 333 and you're set.

 

big ditto on this

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Thanks All - After reading all of this and doing some research I think a Quad is not quite needed right now, I can always upgrade later.

 

I am thinking of changing the board though since it is old and hard to run SLI or Crossfire from what I have read.

 

I can pickup a D975XBX2 Intel Chipset board for a little under $100

 

The question then is what C2D chip - Anyone have good experience? I can get the E6300, E6600 and the E6700 for close to the same price...$85, $100, $150. I would prefer to stay with the E6600 but is the 6700 that much better?

 

Also - The 8800 series cards are better but they are also a bit more expensive. Would an 8800 GTS 640mb be better than 2 7900GT with Crossfire or SLI?

 

I am looking to be able to run the newer games at a decent resolution along with installing a hacked version of OSX for the C2D chips so I can do some video work as well.

 

Or should I just stick with my plan to get a 24" IMAC and not play the newer games?

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The newer ATI/AMD cards that were released are pretty good for the price. There is the HD 3850 and the 3970. The 3850 is priced around $179 and out performs the 8600 gts with ease. It also overclocks well.

 

The nvidia 8800gt is the card to get for the price even though it is priced higher than what it should be but there is a high demand for it and a low (or none existent) stock.

 

What motherboard and chipset you want to go with depends on the video card you want to go with. Intel chipsets support AMD/ATI's crossfire while Nvidia's chipsets support SLI. I've always prefered the Nvidia chipsets my self while Cujo has always dug the Intel. You can not go wrong either way but you want to make sure you pick the one that corresponds to your video card choice.

 

I would get the quad cpu, especially at the lower price points now. You will not regret it when future games really make use of it. UT3 and Crysis are NOW using all 4 threads and I've noticed Source (through Vista at least) uses all four threads. Get it since the newer quad 6600 has a lower power usage than the one I have and will run much cooler (and faster if overclocked).

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don't go with the 975 chipset, get the newer one (p35 or others cujo listed). There is a gigabyte P35 board for under $100 if price is an issue.

 

One newer card will definitely be better than 7900GTs in SLI. Don't get Cujo started on SLI. IF you can afford $300 for the vid card, definitely go with the 8800GT. If you need something cheaper go with the ATI 3870.

 

Since you're upgrading, I see no reason NOT to get the quad core Q6600. It will be money well spent, especially now that many games are supporting multiple cores.

 

You still haven't mentioned your RAM - I'm betting that you will have to get some new stuff - DDR2 800. There's a 2GB kit from G.Skill for around $60, which is a steal.

 

If you're having a hard time choosing among all this stuff, then post up a budget and we'll put together the best configuration we can for the money :D

 

 

oh yeah, IMAC=bad idea :P

Edited by boilersax
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Thanks Guys -

 

Hard to put a budget on it. I am using 3-4 different forums out there and trading items and some cash for different products so I am trying to get an idea on what would be best to get. I will shoot for the P35 chipset and an 8800.

 

I did forget about RAM though and I think I may need a new PSU to support an 8800 series card...not sure there.

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Ok Guys -

 

I think I have settled on a setup - opinions please before I finalize:

 

- Asus p5n32-SLI Plus with Thermalright HR-05 heatsink installed on northdbridge and copper ramsinks on voltage regulators - $100

 

- Intel C2D E6550 - $120

 

- ATI X850XT - $40 (I know this sucks but I gotta save for the 8800 series card

 

- 2GB DDR2-800 G.Skill RAM - $60

 

$320 - is that a decent setup and price?

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the E 6550 is an excellent choice because it's one of the best for overclocking, and the price is killer. I've seen people get this thing to run steady on nothing but air to 3.6 ghz without a ton of tweaking. I've seen it go as high as 3.8 on air with solid tweaking, a good mobo, and killer heatsink. That 3.6 is with the stock cooler. Anyway, I think it looks good.

 

By the way, my buddy is using my old x850XT, and it still runs some pretty high end games (i.e. Supreme Commander). It doesn't do it with the graphics cranked, but you will be able to play any game you want.

 

I have the E 6600 Core 2 Duo, by the way, and it's also an excellent overclocker, but it's more expensive than the 6550, and they can hit the same speeds overclocked with the 6600 edging out by about 100 mhz from what I've read, but that isn't even very consistent.

 

Looks like a good build to me...

 

And Cujo, as far as not listening to us--I told him to go with the cheaper processor and overclock it. :)

 

Oh, and IMAC for games? I can barely contain my laughter :biglaugha:

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you're in luck. i live here.

 

haha, get the p35 only if you want to stick with amd in the future vs nvidia. no sli support on the p35. no crossfire support on 680i. personally i prefer intel chipsets and amd vid cards.

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ahh ok - thanks.

 

I heard you were the intel expert.

 

I passed on it - it was the normal board, not the deluxe the guy told me it was so I am still searching. I have a 680i set if I want it but an Asus Striker Extreme just came along for a little under $200 and that is one nice board....too many damn choices. Why can't this be simple like Macs - one option and away you go.

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Why can't this be simple like Macs - one option and away you go.

 

don't ever say that here. they'll be all over you in a second.

 

seriously though, choice is what makes it great. yes you have to do a bit more research but you can find things that fit your budget. if you had a mac you'd have to pay like $5000 for ram upgrades.

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