Old AMD Fan Looking at Intell. Please Help...

noidly1

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All 3 seem to be ready for future cpu's.
The evga seems ready for future ram.
Which of these 3 would you get? or somthing else?
I an leaning towards the evga.

ASUS P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
Dual core 1333bus ddr2-800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131073

ASUS Striker Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
quad core 1333bus ddr2-800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813131074

EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI
quad core 1333 bus ddr2-1200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188009

Should i get one of these or wait for something else to pop-up?

Allso; which CPU to go with?

Thanks.
 

jeff_2087

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Those are by no means your only three options. Not that they aren't good boards, I'm running the EVGA 680i myself. Fast board, excellent overclocker- I havent tried to push mine into the 500+ FSB range yet, but I've heard it's capable of going there.

As for what CPU, your mention of "3+ ghrz single" suggests that you are unfamiliar with the distinction between Intel Core 2s and Intel Pentium 4s, because there are no 3+ ghz single core Core 2s.

If you are getting an Intel rig, you MUST get a Core 2 processor. P4 is obsolete and, to but it bluntly, a waste of otherwise useful atoms.

A good CPU to match the 680i board is the Core 2 e6600, or, if you're rich enough and want to spend the money, x6800 or qx6700.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115003
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115001
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115011

If you're spending big money on those CPUs, you may as well get a solid cooler like Tuniq, Scythe or Ninja, and OC that bad boy.
 

noidly1

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I just went to egg and went through the selector on the left and started with speed and went from there.

I have NO CLUE about Intel's. Don't know the differences between core duo(dual core), core 2, core 2 duo, core this core that, core 2 extreme this pentium extreme that,. don't know one core brand from another, dont know dif from server cpu from desktop cpu,

All i know is that it needs to have, or should have, hyper-thread, 64 bit able, HT2000, 2x2 or 4mb of cache, 1066 or 1333 fsb and good speed and clockable.

That said, where can i find a side-by-side comparo or cpus and know what to look for? I simply can not phathom the reason for so many to chose from... I am LOST when it comes to Intel.
 

jeff_2087

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Core 2 Duo/Core 2 Extreme is the only type of Intel processor you'd want nowadays.

In Core 2, there is no more Hyperthreading. All Core 2s are 64-bit. When you say HT2000 I assume you mean HyperTransport at 2GHz, which will not be found in an Intel PC. That's for AMD. All the e6xxx CPUs have 4meg cache.

For a side-by-side chart of tons of CPUs, see:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=430&model2=604&chart=167

The massive amount of benchmarks to choose from in that chart may appear daunting. Don't just base your choice on any one benchmark, look at several.

The chips that would interest you are:

Core 2 QX6700
Core 2 Q6600
Core 2 X6800
Core 2 E6700
Core 2 E6600
 

Valtiel

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Trust me you don't want Hyperthreading on anything.

If you give your budget we'd be able to help more.

Are you into overclocking? C2D's can overclock like a beast even on stock cooler.

If you are on a budget an E6300 or E4300 will do fine and still give you great performance. Clock for clock C2D's are about twice as fast as their pentium brethren. I think that makes them, what, 20-30% faster than AMD's current dual-core line-up?

All the e6xxx CPUs have 4meg cache
Untrue, only the E6600 up to X6800 (I think the QX6700 has 4 x 4Mb cache) have a 4Mb cache but it doesn't make a huge difference anyway (5-8% at same clock speed).

the Core 2 series would give you best bang for buck.
 

noidly1

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thanks for the help.

i think i'm gonna go with the evga mobo.

the e6600 is ok i guess. concidering what i paid for the 2 xfx 8800gtx-xxx's, maybe the e6700 would be a better choice as for keeping those cards happy. i don't think a grand$$$for a cpu is going to make that much dif.

whatcha think?
 

jeff_2087

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All the e6xxx CPUs have 4meg cache
Untrue, only the E6600 up to X6800 (I think the QX6700 has 4 x 4Mb cache) have a 4Mb cache but it doesn't make a huge difference anyway (5-8% at same clock speed).

:oops: Whoops, I meant all the ones I listed. Badly worded though.

As for the 6700, I don't think the extra $200 justifies 266 MHz that the 6600 can get anyway after 20 seconds in the BIOS. Don't even need to modify voltage, the 6600 can easily pull 6700 speeds on stock vcore.
 

noidly1

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a couple of things have me boggled.

1; i have read that there are people that are having probs with evga mobos like mems and ps2's. are there any other probs with this mobo?

2; evga mobos made by another co.

3; probs with strikers.

are these related to 680?

if so, intel any less probmatic?
 

jeff_2087

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There are several reported problems with 680i boards. I updated my EVGA to the newest P24 bios as soon as I got it, and I haven't had any issues at all. However apparently only some boards are afflicted. Intel based boards are undoubtedly a safer bet, but if you want the best performing SLi board, the 680i chipset is your only choice.

The PS2 problem should probably be the least of your worries because it can be solved by using a USB port. I was mostly concerned about the reported corrupting of SATA drives, but I have three SATA drives and they're all wonderfully uncorrupted. So my experience with this board has been flawless, but it's true that others weren't so lucky. Whether any of these issues still present themselves with the P24 bios, I don't know.