Building soon... Need help deciding on which CPU to get.

[Azmal]

Looking for some advice from the more savy gurus out there. With a lot going on in my own life I'm finding it rather difficult to keep track of all the new goods and stuff that's right around the corner, and it seems like everything keeps getting delayed... Sooo, help me out here if you will please.

I think the only thing I'm decided on is the case, the Kandalf LCS from Thermaltake. Which has a good water cooling system (or so I assume, feedback appreciated here as well) which I'll toss another rad or two in for good measure. So there's a good big roomy case to fit and cool everything. I do plan to OC as much as safely possible.... I hear about phase changers too, should I look into this instead?

CPU.... I'm having quite a time deciding on this. There's 6600, 6700, and 6800, each with dual core and quad core options. I've been leaning toward the quad 6600 or 6700 because it looks like Half Life 2 will be utilizing the quad setup effectively and seems to be where the game industry is heading anyway. but at the same time, the dual core setups I hear are getting higher over clocks, yeah? But would comparing 2xcore with 4xcore by clock speeds be like comparing apples and oranges? I really dont know what to pick. I dont even have a clue what AMD is going to put out but I want to start ordering my parts in about 3 weeks.

And of course the next question after the CPU choice is the MB choice, which also is effected by the GPU choice... which is tough to say cuz I dont know if R600 will come out before I'm ready to build. Though if it comes out like within a couple weeks of my desired time frame I can always get by with my 1800XT for a short spell. Otherwise I'll get a 8800GTX probably.... Considering dual setup either way so I'd like to leave that option open. But more importantly I'd like help in deciding the CPU.

My usage entails both fun and work; games, music creation, photoshop, video editing, web design stuff, etc.

Thanks in advance

 

[Azmal]

Oh I guess it would help if I included my budget... as far as the CPU goes, I'd have to say it's more value oriented... and considerate of depreciation. The rate of value loss for CPUs is retarded so I'd like to not blow $1000 bucks for something that will be 500 in 6 months (or less) but if paid 700 and it was 500 in 6 months, its not so bad if I were to resale. That sort of thing

 

[MarriedwMortgage]

What did you have in mind for mobo? and price

It seems that if you are set on a case with water cooling you are going to OC pretty extensively, and would want a board that easily helps you do that. Which will cost you more, But get a way cheaper (sub $200) CPU.

 

[RJ]

Looking for some advice from the more savy gurus out there. With a lot going on in my own life I'm finding it rather difficult to keep track of all the new goods and stuff that's right around the corner, and it seems like everything keeps getting delayed... Sooo, help me out here if you will please.

I think the only thing I'm decided on is the case, the Kandalf LCS from Thermaltake. Which has a good water cooling system (or so I assume, feedback appreciated here as well) which I'll toss another rad or two in for good measure. So there's a good big roomy case to fit and cool everything. I do plan to OC as much as safely possible.... I hear about phase changers too, should I look into this instead?

CPU.... I'm having quite a time deciding on this. There's 6600, 6700, and 6800, each with dual core and quad core options. I've been leaning toward the quad 6600 or 6700 because it looks like Half Life 2 will be utilizing the quad setup effectively and seems to be where the game industry is heading anyway. but at the same time, the dual core setups I hear are getting higher over clocks, yeah? But would comparing 2xcore with 4xcore by clock speeds be like comparing apples and oranges? I really dont know what to pick. I dont even have a clue what AMD is going to put out but I want to start ordering my parts in about 3 weeks.

And of course the next question after the CPU choice is the MB choice, which also is effected by the GPU choice... which is tough to say cuz I dont know if R600 will come out before I'm ready to build. Though if it comes out like within a couple weeks of my desired time frame I can always get by with my 1800XT for a short spell. Otherwise I'll get a 8800GTX probably.... Considering dual setup either way so I'd like to leave that option open. But more importantly I'd like help in deciding the CPU.

My usage entails both fun and work; games, music creation, photoshop, video editing, web design stuff, etc.

Thanks in advance

Thermaltake case? yes......watercooling? no.
I had the plastic fitting on the pump break and leak coolant all over. While I didn't fry my system from the presence of coolant, I almost fried my CPU from the LACK of coolant. Luckily my BIOS has an alarm when it hits a certain temp, and it warned me that something was amiss. Too much on the line for the novelty of watercooling, at least Thermaltake's water cooling setup. I think it was the Big Water setup. I now have a TEC. Even if that fails, I'm not going to short or fry anything in my case. I'm not trying to scare you off watercooling, just advising you to consider it VERY carefully.

The Q6600 is supposed to drop in Oct to $266. Why pay twice for something that you can get soon enough for half. Even if you get a low end C2D now and a Q6600 at the end of the year, you'll still be about $100 ahead of the game....and you'll have a spare CPU to boot!

 

[evilr00t]

The Q6600 is supposed to drop in Oct to $266. Why pay twice for something that you can get soon enough for half. Even if you get a low end C2D now and a Q6600 at the end of the year, you'll still be about $100 ahead of the game....and you'll have a spare CPU to boot!

Yep, exactly what I intend to do. E4300 for $113 now, Q6600 for $266 later.
Total green spent: $379. As opposed to $531 for the Q6600 now.

 

[Azmal]

As for Tt LCS, I've got one running in mine now, (also a bigwater I think) and I did have problem with the view window drive bay (additional accessory) thing from corrosion (which could be my fault for mixing liquid types or too much dye or something) but other than that it's been just fine... My P4 runs way too hot though even w/o o/c so I'm looking forward to playing with the C2D. (Also going to use non conductive liquid)

As for my MB selection, I have no problem dishing out the cash for a good MB, even if the striker is what I need. I usually go ASUS but I'm not sure which one would be best. The eVGA 680i looks sweet though but I've read some posts about users complaining about some problems of some sorts, same with any of the high end boards so I have no clue what to get. Any input appreciated.

As for the price change in Oct... thats a long time off and by then I'd want something better anyway and I really want to this system to scream. But I'll consider your suggestions for the sub 6600 chips for now but would the CPU be a significant bottleneck for a 8800GTX or (god willing) a R600XT or XTX. (I'm still not clear on it's release date, but I wanted to get the XT when it came out and then get the XTX when it came out)

As for Ram I already have 4X (4GB) Crucial Ballistix 1GB PC2-8000 (1000MHz) But I have been wondering if they haven't caused me problems. So I dunno if I want to transfer the ram I have now to my new comp, or get some nice Corsair stuff (I have always used Corsair in the past so I dont remember why I had to have the Crucial (Must have been the 1000MHz and expensive pricetag?)

I'm still interested in hearing about phase change from anyone who's used it : )

Thanks again

 

[epsilon84]

If you want a quad now then the $530 Q6600 is the best (and only) option available without blowing a huge chunk out of the budget.

Right now, the ONLY game that shows measurable improvements from QC is Supreme Commander. The vast majority of multithreaded games can't utilize more than 2 cores, although that will change in the future, but these things take time.

Btw, you don't really need DDR2-1000 RAM for a 9x multi CPU like the E6600 or Q6600.

Assuming you hit 3.6GHz (possible with high end cooling on an E6600, less likely on a Q6600) then you'll 'only' be running the RAM @ DDR2-800 speeds on the 1:1 ratio.

Unless you intend to hit 4.5GHz (lol) then DDR2-1000 is a waste of money.

DDR2-800 is a fair bit cheaper than DDR2-1000, especially when we'ere talking 4GBs of RAM!

 

[Azmal]

Hmm Seeing as how I already have it, I assume it wont hurt, yeah? Or would I be better off getting some DDR800 from corsair? That Crucial ram was very expensive so if it's fine to carry it over to this next build(and just adjust the clocking) and it sounds like I'd even be fine to carry it over to the next build or CPU upgrade in the future that would fully support the DDR2-1000 (in which case the heavy initial cost wouldn't be such a bad investment in the end) Which also means I dont have to buy ram (yay) That is, if it's not going to screw with the setup.

So, it looks like I'm decided on the Q6600 and some overclocking most likely with LCS.....

Next stop.... MB Forums heh

Thanks again