Which is more important for gaming?

[maniac9856]

Hi i have never built a pc myself before or even designed one and had a company build it so i'm a bit stuck, iam building a budget gaming system and i was wondering,

Which is a better thing to do?

Have a, Core™ 2 Duo E6550 CPU @ 2.33GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit + Gforce 8600GT 256MB?

OR, Core™ 2 Duo E6750 CPU @ 2.66GHz 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit + Gforce 8500GT 256MB?

I know that the second processor is the best and the first video card is the best but i can only have one or the other. So any opinions on which one to get are welcome

 

[Sheepish]

If it has to be one or the other, then its #1.

In my opinion you would be infinitely better off either saving a lil more for a 8800GTS 320mb or go with a high end previous gen X1950xt/7900GTX. By all accounts the 8600GT is worthless for gaming (and thats at dx9 never mind 10).

 

[Maziar]

Get E6550 but with a x1950(Pro or if u can get the XT version ) it blows away a 8600gt

 

[gpippas]

Do not buy 8600gt or 8500gt or ATI's equivilant cards for that matter they are absolute rubbish for gaming.
Save up and get a x1950pro or 7900GS.

 

[aevm]

Can you afford an E4400 and an 8800 GTS 320 MB?

Tell us the rest of the parts, maybe we can find cheaper alternatives there.

 

[maniac9856]

Yeah I could but I would prefer not to because the Operating system would bring it over budget the rest of my system cannot be changed unfortunatly because i already have the other components.

But if in the future I bought another 8600GT would it then be quite good for gaming?

 

[aevm]

Not really...

 

[Maziar]

8600GT's arent good for gaming , get x1950 (it has the same price , doesnt it ) ?

 

[maniac9856]

Yes but i don't understand those, will that play directX 10 requirement games?

 

[rodney_ws]

By all accounts the 8600GT is worthless for gaming (and thats at dx9 never mind 10).

If the 8600 GT is worthless, how would you describe the 8500GT? I'm not arguing against your recommendation... just curious how you'd describe the 8500.

 

[Maziar]

X1950 will play games on good settings , but when a game has DX10 option (like lost planet ) u can play it on dx9 settings , for example in dx10 mode u can choose shadows on HIGH but with dx9 card u can only choose up to medium , but we are talking about a 8600GT, and that cant play lostplanet on good settings ,

i rather play my games on high quality with DX9 rather than playing them with poor settings with DX10

 

[choirbass]

DX9 cards are going to be compatible with upcoming DX10 games for quite awhile (game developers also wouldnt want to alienate 99% of gamers by only going with DX10 for their upcoming games, that would be stupid, cuz not many people want to purchase an expensive new card just for a single game)

so for gaming, if you cant afford at least an 8800GTS 320, then go with a less expensive high performing DX9 card, such as the X1900 or 7900

if this was more of a HTPC that you were building, then the 8500/8600 would work, but, theyre not gaming cards really

as for the cpu, its speed doesnt really matter for 'most' games, as long as you have at least a dual core cpu, youre set, because more and more games are SMP aware now

 

[ausch30]

E6550 & 8600GT= $293.98
E6750 & 8500GT= $297.98
E4400 & X1950 Pro= $296.98

For gaming you would be much better off with the third option and the CPU is highly overclockable to achieve faster speeds than the CPU's you listed.

 

[Kamrooz]

Indeed..Stay away from DX10 cards for now. They don't do a very good job for DX10. but of course a 8800 GTX is fantastic for DX9..but dx10 is a dif story..no good cards out for DX10..

But overall..the 8600 and 8500 are very poor cards. That's why we are recommending the x1950XT...which can be bought form newegg for around 160 dollars. The 8600 and 8500 are really bad DX10 cards..PLUS..they are bad dx9 cards...They are NOT good for gaming...just like the ATI ones. The only DX10 cards WORTH getting are the 8800 GTS and GTX series..and the ATI 2900 series..But keep in mind NO card out is going to be good for DX10..If you want to play DX10 you will have to wait till the end of the year and pay quite a lot of money for the new upcoming cards....

edit---

Also..considering this is your fire build and that you didn't know what are good gfx cards atm..I'll take it you're not planning to overclock..if that's the case stay away from the 4300 and 4400..try to put in a little bit extra cash to nab a 6550 or a 6750...if you can even go as far as a q6600 that would be ideal..but those are around 300...the 6550 should be around 170..with the 6750 just slightly above 200

 

[maniac9856]

Thankyou everyone for all of your help please post more recommendations if you wish, I need to think about it for a while but i reckon I will get either the ATI X1950 or the Geforce 8800GTS 320MB
Once again thankyou all.

 

[zenmaster]

Definately go for the E4400 and the X1950 or X1950XT.

The 8500/8600GT are worthless for DX10 Gaming.
They are simply too slow.

It would like using an Unabridged dictionary in which all of the words were listed in random order.

Sure, you COULD look up a word in it, but you sure as heck would not want to. In fact an abridged dictionary in which the words were in alphabetical order would be far more useful even if it did not have every possible word.

Read this article - For a brief review of many cards.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for _the_money/index.html

They key to remember is that GPU is MUCH MUCH more important than CPU for gaming.

Take the cheapest Core2Duo (E4300/E4400), Crank it up to 3.0Ghz, Drop in 2Gb of RAM and put in the best Video Card you can afford.

Once you have a very good Video Card such as an 8800GTS 320Mb or better, then consider upgrading the CPU from the baseline listed above.

 

[Kamrooz]

reposting again so he doesn't miss it...But don't get the 4300 or 4400 if you don't plan/know how to overclock...The e4300 and 4400 are GREAT at their price range..and the core 2 duos can overclock EXTREMELY well..but if you're not overclocking try to stay away from them...put in an extra 50 bucks and nab a e6550...it's around 178 on newegg..with the e6750 around 208 on new egg...might seem like a bit but it's worth it..If you DO plan to overclock you might want to go the 4300/4400 if you're on a tight budget...

BTW...get the x1950xt...You can get a 256 mb version for 160 on newegg ^_^...the x1950xt has a few more pipelines and shaders then the x1950 pro...really worth the buy since the price difference is minimal.

One more note..if you want you can post your budget and we can try to see what you can get for your money. The members at THG are very helpful ^_^.

 

[maniac9856]

Would getting a CPU like the E4500 with only 2MB cache make much difference in performance than a CPU with 4MB of cache like the E6550 is it worth the extra £20?

 

[Maziar]

both x1950 and 8800gts 320 are good , if u play @ resoltuions higher than 1600x1200 , then get the x1950 and upgrade later , if u playe at resolutions lower than 1600x1200 , then get 8800gts 320mb , it performs like a 8800gts 640 in majority of games in those resolutions

 

[Kamrooz]

the 6550 has the extra 2mb cache as well as a 1333 fsb compared to the 4500's 800 FSB...overall I think it's a better buy for 20 more dollars...If this rig is to last you for a long time I'd reccomend atleast getting 6550...

 

[maniac9856]

I think I will get 8800gts 320mb and the 6550

THANKYOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR TIME AND EXPERIENCE.