I have the opportunity to move from a C2D to a Quad. I actually do a fair amount of rendering, only light gaming (might change) and general spreadsheet bs. Here is my current build:

Intel E6700 C2D
Zalman 9600
MSI P965 Platinum mb
4Gb @ OCZ DDR2 PC-6400 Platinum rev 2
eVGA 8800GT 512mb
2 @ Seagate 300Gb 16Mb cache 7200rpm in RAID 0
and other necessary support devices.

And, though I hesitate to say it....Vista 32bit Home premium.

I am about to be the recipient of an Intel Quad QX9650.

According to the MSI website it is a drop-in to the motherboard. I know i will need to do a reinstall but I was planning to do a fresh intall anyway.

Am I incorrect? will the mb/chipset not support the cpu?

New mb? The Gigabyte ga p35 ds3l/r looks enticing...

Any input would be greatly appreciated...

Get a new mobo... I doubt it will work in that board. Maybe a bios flash?

If you are in to rendering i think quad core will give you and edge. Yeah gigabyte P35 is a great MB.

If MSI says it will work with a certain Bios then it will.

You wont need to do a reinstall for a new CPU, only if you change mobos. A cmos reset may be required though after a Bios update.

sorry...i forgot to mention...i have already flashed to the latest bios which is necessary for the new cpu...but the latest flash is fine and stable under the current config.

i guess my need for input stems from the 965 chipset. is the P35 a helper to overall system speed? before i found out i was to be gifted with a new cpu i wondered if i should rebuild the E6700 on a new mb.

and i know this is extemely opinion driven....i've had no issues with Vista....but I was upgrading a P4 system so I bought all new stuff....and didn't look back on anything....

Should I build the new sys on XP PRO. (I have one in a box...and I hear MS will continue to sell it....but arguements over SP3???)

jk

Didn't mean to offend...

I know this is not the os forum...

If you can afford the P35, I would get it. Use the old CPU and mobo and build a cheap machine around them, then you have two. I would build the new system with the free copy of XP Pro. SP3 will get worked out soon enough and you don't really need it anyway. If you want Vista later then go for it. XP will be supported with updates until at least 2012.

it is actually a hardware question. i ain't goin' 64 bit until autocad AND ms send me appropriate updates. so i stay at 4gGb on board. and 32 bit. oh yeah. i am running 2 acer 24"monitors">>but the 2nd one is very primative..

I don't get your question. XP will work fine with your hardware. The 32bit RAM limitation exists.... and... what's your question?

thanks for all the posts. this is my first foray into letting anyone else influence my hardware decisions. if you have any backshots please post them. i think i will get a couple of GB P35 boards and see what benefits i reap. ...i also have another license for Vista so...it will probably be in my Quad build...

zorg--

i have (within reason) multiple vista/xp licenses. i do not expend them lightly. i usually stir up stuff for people on the hardware side. that is why i am exporing this website.

sorry to the forum...i have digressed...
so i'm thinking i will replace my C2D system with the Quad and a GbP35 as primary and leave the C2D alone...i'll tough out the Os question as i build. Try one and then the other.

How much cooling will a QX9650 require? I have an unused Bigwater SE sitting around...

jk

Its MSI i doubt anything works

If you don't intend to overclock (which is a crime with that chip ) then the stock cooler is more than sufficient.