I am building a new system soon, and I have around 2000 bucks for it. My options are both from EVGA, they are the 780i, and the 790i. I do realize that the 780i is DDR2 and the 790i is DDR3, the price difference is really of no concern to me. My question is, if I spend the bucks for the 790i(1600 fsb), and get 1600mhz DDR3, is it going to outperform the second option 780i(1333 fsb), using DDR2 1066mhz ram, alot more? I am thinking of buying the Q9450, or the E8400, and I DO plan to overclock on air as much as possible, so that it is stable. This will be primarily a gaming machine, but I do plan to use it for some multimedia. And what kind of overclock can I expect between the two?

The speed difference between DDR2 and DDR3 is currently negligible. The E8400 will overclock to a higher clockspeed than a Q9450, largely due to the higher multiplier since most boards run out of FSB headroom on a low multiplier. Assuming a maximum FSB of 450MHz (a conservative but reasonable figure) you'll get 4050MHz on an E8400 and 3600MHz on the Q9450. For gaming the E8400 will be noticeably faster. For any multi-threaded multimedia application, the Q9450 will be overwhelmingly faster.

The question would be which is more important to you? For reference, even with 3.6GHz the Q9450 should be more than fast enough, and the general trend is towards better threading in games.

I guess other valid questions are: what graphics cards are you using, what PSU are you using, and what CPU cooler are you planning on using?

-mcg

CPU cooler: XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm, with a Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm
Graphics cards: (2) EVGA 8800gt, in sli. ( I run a 24" monitor)
Power Supply: SILVERSTONE OP1000 1000W ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V
Case: Silverstone TJ-09

Well I geuss, I don't know. I basically want a really fast machine that I can overclock, once I learn how, and I want it to last me a couple of years. So then the higher fsb on the 790i, is going to allow me to overclock more?

Wait for the new nVidia video cards which will be much better than the 8800, but also drive the 8800 price down further. Should be out in June/July. DDR3 is not worth the money, go with 780i. As much as I hate SLI, as a marketing trap, this might be one case where its useful.

Or you could go 9800GX2 and use a X38 chipset which will probably overclock better.

Changing video cards is not my question. I have NO intention of changing cards, I just got them not 3 months ago. My question is, which is going to give me more performance? 780i(1333 fsb)with ddr2 1066, or the 790i(1600 fsb) with ddr3 1600mhz? And is the performance that much different between the two?

Anybody else care to chime in?

From everything I read, DDR3 memory and the 790i chipset are both not ready for primetime. There's little or no performance gain for the extra money spent, and lots of stability and compatibility issues.

I have read the same things. So then I guess I should go with the 780i mobo. And a ddr2 1066mhz ram, I am thinking about this combo.
EVGA 780i
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188024
E8400 or the Q9450
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231166
I hope that this will give me some good performance. With the Xigmatel cooler.