New CPU for gaming.

[Speciallk87]

I'm looking to put together a new gaming rig (once im out of the deser.) I have been out of the swing of things for at least 6 months. I know the intel extreme's are the best right now, but as far as price compared to performance, am I getting money's worth? I just need some guidance. Would the E8500 do for just general gaming purposes? Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[blackwidow_rsa]

Even an e8400 would do

 

[SuicideSilence]

Another vote for an e 8400

 

[williamleja]

I am going to put my vote in for the Q9450. It is quad core so when games come out that are more quad friendly you will be set. The Q9450 overclocks well too. The Q9450 is more future resistant in my opinion compared to a dual core which seem to be going out of favor quickly.

William

 

[dragonsprayer]

first if you use intel use a q6600 for 3.6ghz - it run 65-75c and last 7-10 years

second if you run nvidia 700 series chipset run a q9450 set to 3.3-3.55ghz - it requires lots of tuning a research use only asus striker and set ldt to 4x and boost gtl voltage

third if you use a 45nm dual core get an E8500 and set it to 4.0-4.2 ghz with air

remember to keep 45nm voltage lower then 65nm

voltage
nvidia needs more since the droop is big

memory
use 4-4-3 ddr800 or q6600 or a qx9650 4ghz

for a q9450 or e8500 use 1066 plus

research what i say and you find it will lead you on the correct path - not only do i preach this but i have shipped all of these systems
4.2ghz water cooled qx9650
4.2 air cooled e8500
4ghz e8400

we have shipped many many 3.6ghz q6600 g0 intel systems - shipping 3.6ghz systems for 1 year in 2 weeks:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/244351-28-61ghz-1ghz

you find the new bios for asus nvidia chipsets, likes 45nm but not 65nm quads
use old bios for the q6600 or new bios for the q9450


good luck

need advice warpedsystems.com contact

ps: wait for the q9650 it will run 4ghz on air with a good cooler!
use these coolers:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/250728-28-xigmateck-thermalright-120mm-plastic-forgot

ps2 - here is some photos 4.5ghz water cooled quad:

 

[th_username]

i prefer 9950 black edition + 3870x2

 

[mrplow99]

Tbh id rather a hd 4850 or 4870 than a 3870x2.

 

[protokiller]

Buy the cheapest Core 2 Duo you can find and overclock the **** out of it!

Then get a decent GPU like the 4870.

 

[resonance451]

Depends upon how much you're willing to spend and exactly what you want out of your rig.

Personally, the most attractive setup to me right now is something like an ASUS P5K EPU or other Intel chipset mobo along with a Q9540, 2x2gb G. SKILL DDR2 800 MHz RAM, a 750gb 32mb cache Samsung HDD, along with an HD 4850 or 4870 or two in Crossfire which sounds like a great setup for a previously unheard of price.

 

[aznguy0028]

+1 for the Q9450. you're gonna be playing games, but you're gonna be using windows and other stuff for the majority of the time too. Quad is just a more pleasant experience in my opinion.

 

[compy386]

It sounds like you're on a budget so I'd really avoid the E8500 or the Q9450. You'll get pretty much the same bang for your buck with a E7200 or an AMD 5000+ black edition. Also some of AMD's older quads are really cheap now. I just picked one up (9600 Black Edition) for $130. If overclocking is very important to you I'd go with the E7200. You can get it just as high as any of the more expensive dual cores but it has less cache. If you check out most of the benchmarks you'll get a marginal performance decrease with the E7200. If you're not going to overclock much or don't want to take the risk I'd go with AMD.

As for graphics the HD 4850 can't be beat on value. Check the deal forums like Ben's bargains or fat wallet. You can usually pick one up for $150 after coupon codes and rebates. You should be able to squeeze a quality gaming rig for under $600.

 

[zenmaster]

You should not be talking about CPU until your Graphics situation is settled and you determine a budget.

 

[Wisecracker]

It sounds like you're on a budget so I'd really avoid the E8500 or the Q9450. You'll get pretty much the same bang for your buck with a E7200 or an AMD 5000+ black edition. Also some of AMD's older quads are really cheap now. I just picked one up (9600 Black Edition) for $130. If overclocking is very important to you I'd go with the E7200. You can get it just as high as any of the more expensive dual cores but it has less cache. If you check out most of the benchmarks you'll get a marginal performance decrease with the E7200. If you're not going to overclock much or don't want to take the risk I'd go with AMD.

As for graphics the HD 4850 can't be beat on value. Check the deal forums like Ben's bargains or fat wallet. You can usually pick one up for $150 after coupon codes and rebates. You should be able to squeeze a quality gaming rig for under $600.

I got the Phenom Phever with that deal from The Egg

You should not be talking about CPU until your Graphics situation is settled and you determine a budget.

Yup. What he said. If you are gaming at 16x12 and up there is a big bunch-o-options where your monitor and video card(s) > the microprocessor.

 

[quantumsheep]

Q9300 and overclock

 

[Grimmy]

You should not be talking about CPU until your Graphics situation is settled and you determine a budget.

Agreed.

Also, if there any intention of OC'ing, power requirements, type of cooling.

 

[Speciallk87]

Good point with the graphics. Im not trying to spend more than 2500 for the system, although my budget is flexible. I think the complete max I want to go with everything included is probably sub 3k. I'm open for suggestions. Reading reviews and opinions, im leaning more towards quad core for future reference. I have been looking into my graphic solution and single cards looks like the gtx 280 is probably the stongest card right now. It only looks to get better after they release new drivers. Any opinions?

 

[Rubenov]

Good point with the graphics. Im not trying to spend more than 2500 for the system, although my budget is flexible. I think the complete max I want to go with everything included is probably sub 3k. I'm open for suggestions. Reading reviews and opinions, im leaning more towards quad core for future reference. I have been looking into my graphic solution and single cards looks like the gtx 280 is probably the stongest card right now. It only looks to get better after they release new drivers. Any opinions?

Go quad core and don't worry about upgrading for at least two years (I'd recommend the q9550 when it lowers to ~$315.00 in a few days... 45 nm process, less heat & power comsumption),.

I would also recommend the gtx280 (XFX or Nvidia) for 449.00 I prefer Nvidia always over ATI, but you could also buy a comparatively powerful card from ATI (HD4870) for about 150.00 less.

And try to keep a single card solution like you said, I have two 9800 gtx's in SLI but as soon as a more powerful card than the gtx 280 comes along I'm gonna be exchanging these for 1 of those cards.

 

[Speciallk87]

Is the price really going to drop for the q9550 in the next few days? If so, what's your source?

 

[Rubenov]

Is the price really going to drop for the q9550 in the next few days? If so, what's your source?

http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20080520PD205.html

Also, you can do a Google search and get the info from several dozen sources.

Intel is planning to cut desktop CPU prices in the third quarter this year, along with the launch of more quad-core and dual-core models, according to sources at motherboard makers.

The performance-level Core 2 Quad Q9650 with a core frequency of 3GHz will launch priced at US$530 in thousand-unit tray quantities, while the Core 2 Quad Q9550 will drop around 40% from its original price of US$530 to US$316.

The Core 2 Quad 9450, currently priced at US$316, will be phased out of the market to be replaced by the Core 2 Quad 9400 at 2.66GHz and a price of US$266. The Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Q6700 will both be phased out at the same time too, leaving the Q6600 as the only 65nm quad-core CPU left in Intel's lineup, and which will drop from US$224 to US$203.

For dual-core CPUs, Intel will launch the Core 2 Duo E8600 at 3.33GHz and US$266, and will phase out the Core 2 Duo E8300. The company will also drop pricing for the Core 2 Duo E8500 and E8400 from US$266 and US$183 to US$183 and US$163, respectively.

Intel will also add the Core 2 Duo E7300 at 2.66GHz and US$133 to its entry-level line and to drop the price of its Core 2 Duo E7200 from US$133 to US$113.

With the updated pricing, motherboard makers and channel vendors both expect increased demand in the third quarter, with motherboard makers predicting an average sequential growth of 15% in third-quarter revenues.

 

[epsilon84]

The E8500 will provide the best gaming performance right now, especially when paired with a high end GPU. Most games on the market cannot take advantage of more than 2 cores. In the coming year though, that may change, but for now, clockspeed > cores for gaming. Its OK to 'futureproof' your system but you can always upgrade to a quad further down the track, and they'll surely be faster and cheaper than the quads available today.

 

[X3qtor]

@dragonsprayer

"memory
use 4-4-3 ddr800 or q6600 or a qx9650 4ghz

for a q9450 or e8500 use 1066 plus"

"first if you use intel use a q6600 for 3.6ghz - it run 65-75c and last 7-10 years

second if you run nvidia 700 series chipset run a q9450 set to 3.3-3.55ghz - it requires lots of tuning a research use only asus striker and set ldt to 4x and boost gtl voltage "


Any particular reason for those "yet unheard" advices ? Just curious why should we use Q6600 with Intel chipsets and 9450 with nvidia chipsets. Sorry to express this kind of rudeness in questioning you but i have a hard time believing anything of what you say without some proper explanations. So why is q9450 bad on intel p35/p45 chipsets and good on nvidia 700 series ? And why 1066 ddr2 on q9450 and 800 ddr2 on q6600 ? I can't find a logic in this. Just my opinion though.

 

[stove]

I use a Q9450 with DDR2 800 ocz reaper hpc 2x2 and xfx 780i, runs like a champ.... I overclocked to 3.2 by changing the fsb only with no probs, but i put it back to 2.66 b/c i am a noob. ( I can't tell the difference between 3.2 and 2.66 in gaming..... playing age of conan)

 

[Wisecracker]

If you are willing to spend up to $3k you need to start with either a 46-inch plasma flat panel or (my favorite) ...

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080p Projector
http://www.centraldigital.com/product/?42865&hit_id=12606031&Campaign_id=210&CFID=23475090&CFTOKEN=21692822&sk1=1
(throws a 100" diagonal 16:9 image from 9.8' to 20.9')

Yup. 87 inches by 49 inches of pure joy. 1920x1080 resolution. Is this a great country or what? :lol:

Now. Lookee here - - - > >

CPU scaling in games with dual & quad core processors
http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-in-games-with-quad-core-processors/3

Bottom Line: When gaming at higher resolutions spending more on the CPU is pretty much wasting money.

(btw - the HD 4850 is a tick faster than the 8800 Ultra used in that review - in CrossFire twin HD4850s at around $350 would be tough to beat)

Are you going to 'recycle' any of your existing components? (Case, ram, hard drive, DVD ?)

 

[X3qtor]

If you are willing to spend up to $3k you need to start with either a 46-inch plasma flat panel or (my favorite) ...

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080p Projector
http://www.centraldigital.com/product/?42865&hit_id=12606031&Campaign_id=210&CFID=23475090&CFTOKEN=21692822&sk1=1
(throws a 100" diagonal 16:9 image from 9.8' to 20.9')

Yup. 87 inches by 49 inches of pure joy. 1920x1080 resolution. Is this a great country or what? :lol:

Now. Lookee here - - - > >

CPU scaling in games with dual & quad core processors
http://www.guru3d.com/article/cpu-scaling-in-games-with-quad-core-processors/3

Bottom Line: When gaming at higher resolutions spending more on the CPU is pretty much wasting money.

(btw - the HD 4850 is a tick faster than the 8800 Ultra used in that review - in CrossFire twin HD4850s at around $350 would be tough to beat)

Are you going to 'recycle' any of your existing components? (Case, ram, hard drive, DVD ?)

How's the quality displayed by the projector ? I've seen a movie on a projector (can't remember the brand now) about a week ago, and it never hit me i could use it as a gaming display since it had kinda poor contrast/brightness. It was very unpleasant especially when it was a dark scene, and you couldn't practically tell what was happening there besides that something was moving around. I'm guessing the better the projector is the better the quality of contrast/brightness. Oh and colours weren't too bright either, everything looked kinda "washed-out".

 

[Speciallk87]

The problem with a projector is I live in a small military dorm, ever been in one of those? Not enough room for a projector... Now as for a 46 inch plasma would be pointless. From my understanding, plasma doesn't start showing its advantages in display until 52" or so, meaning a 46" lcd would be more likely. Back to the pc now. Im leaning more towards quad core, for future. I know this is the wrong part of the forum for this, but what type of gpu? I'd like to keep it simple for now, but like I said, i'm flexible. What are your guys thoughts on gpu?