Well I made a mistake when buying my parts for my first computer this year, got an AMD, shoulda gotten Intel (from what all pl say). I want to switch over, and Im not sure what CPU and Mobo i should pair up for this. I dont want to spend more than $600 at maximum, perferably like $500 or less. I want SLI, PCI-E 2.0 and an NVidia chipset, for the CPU its gotta be quad.
I have now an ASUS M2N-E SLI mobo with an Athlon X2 5400+ slapped onto it with my Thermaltake V1 cooler (gonna put it on the new CPU)
I read alot about ppl overclocking the Q6600, and also the Q6700, I dont want to spend too much (as said before, remember I need a Mobo aswell) The Q6600 is $230 and the Q6700 $315 (OEM), Im buying from Tigerdirect.ca because im in canada no newegg here folks.
The Mobos I might get are:
- EVGA 750i SLI FTW (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3761586&CatId=3495)
- ASUS P5N-D (750i chip) (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3573170&CatId=3495)
With the Q6700 and one of these boards I'll be between the 500-600$ mark, dont really want to be but if its worth it...
Also could someone explain why the EVGA board is more, the features? the technologies? speed? iunno
I would go Q6600 with the ASUS board. Both boards will OC decently (though not the best chipset for OC'ing) and perform about the same, so I would just go with the cheaper of the 2. I also prefer ASUS over evga for motherboards. Hope this helps.
Best,
3Ball
Message edited by 3Ball on 07-23-2008 at 08:42:57 PM
From what I hear 750i boards are not too good for overclocking except for the mentioned EVGA board. Don't know why maybe it has better power delivery or pcb layout causes less emi between tracks or whatever. 790i board is much better but also more expensive. For CPU go for Q6600 , Q6700 not really worth price increase, also might want to consider Q 9450 or Q9500 but they are also more expensive. If I had to choose it would be Q9450.
yeah I would love to have one of those Q9xxx CPUs but the money doesnt flow too well for a guy in high school lawls. I need to get that second 8800 GTS still for the SLI
I would go with the Q6600 over q6700 for your set up but I doubt that cooler will keep it cool enough for a high OC. If you don't already have the graphics I would go with a Q9450 or X3350/Xigmatek cooler/Asus P5Q-Pro Mobo. (W/I your budget range...I just built that for a friend) You can easily do 3.6ghz with minimal increase in vCore and it will be equal to a 65nm chip at 3.8ghz.
Message edited by Craxbax on 07-23-2008 at 09:02:23 PM
Or instead of getting second card how about selling the one You have and getting Radeon 4870 and go for cheaper P35 based board which will overclock better and the Q9450
This is an interesting proposition. Why do you want to switch? Are you not able to run what you want? I wouldn't change computers (upgrading or switching outright) until I could no longer effectively do what I want with my current system. Don't spend money unless you need to.
Since money seems to be a problem, the Q6600 is probably the best compromise. The Q6700 has a higher multiplier and will overclock easier. As others have said, I'd avoid doing SLI, instead getting a 4870.
In fact, as I think it over, you might be better off staying with the AMD board and getting a 5000+ BE, overclocking it, and getting a 4870. It won't perform as well as an overclocked Q6600, but it would still handle most, if not all, games that are presently out. Its the video card that will make the most difference in game play, not the CPU. This way you'd get the most performance for the least money spent.
---------------
Evil lurks in the databanks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil.
Ppl always tell me to stay with NVidia and also thats what I read in magazines (Maximum PC). Ill just stay but thats a good idea, dont know where or how I would sell it but Im probably not going to do so. I read that Radeon, sorry ATI, hasn't made a card that goes as fast as the 8800s (GTX and higher), but that was in a winter 2008 special, so thats just something I want to put out there
Check out this review for new ATI cards. And that was with unmature drivers. ATI this week released new drivers which offer even better perfomance. And ATI offers much better perfomance for money. I bought my first ATI card two weeks ago- 4870. Before it was all Nvidia for me.
But You are probably better off just overclocking Your CPU and then adding second video card or replacing it with 4870 instead of switching to Intel. If it was new built than Intel would be better choice without a doubt but as a upgrade it is not worth it. I for example still have one PC with overclocked X2 4200+ , 8800GTX, 4GB RAM and it does everything just fine for me.
Intel made 2 versions of the Q6600.
SL9UM 2.40 GHz Q6600 4 1066 MHz 65 nm B3 8 MB LGA775 05B
SLACR 2.40 GHz Q6600 4 1066 MHz 65 nm G0 8 MB LGA775 05A
The second one, SLACR (GO Stepping) is the one you need if you are going to do any over-clocking. Be sure the CPU is stamped with "SLACR" That is how you will ID it in the box and on the box.
Only one version of the Q6700.
SLACQ 2.66 GHz Q6700 4 1066 MHz 65 nm G0 8 MB LGA775 05A
Has GO Stepping. This is the stepping you want.
