I'd like some expertise please...

silverh20

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Ok here's the deal.

My birthday is in 2 weeks and I can't wait to upgrade anymore and want to do it by then. Considering that, what is the best quad core/mobo/ram combo for ~$300 total?

It can be a bit over 300 but I'm trying to avoid spending more than that. This is an upgrade I want to last me for a couple years realistically but I know it wont be cutting edge. Im waiting for later to do a huge upgrade.

Also, I currently have a socket 939 amd 4400x2 with 2 gb ddr 400 so anything really is a step up from that. I dont care about intel or amd im no fan boy.

My primary focus is multitasking and gaming, specifically at the moment running GTA IV smoothly. Believe it or not but my old amd and my new radeon 4850 are getting me a lil under 20 fps consistently at 1680x1050, rendering on highest, textures at medium, and detail settings above the console defaults of 20 something. Oh and vsync off too.

Sooo... regarding that, I was leaning towards a q6600 G0 and an asus p45 chipset board of some kind. Should I wait for cheaper Phenom IIs and i7s? I don't want to make a mistake buying aging inventory when $20 more gets me something fresh. Keep in mind I'm aware of the limits of my budget. I'd consider open box specials, etc.

So let me know what you guys think, I appreciate your efforts.
 

nsimo86

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check out newegg's combos for the phenom II 920, you should be able to get the cpu and mobo for about $300 and ddr2 is dirt cheap right now, you should be able to get 4 gigs for $30.

other alternative is a Q6600 and a P45 mobo.
 

silverh20

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thanks for the tip. I'm not afraid to overclock as well, so keep that in mind. And if you suggest something could you please tell me if you think it is better than a q6600 setup? Im going for the most bang for the buck here but im worried about getting something as old as a q6600.
 
many of us still use Q6600's - cheap, good overclocker with a decent cooler.

Get a Q6600 and stick the FSB to 333 with stock voltage ... bang your at 3Ghz.

A 3Ghz Kenty is nothing to sneeze at ... it will max out your 4850.

Enjoy.
 

silverh20

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Thanks for the suggestions so far, more are welcome as well. For comparison's sake what mobo would you q6600 fans choose so that the mobo/cpu/ram combo wouldnt be much over $300?
 

silverh20

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Ok cool. Thanks for the info so far everyone. More opinions are welcome as well. And for comparison's sake, what mobo/ram/q6600 combo for around $300 would you guys recommend?
 

silverh20

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brendano257

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Go with what Akebone 88 showed you, Q6600, Gigabyte P45, and 4GB of Corsair memory. Those are great parts, I personally have a few sets of Corsair's XMS2 series all work very nicely. Q6600 is your best bet, and the Gigabyte P45 is amazing for OC'ing. If you can get one or two of the MIR's or more it's 300 flat, or close to it.
 
+1

However, if you can afford an extra $20, I'd suggest replacing the GA-EP45-DS3L with a GA-EP45-UD3R. Your extra $20 buys you an extra PCI slot, 2 extra SATA ports, more cables, RAID, FireWire, an e-SATA bracket. It also gives you a second video card slot, good for Crossfire or for adding a cheap card and supporting a 3rd and 4th monitor.
 

Akebono 98

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I'm with aevm on the UD3R, but it's all a matter of budget, by the looks of it.

One minor point though, UD3R only has 1 video slot. If you want the same board with Crossfire, it's the EP45-UD3P for $12 above the UD3R. I get confused about this notation all the time... ;)

I'd stay away from open box--just too many potential hassles.

With a Q6600, you won't need DDR2-1066 and 800 is just fine.
 

silverh20

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Alright I think im going to buy the UD3R as Im not too concerned with crossfire right now. Nothing seems to really push my 4850 yet as Im limited to 1680x1050 on my monitor. By the way, my friend just got 2 of a sweet watercooling setup for dirt cheap from a local Radioshack clearing its inventory, nobody in my little town even knows what overclocking is haha so good for me then. Im going to watercool my radeon 4850 and the q6600.

therefore, if i buy the q6600 and UD3R and some 800mhz ddr2 will that be a good setup for OCing? Also, anyone know how well the 4850s overclock and if its worth it?

again, thanks everyone for the advice so far :)
 

roofus

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cant go wrong with the q6600 or the p2 but since you are upgrading board/cpu/memory i guess in that budgent constraint i would be leaning toward the newer tech rather than the end of life CPU. the motive for ending the q6600 i am sure has more to do with cutting into the 45nm sister product than any shortcomings. good luck silver! no wrong choice to make here. both fairly equal CPU's.
 

Akebono 98

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Well... IMHO, watercooling changes everything!

This is just my opinion, but trying to keep to your approximate $300 budget I would go with the following instead (all links to Newegg for convenience):

E7400 for $140

EP45-UD3P (with Crossfire--allows you to run two 4850s later if you wish, as a nice simple upgrade) for $117 after MIR

G.Skill Pi Black DDR2-900 (2x2GB) for $50

Comes out to $307 after a $20 MIR on the mobo.

I know that what I've suggested opens up the discussion of Duo vs. Quad, but despite your OP, I would rather go with this Duo setup for watercooled OC. The tradeoff is higher speed on a duo vs. more cores on the quad--it's your call. :D
 

silverh20

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Ok. I'd prefer to stay quad core just because I multitask using my dual monitor setup but I am aware of dual cores reaching higher speeds. I dont mind going for a slower quad however because Ill just OC it. This setup is just to get me through the next 2 years or so till I have the budget to go big and cuz my old 4400x2 939 and ddr1 is showing its age finally. by then Ill get something fancier but for now im not too worried if what im getting isnt future upgradeable because next time i upgrade it will be a whole system change all over again. All I care is that I spend my ~$300 best to give me the power i need for that interim time period. I dont plan on upgrading this setup significantly after i buy this stuff.

therefore, considering that, you guys think i can get by for the next 2 years on a single 4850? if so i dont mind saving the money and losing out on the ability to have crossfire because when i overhaul everything down the road ill just get a shiny new gfx card too.
 
A single HD 4850 can handle 1680x1050 pretty well in current games, no worries. Yeah, I think you'll be OK for 2 years.

GTA 4 works best on a quad CPU, from what I hear, and the video card matters less than in other games.

 

silverh20

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Cool cool. Alright well I think I've got enough info from you guys, I appreciate the opinions. I'm a computer technician myself but I wanted to hear advice from many opinions just to be sure. Cant go wrong there.

So I've decided I am going to get a q6600 G0 stepping, a gigabyte UD3R, and some ddr2 800 2x2gb and throw some watercooling on top of it all.

Last question, what's the best ram to pair with this setup with OCing in mind? Im out of the loop for knowing about ddr2 timings, latency, etc, so to a ddr1 guy seeing latencies like 5 and 7, etc make me cringe but I know its only because i dont understand.
 

roofus

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sounds like you now have a plan silver. when you get it up and running, come back and tell us how it compares to your faithful old rig. aevm pointed out some good RAM there for you as well. first time i bought gskill i was reluctant because of the low price but it does a great job.
 

silverh20

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Haha thanks everyone for helping me decide , this is my first experience posting for help on a forum, I've always just posted replies or searched for similar situations. It's encouraging to see such a response on such a large forum. Was afraid my request would be lost amidst the fanboy debates and more exciting announcements.

So, here is the result. Detailed below are what Im upgrading from and to.

Current - built Oct 2005

4400x2 socket 939 @ default 2.2ghz w/2mb cache 1000mhz HT
oem amd hsf
2x1gb ddr 400 corsair xms3200
Asus A8N-sli Premium (i never used the sli! bah. oh well w.e)

New - going to be built on my birthday Jan 24th 2009

q6600 lga775 (plans to OC with WC. any idea how far i can push this baby?)
2x2gb ddr2 800 gskill
Gigabyte EP45 UD3R


Honestly Im surprised how reliable and tough this old AMD box has been for me, not a single failure in any of the components and the only change in those years was graphics cards. This is a big step for me going intel, not that im a fanboy but Ive always had AMD desktops and Intel laptops. It just worked out that way based on my budget and market timing. Interesting side note in case anyone is interested, my current laptop is a Dell Mini 9 with an Atom 1.6, 2 gb ddr2, and an 8 gb SSD with OS X 10.5.4 installed. Thing flies, damn fast and is silent, no moving parts! Plans to upgrade to a 32 gb ssd and dual boot xp too. I use this thing for house calls from the repair shop i work at.

Ill post respective benchmarks on both systems for you guys too. Keep your eyes out for a return of this post in 2 weeks!