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Need help picking the right CPU

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Hi everyone

I have been researching for about 3 weeks all over the web trying to decide what parts to build my new desktop from. i have read tons of forum threads about the right CPU however i still cant decided really what i should get. I play some games mostly Counter - Strike and lot of sports. Im also very excited about GTAIV and plan to buy it as soon as i build my new computer, however i don't usually spend more than few hrs a week playing. I'm not a big multi task person either probably because I never had good enough computer for running more than ituns, internet explorer, messenger, skype and doing research on a project. I don’t use Photoshop or do crazy video editing which requires a lot of calculations so not sure if the quad is good pick for me.

That said im not sure if I should go with a e8500 or q9650 or the q9550.


From what I read im thinking about going with.

Vedio Card - 4870 1gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Motherboard - IGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and about 8gb of g. skill DDR2 800

I have still not decided on power supply, hard drive and optical drive but that shouldn’t be a problem.

The reason why I haven’t choosing a CPU is if I spend $1000 on my system today (assuming I spend $300/$400 on a CPU) I probably won’t be able to upgrade for another 3 – 4 years where if I spend only about $700 on this system (and get a CPU that cost only $150/200) I probably would be able to upgrade in 2 years.

What would you recommend?

Thanks

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If a price reduction is truly more important than a reduction in performance, AMD is probably the better way to go. Sure, Phenom II's aren't as fast as i7's, but they don't cost nearly as much and the motherboards that support them are much cheaper as well.

Just something to consider from a price standpoint.
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d3n1x said:
Hi everyone

I have been researching for about 3 weeks all over the web trying to decide what parts to build my new desktop from. i have read tons of forum threads about the right CPU however i still cant decided really what i should get. I play some games mostly Counter - Strike and lot of sports. Im also very excited about GTAIV and plan to buy it as soon as i build my new computer, however i don't usually spend more than few hrs a week playing. I'm not a big multi task person either probably because I never had good enough computer for running more than ituns, internet explorer, messenger, skype and doing research on a project. I don’t use Photoshop or do crazy video editing which requires a lot of calculations so not sure if the quad is good pick for me.

That said im not sure if I should go with a e8500 or q9650 or the q9550.


From what I read im thinking about going with.

Vedio Card - 4870 1gb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Motherboard - IGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

and about 8gb of g. skill DDR2 800

I have still not decided on power supply, hard drive and optical drive but that shouldn’t be a problem.

The reason why I haven’t choosing a CPU is if I spend $1000 on my system today (assuming I spend $300/$400 on a CPU) I probably won’t be able to upgrade for another 3 – 4 years where if I spend only about $700 on this system (and get a CPU that cost only $150/200) I probably would be able to upgrade in 2 years.

What would you recommend?

Thanks



,,,,,,Well now ,,, I wouldn't touch the 775 chip why ,because it is a dead end ,no upgrade path,,if for instance,,you go buy a high end 775 compatible cpu that's it,there is no upgrade path or very little,and you are not a heavy gamer,,but ,having said that,maybe things might change with newer,at least mmm? ,tech..
Consider Looking at some AMD quad cores and compatible mobo's there are a lot of possibilities and far less costly,different strokes and all that ,,but there a lot of interesting options...f'rinstance AMD 940 quad be @3+ghxz/Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-UDP5 etc looks interesring...)

It is definitely not about the price. Im willing to spend the 1000 today; however I have been reading people argue as someone already did here that the 775 are dead because the i7 came out and they require new boards. Also im not sure if I want to invest in AMD when Intel is clearly faster however I will look around some more and compare the AMD quads and see. What’s the upgrade option on them? Maybe I just wait little more save up and buy the i7 (which are ridiculously overprice I think)?

i7 is faster than PII....but in games you won't see a huge performance difference.
Video encoding is where the i7 shines....and even then its lead is about ~20%.

So the i7 920 is 80 bucks more than the PII 940 (Plus PII 955 is coming out tomorrow, we'll see how prices go), the X58 mobos are expensive, and with i7 you are forced to use DDR3.

If the 20% performance increase is good enough for you to spend the extra 150-ish, go for it.
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