Compare these two mobo/cpu combos please

[jackslap]

This mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157134

paired with a P2 940


Or this mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131232

paired with a Q9400


Which would you take and why? The price difference is pretty much negligible at 16 bucks. The intel setup is actually cheaper cause the mobo is cheaper. But is the CPU a better chip in the long run for some occasional games and photoshop?

 

[gkay09]

Well I feel going with the SLI chipsets will pose lot of problems when you setup the rig...Heard a lot about them being flaky and unstable...So I would rather stay away fro them...
Get the P45 chipsets...But they are not SLI capable and support only crossfire...
Before you decide about the 700 SLI series, go through their reviews of the users who actually have them...and not any articles...that would give you a better idea...
The best SLI chips to go with are the X58...

 

[jackslap]

The problem with going crossfire is that I just got a spanking new GTX 260. I did not know when I bought it that there would be so many problems with SLI chipsets. I don't see myself returning this card to swap over to an ATI.

I wasn't planning on going SLI to begin with, but wanted to keep the option there. Maybe I should just scrap that idea altogether and just plan on switching over to ATI in a few years for the crossfire stuff. But by then all the x58 stuff will be dirt cheap and there will be some other new brain racking choice to make. GZZZZ.... So maybe just buy a board without SLI in mind. A crossfire board that will only be running a single Nvidia card just to get a non-buggy chipset? What are these bugs I keep hearing about?

One more build come and gone with my dreams of someday running two video cards smashed

 

[gkay09]

Well thats fine...anyways they would have posed much bigger problems on that board...
Get any of these with a single pcie slot...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128372
And njoy the 260's power...

 

[gkay09]

Well the main problems which I came across the net were the RAM incompatiblity issues and SLI not scaling well...
But I have seen few people lucky with their 700 series chipset...

 

[jackslap]

A gigabyte fan eh? You trying to save me money by pushing those cheaper mobo's huh? So is it better to just save the 40 bucks and go with a single PCIE slot board, or should I just get the SLI one and hope I don't get a buggy one? Or do the bugs also come out when only a single slot is in use?

And am I doing right by going with the P2 940, or should I just go the Q9400 because benchmarks show that Intel procs handle games better. Or is the difference negligible?

What about all the talk with L2-L3 cache and memory FSB. Does none of that really matter?

 

[gkay09]

Lolz not a GIGA fan I use an ASUS

Well if you wanna try your luck with the 700 series then its your call...

I had suggested the single pcie slot as anyways you wont be using the 2ND one on a P45 board...

And the P II 940 is very gud and competitive...Just overclock it a little and you are gud to go...And yes in the games, there will be less difference...It will depend more on the graphics card you use...

As for the L2-L3 cache and memory FSB, you can compare AMD and intel as they have different CPU architecture...

And the P II has 8M total L2 + L3 cache and Q9400 has 6M L2...

But generally more the cache, better the performance...

 

[jackslap]

Dude, you've been pretty killer help. I hope someday I can help someone like this too. So the P2 should last me a few years and I'll be satisfied with that combo'd with the GTX 260?

BTW, I WON'T be playing Crysis. Not my type of game. Military style shooters and some RPG's are mainly my bag.

What do you think of Linux as an OS? I heard it ain't so good with games, but I'm SOOO Tired of WinXP. I won't buy Vista though, too much money right now that I could spend on firearms and ammo lol.

 

[gkay09]

Thanks...
And the P II 940 and the 260 together are very powerful...
They should be gud for atleast 2 years(Well +/- few months on safer side )...
And do overclock the P II...its very easy...you can even refer the Tom's article on this...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-overclock-athlon,2161.html

But don forget to get an aftermarket CPU cooler like the Xig S1283...Its worth it...

As for the OS...U can have a dual boot of the Linux and XP...So for gaming XP and other stuff Linux...
And yes Linux don't have gud support for the games...

 

[Onus]

If you go Q9400, you've immediately capped yourself, as there won't be any more socket 775 CPUs, and the highest QX9's are too expensive anyway. The 940 PII may have a little more room to upgrade, although an i7 will outperform it now, nevermind once even newer ones are out.
If I were building new now, I would anticipate wanting to hand the rig (or its mobo/CPU/RAM) down to someone in a year or so to build another one that would likely blow it away. If you agree, you might consider spending the least amount of money to get acceptable performance. You already have a good video card. Would a 7750 X2 Kuma do it for you? How about an e7400? Q6600? Get a good, re-usable case and a solid PSU, and plan to hold on to them when you rebuild.