New build what next

[grarcher]

Having now completed and very succesfully run my first build .

Now looking at Quad core Q9400 or Q9550 but almost £100 difference in Price , but its about mother board that is main question, would I see much difference between Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR or GA-X48/38-Dq6 mother board. I do not do any gaming or use a video card, I want it just to handle office work & network hosting of a database.

What would be best CPU to Motherboard combination ?

Based on My research of Intel data the Q9400 and GA-EP45-UD3LR would be good but the Q9550 and GA-X38 or 48-Dq6 looks very tasty. Comments please?

 

[tecmo34]

Why do you want an Q9400 or Q9550?

Why not base a build off of an Intel i5 750 and a H55/H57 motherboard, which will give you better performance. Or you could go with an Athlon II X4 620/630 and a AM3 785 MATX motherboard.

 

[PsyKhiqZero]

For basic office work the cheaper of the motherboards will be fine. all the boards should yield decent overclocks.

 

[grarcher]

Why do you want an Q9400 or Q9550?

Why not base a build off of an Intel i5 750 and a H55/H57 motherboard, which will give you better performance. Or you could go with an Athlon II X4 620/630 and a AM3 785 MATX motherboard.

Now I have lo0oked at this suggestion it certainly has merit. an I5-750 matched to the H55 or H57 but what about the Q57?

I am aso puzzled as to graphics. I normally use the onboard built in which is adequate for my needs. But I notice that the I5 does not have this neither does the P55 chipset so is it correct to assume the standard graphics I use eith comes from teh CPU or chipset but the I5 with a p55 chipset would require a grphics card?

 

[tecmo34]

Actually, your better performance would come from an AM3 CPU / MOBO combo, as the AM3's onboard graphics is better.

I had mis-spoken on my earlier post. The i5-750 will not provide better performance on the H55/H57, since it doesn't support the intergrated graphics like an i3 530 or i7 661 with the H55/H57 board.

 

[whitefang]

What's your budget and we'll help you get the best system.

 

[grarcher]

What's your budget and we'll help you get the best system.

My budget is about £300 but I already have the power supply & case & peripherals I just need Motherboard Memory & CPU.
I only do office work and odd Mpeg download from BBC iPlayer.

I am not a gamer or video user. just ordinary office & spreadsheet work and a little CAD.
So onboard graphics & sound is ok.