To Quadcore or not to quadcore... Advice on new build.

Ronan|Raven

Howdy, have decided to finally upgrade my old dying system to something a bit newer. I have been using AMD all my life but the Intel CPU seem to be a lot better in pricing than I used to remember.

I am looking at getting Asus p5q-e http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=25214926 it seems to get good reviews an alternative is the Pro which comes in around 15 euro less. An Intel Dual Core E8400 was the CPU I was looking at, I could get an entry level quad for around the same price but not sure if I will see the benefits. I only play WOW and the odd game but nothing to taxing these days but I would like to be able to run some of the newer games if needs be at a reasonable performance.

Any advice on a 100euro mark gfx card? I have RAM already.

Any help would be appreciated, been so long since I have looked at components I nearly fainted when I saw a gfx card with 2gig of ram

massy086

here it is at a better price pluse free collection http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=408286 and as far as the cpu goes core2 duo would be loads for your need as they overclock very well on asus boards here is a good deal as it is new http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=146206&cat=8 yo can over clock that cpu to 3.2 ghz easy and safely

jonny72

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

Howdy, have decided to finally upgrade my old dying system to something a bit newer. I have been using AMD all my life but the Intel CPU seem to be a lot better in pricing than I used to remember.

I am looking at getting Asus p5q-e http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?recnumber=25214926 it seems to get good reviews an alternative is the Pro which comes in around 15 euro less. An Intel Dual Core E8400 was the CPU I was looking at, I could get an entry level quad for around the same price but not sure if I will see the benefits. I only play WOW and the odd game but nothing to taxing these days but I would like to be able to run some of the newer games if needs be at a reasonable performance.

Any advice on a 100euro mark gfx card? I have RAM already.

Any help would be appreciated, been so long since I have looked at components I nearly fainted when I saw a gfx card with 2gig of ram

I think you'll be glad to hear that AMD make some very good budget chips.

Its best if you open up hardwareversand.de or komplett and check the chip prices just so you can see and compare and then choose.

The e8400 is a great chip but comes in at about 135 euros, there is an AMD chip with almost the same performance, the x2 550 which costs only about 80 or 90 euros.

There is a nifty little 3-core chip, very overclockable, the black edition 720, 2.8, perfect for gaming, about 100 euros.

The black editions by the way are more expensive because they have unlocked multipliers and are easier to overclock.


Those will require an AMD board, go for a 780G you can get one for about 50 euros on that site.

100 euros for a graphics card? definitely the ATI 4850. Don't get dazzled by amount of ram on graphics cards, doesn't mean too much, some 512mb cards are faster than some 2 gig cards, etc.

Ronan|Raven

Thakyou both for the advice.

Solitaire

Actually, 780G has pretty much had it. 770 is a much newer beast with better support for newer CPUs and better overclocking controls, tying in nicely with Black Edition CPUs. If you need CrossFire or RAID5 go up to 790X. Both run a lot cooler than 780G to boot.

Very cheap Intel C2Qs usually end up a pain in the butt. Over €180 you start to get some very nice Intel chips, but if you want to cheap out on a quad stick with AMD, they have Intel beat to hell in the price department. C2Q is now dying, if you want a budget quad go for AM3 (as unlike C2Q cheap doesn't mean slow!), or for a high-end model look up LGA1156.

If you really want something around the E8400 there are good AMD alternatives on either side. Neither have quite the same OC ceiling but both have more computing cores A direct competitor to the E8400 is the cheaper X3-720BE. Its not as fast but it has a third core and is easier to OC. On the other hand if you're not so bothered about OCing (or don't mind doing it the old-fashioned way) then the X4-945e is a very keenly priced (€140-150) 3GHz (95W) quad. Now I may be wrong but the last time I looked a 3GHz Intel quad cost an awful lot more than that - even the 2.83GHz Q9550 stays well above the €180 mark. If you really need the fourth core then start from here.

Also, bear in mind that with the possible exception of the E8500/E8600 (higher stepping) the "everyday-usage" cap for both Phenom2 and most non-cack Intel quads (and cheaper dualies) is around ~3.7GHz. Past that heat and power waste tends to get ridiculous. That kinda equalises a lot of current non-"enthusiast" (i.e. retardedly expensive) CPUs, so the keener price of the Phenom2s edges them ahead of Intel (and I'm not calling i5 "mainstream" until I see some sub-€180 chips out! )

Ronan|Raven

Thanks for the reply. I am still sort of leaning towards the E8400 and instead of the P5Q-E board this P5Q turbo http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?partno=P5Q+TURBO

Will take another look again at the AMD options before I fully decide. I cannot see myself for the forseeable future needing more than a dual core for the amount of Gaming I do these days, the xbox takes care of most of those needs.

The most intensive non gaming task I do is run HD videos...

massy086

if you are going e8400 i bought of this guy two months ago a bit cheeper and they are brand new http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-Duo-E8400-3GHz-6MB-Cache_W0QQitemZ250498068476QQihZ015QQcategoryZ96868QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem and they are eo so they overclock much better or this witch is a great chip http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-Quad-Q6600-2-4GHz-8MB-newest-GO-stepping_W0QQitemZ260477496376QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Motherboards_CPUs?hash=item3ca5ab2c38&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

Solitaire

Off the top of my head X3-720BE + MSI 770-C45 (or K9A2 Neo2 if you're sticking with DDR2) is a lot cheaper than E8400 + Asus P5Q Turbo...

jonny72

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. I am still sort of leaning towards the E8400 and instead of the P5Q-E board this P5Q turbo http://www.onestoppcshop.ie/products.asp?partno=P5Q+TURBO

Will take another look again at the AMD options before I fully decide. I cannot see myself for the forseeable future needing more than a dual core for the amount of Gaming I do these days, the xbox takes care of most of those needs.

The most intensive non gaming task I do is run HD videos...

If you get the tricore and that AMD board will be a good bit cheaper.

You can even get a very good 50 euro dual core AMD and even cheaper board that will run all games fine.

The 8400, while a great chip, is far too overpriced compared to its AMD counterparts and really only for overclocking enthusiasts at this stage