The Agonies of Desire

Please choose which one and why:-

1)Firstly - Intel Core 2 Quad [OR] Core 2 Duo
(For Quad, which-Q6600or6700or9300, & for Duo E 8400or8500)

2) XFX Nvidia nForce 680i LT SLI [OR] Asus P5ND Nvidia 750i SLI

Actually im upgrading everything other than my hard disks, and even for that am contemplating addind a 750 GB Seagate.The only criteria for a graphics card is that i shudnt be desperate to change it again for another 2 years. im thinkin about putting in a 9800 gx2. what do u suggest?

N

Q6600 + EVGA 750i FTW ,2 8800GTs in Sli,corsair 620hx , WD 750gb AAKS

discussed many times in the forum , check recent threads--

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87396
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87334

Get a MSI P7N SLI Instead. Should be cheaper.

if an amd phenom with the faulty b3 stepping problem removed is available, go for it, and the 780G motherboard.

b3 problem? whats dat? nd does it make any sense going for AMD now? they've all but lost the war.

750i and q9300... i made a similar decision few days back

btw - get two msi 8800gt oc edition in SLI (about 24k) rather than spending 32k on a gx2.

N

Pathik said:
Get a MSI P7N SLI Instead. Should be cheaper.

+1

also Q6600 beats Q9300 so its better to get that..i'd advice the same to u confused.i think we already concluded that,didnt we?

Also as per reviews Stock Q6600 beats E8500 OC too in UT3 and some other games. (read=stock q6600 , E8500 above 4.2ghz i think)

So choice is urs

nish_higher said:
also Q6600 beats Q9300 so its better to get that..i'd advice the same to u confused.i think we already concluded that,didnt we?

i dont quite remember

..... anyway i am waiting for Q9450......

also: i dont intend to OC soon. i am a total OC noob. i want some simple pleasures of a quad core, (currently on a PIII).

read this:*www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q9300_4.html
how did u conclude 6600 beats 9300?

N

confused said:
i dont quite remember ..... anyway i am waiting for Q9450......

ur thread itslef i think.or ajayashish's

Q9450 is available i guess..waiting?

@nish - ok i get it, u mean 6600 beats 9300 when both are OCed to their limits....

This is what the config is looking like now:-

That need to be bought:-
1. Intel Core 2 Quad 9300 - 12400/- (theitwares.com)
2. Asus P5ND Nvidia 750i SLI- 9850/- (theitwares.com)
3. 2 * Kingston 1 GB 800 Mhz - 2400/- (theitwares.com)
4. Cooler Master Extreme 650W - 4950/- (theitwares.com)
5. Cooler Master Cabinet "Mystique" - 5500/- (theitwares.com)
Total: 35100/-
Allready bought: Logitech Z5500 5.1 Speaker System

To be bought next month:-

1. Graphics card {8800 gt or 9800, still undecided}
2. 2* Seagate 7200.11 500 GB

From old rig:

1. AOC 22" monitor
2. 2 * Seagate 80 GB
3. 2 * 512 MB Kingston Value RAM

BTW @ Confused: Whats the basic difference between Q6600 & Q9300?

I havent OC'd yet, am still not comfortable wid it. And my PC doubles as a gaming rig and a home theater. Considering that, is there anything else i need?

no offence mate, itwares prices everything (each component) higher by a few hundred rupees...... u will definitely get better deals.....

iceman69 said:
BTW @ Confused: Whats the basic difference between Q6600 & Q9300?

9300 is based on a newer architecture, and thus is meant to replace 6600.
at stock conditions 9300 beats 6600 (read above review link), but 9300 dosent OC to the extent that 6600 does. So its ur choice if want to spend the additional 2000 bucks......or not.

also i read somewhere that Q9xxx dont run properly on nforce 6 series mobos.....

@ confused: no offence intended, so none taken

so if theitwares is not the best, can u suggest sumone better?

@ confused: from the article u suggested *www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...d-q9300_4.html :-
"Of course, the performance difference between the youngest Kentsfield and Yorkfield processors depends on the type of workload. Micro-architectural improvements bring in the highest performance improvement in final rendering and video content processing tasks. As for gaming applications, they are less optimistic towards Core 2 Quad Q9300, as they are sensitive to cache memory size."

???

To iceman69
did u mention 9800, well then opt for 9800gtx or wait for 9900gtx as i am waiting for.

@ ancientrites: as i mentioned b4, ill have to wait till next month for the card. im allready in debt this month considering what all i still hav to buy. [sigh] im not made of money, unfortunately.

so if 9900 is released by next month, we'll see about it.

N

confused said:
@nish - ok i get it, u mean 6600 beats 9300 when both are OCed to their limits....

well kind of..u can OC Q9300 to max 3.5ghz while u dont have that limit with Q6600 and as far as tests show Q6600 oc'd beyond that xbit labs review beats Q9300 ..i'm not counting here those ScienceMark benches here coz Q9300 leads the extreme proccy too..but thats just unimportant

and also it beats E8500 at stock only where things are quad core optimised and in others too

btw a general misconception----newer architecture does not mean that that stuff is reallly gonna rock and that omg kind of things..intel' s yet to make a mark with 45nm as far as sub 20k proccy's are concerned
still Q6600 is above all ..and this is not my own cooked up theory..google a bit for Q6600 or Q9450 or Q9300 , check the forums , ppl resort for Q6600 only ..
yeah true that if u are pairing ur proccy with a entry level board , which i think no one does , u need q9450

Another thing is this 9 series card 9800GTX -- even 9600GT in Sli beat it (around 20% advantage)..8800GT SLi beats it by a better margin
the only thing that 9800GTX gives is tri-sli..so why spend on this thing?better get some good rams , good board ,etc for the money u save

@ nish_higher : thnx for the update, but my prob is ive never oc'd b4. nd i dunno nebody who'd do it for me.

regardless, so what ure saying is that q6600 is better than q9300, nd that applies to gaming too, right?

P.S. : U cant OC RAM, or can u?

N

costly rams like Gskill / corsair can go 1ghz and beyond easily.plus u get better timings that affect ur performance too..

Also that board-- MSI P7NSLi / EVGA 750i FTW are much better than Asus P5N-D

As far as OC'ing is concerned - its pretty easy.there are many ppl to guide u here regarding that -- darklord , choto cheeta , me

, hellgate , more (sorry if i miss a few names)

And yes OC'ing affects gaming-- affects Crysis the most till now as far as i've seen.

iceman69 said:
b3 problem? whats dat? nd does it make any sense going for AMD now? they've all but lost the war.

The Faulty B3 stepping is the very main REASON the Phenom did not do well. They were aware of the problem with the B3 stepping and did not dare give high clocking phenoms, though the manufacturing cost and hence the market value of a 3GHz phenom would have been the same as that of a Q6600.

AMD nearly lost the war because of their Phenom.

But they are recovering, first with the Revival of ATI(3450, 3550, 3650, 3870, 3870x2, 4870 FTW), then with innovative and attractive new motherboards with the arival of 780G chipset, which is not available for Intel Processors. Add to it the fact that most Intel manufactured mobos support CrossFire and not SLI, ATI looks pretty stable now.

Only the next big processor line <which is not screwed with any faults> is needed to bring AMD back to its successful Athlon XP to Time before Core2Duo's arival days.

+1
i think most of the lost market can be regained once they move to 45nm nd lower. And bout ATI=nvidia, ATI is at a respectable position with HD 4870 expected to release on June.

N

+2
and if u guys check 780i SLi vs AMD's 790FX mobo , guess who rules

Lookin on the xbits comparison, Q9300 rules anyday than Q6600. Q9300@ 3.5Ghz beats Q6600@3.6 Ghz in 95% benchs and oced Q9300 consumes almost 70W less than oced Q6600. So u can save a big amount on PSU.

And think bout Q6600 if u plan to take it to some 3.8Ghz or higher. But be warned-ull need a very gud cooling and a much higher rated PSU if u intend on doing so. AT clocks like 3.8Ghz or higher, it might consume atlest a 100W more than Q9300 @ 3.5Ghz.

Also a 9600GT SLI or an HD 3870X2 seems better options than a 9800GX2 considering the price to performance ratio. 9600GT SLi perfoms better than 8800GT SLI, which is a real advantage of 9600GT over 8800GT

N

the board they used was P5E3 which is pretty costly.. i doubt if u can OC Q9300 to 3.5ghz on 750i but u can OC Q6600 to even 4ghz (with thermalruight 120E ,of course) on that since its fsb is just 1066 which is a major factor here..so in that case Q6600 is better until u are gonna pair it with a 23k board :lol:

i guess nobody checked the test setup

Also u can OC Q6600 to 3.6 and beyond on a Cooler master 460W PSU , also this guy's upto SLi so i really dont think u should count the wattage factor here since he'll have to get a good PSU

Regarding 8800GT SLi vs 9600 GT SLi--
*en.expreview.com/img/2008/03/25/sli0803/sli9688.png

i actually am going for cooler master extreme power 650W. but then i dont any cash left for any cooling solutions if i oc. im allready smoking bidi's instead of ciggrates to save cash.

Look guys, my major need is gaming, movies and music on my comp.
i know music wont be a prob. movies too shudnt cause much trouble.
that leaves gaming, nd herein im confused (no pun intended)
so wat wud b better - (1) Putting in an E8400 ?
(2) Putting in an E8400 and waiting for better quad?
(3)Putting in a quad regardless, say Q9300?
What do u guys think?

N

Q6600 will reach 3.4ghz on air on most boards..u cant make Q9300 do that- u need an extreme board for that and when ur gaming with a quad u gotta have some good oc frankly. i'd choose Q6600 anyday over Q9450 and Q9300 or E8500 over Q9300 (if i were to go crazy over ocing) ...this is my opinion though

ok, let me get down to the basic questions im thinking about:

If i dont OC at all, will me using a Q6600 prevent me from playing games compared to a Q9300? For at least 12 months (only compared to Q9300)?

N

no not at all..

Thnx.
So my upgraded config is looking something like this:-

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 Ghz - 10100/-
Asus P5ND Nvidia 750i SLI - 9850/-
2 * Trancend 2 Gb @ 800 Mhz - 3900/-
2 * Seagate 7200.11{32 Mb buffer} - 8300/-
Cooler Master Extreme Power 650 W - 4950/-
Cooler Mystique Mystique - 5500/-
Lite On SATA 20x LightScribe DVD RW - 1500/-

Total - 44100/-

Will use my old 7900 GT till i can afford one next month.
Then ill opt of either of the 3:-
1. 9800 GX2
2. 2 * 9800 GT in SLI
3. 2 * 8800 GT OC in SLi
or maybe sumthin different if anything better comes along.

N

In that case,u better wait for new cards by ati.
Also p5nd is no good performer.unless u want to go with just asus.better get p7n sli .check its review

i used an MSI K8N Diamoond on my last rig. damn thing gave out on me in december. git it repaired but it still went bust in feb. also P5ND is 1333 Mhz while MSI is 1066 Mhz. im not sure exactly what those numbers mean but higher usually means better. And Ati card work well on Nvidia chipsets? What if i wanna link 2?

N

well if u wanna add 2 Ati cards then go for Abit IX38 Quad GT - the best DDR2 ATi crossfire mobo u can get for now.

And MSI P7N SLi Platinum's Specs ---
it has 1333FSB , same as asus

Socket 775
CPU (Max Support) Core 2 Extreme
FSB 533/800/1066/1333
Chipset NVIDIA® nForce 750i SLI
DDR2 Memory DDR2 533/667/800

*global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodmbspec&prod_no=1373&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=#menu

iceman69 said:
im allready smoking bidi's instead of ciggrates to save cash.

u need to read this
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88642
[no offence dude]

With an oced quad nd an SLI with 2*9800 GTX , ull need to go for a higher rated PSU than a 650W one.
ATI's HD 3xxx nd 4xxx being 55nm, are more power efficient. Wait for HD 4870 or X2.

@nish_higher
BTW, how much did ur M audio card cost? And how is its performance? And wat speakers are u using? ANd where did u bought the card from?
I m thinking of a Creative X-FI Xtreme Audio for 4.1k from npithub or from a local store. And also Logitech G51 5.1.
Currently i have realtek onboard 7.1 with optical and a co-axial with Creative T6060 5.1.

N

^ 14.8k the time i got..now i think its around 1k cheaper.if u r gonna use a card for recording this is the best thing u can get below 50k.except for no phantom power inputs.card purchased from delhi , bharat music store.
but if its for playback i mean games n stuff u btter get creative since recording cards dont offer EAX and DTS

@ nish_higher: thnx for the update, but MSI costs bout 5-6 grand more than Asus. maybe in another 6 months or so, ill save up enuf again 4 another overhaul.

@dOm1naTOr: ure right bout the PSU, but now i have to go for extreme power 600W, cos 650 isnt available. thats the only one in my budget right now. maybe next time.

N

get 620 HX from corsair if u can

btw P7N SLi costs 8700 rupees , asus p5nd costs 9800

k, lemme check wid itwares, ive allready placed my order, hope its not too late.

Corsair HX 620 is more than twice as expensive than CM EP 600W. Though HX wud be better, CM 600w has much better vfm.

well, talked to my vendor, am going for MSI P7N Sli Platinum, nd cooler master real power 550 W.

but he says the cabinet i want (cooler master mystique) might be available in all black.

N

if i aint wrong , that 600W ep PSU has only 4-pin cpu power connector..while all new mobos have 8pin..its recommended to use 8 pin one ,at least my 780i and 680i manuals say the same.

C

nish_higher said:
if i aint wrong , that 600W ep PSU has only 4-pin cpu power connector..while all new mobos have 8pin..its recommended to use 8 pin one ,at least my 780i and 680i manuals say the same.

i dnt think that matters much

But the one he's going for now which is CM 550W Real Power has 8Pin CPU Connector

check out the SPMP's Specs :

*www.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?act=detail&tbcate=22&id=2550

N

yea 550 W has 8 pin connector.i was talking abt that 600W psu..earlier i was buying the same thing but when i checked my mobo's manual i decided for a 620hx
and this 550 W is real power so that means u actually get whats rated and its more efficient..would be around 70-80% efficient.

actually on the spec sheet, the ep 600 had >70% output, while the RP 550 says it gives out 550W continuous.

No PSU can be 100% efficient. RP is bout some 80% efficient which can be considered extremely gud.

C

Yes it is 80+ Certified

dOm1naTOr said:
No PSU can be 100% efficient. RP is bout some 80% efficient which can be considered extremely gud.

+1