Help me choose a processor

[KPRROK]

Hello everyone. I'm getting close to building a new machine to replace my 3-year old P4 3Ghz system. I have pretty much decided on everything but the processor. I'm trying to stay in a budget of $1000 for everything, including LCD, Mouse, Tower, keyboard, etc.

My current plan is this:

Gigabyte P35-DS3P
OCZ 4GB (2x2G) PC2-6400
XFX 9600GT EXTREME
Zalman ZM600-HP PSU
ViewSonic 22" LCD
Logitech G5 & G15 keyboard
WD 250GB (16MB) for system and 500GB (32MB) for storage
Samsung DVD-Multi drive

These things together equal about $900 for me. That leaves about $100 for a processor.

Should I stay close to the budget and get something like the E4500 ($120), go a little over with an E8400 ($210), or go more over-budget and get the Q9300 ($300).

I'll basically be using this machine as a media player, office works, picture storage and viewing (no editing), games (COD4, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., BF2, Bioshock, Medal of Honor, NO CRYSIS). I've never overclocked and don't think I'll be into it too much, so that's not a concern.

I was going to get the E4500 for now and then upgrade it in 6 months to a year, but that just seems silly to me when the E8400 is close to the same price. Then I saw the Q9300 is available and that might be good for more future use. I MIGHT start doing some video editing once my new baby comes along, so I'm thinking the Q9300 would help with that.

FYI, I'm not in America, so I can't get Newegg or TigerDirect prices. I've approximated the prices available to me so you guys can help. Thanks for the input and I look forward to getting some advice here.

Kevin
Jeju, South Korea

[KnightRid]

My opinion - get a cheaper keyboard and mouse and put the extra towards a cpu. cpus are more expensive to upgrade down the road (normally) than a kayboard or mouse is. You can always add a mouse and keyboard one at a time when you get the extra cash.

without knowing your prices for cpus, I cant help much. I would say go with the highest Intel cpu you can afford. I have a Q6700 in this system and for video editing it is REAL nice as long as the programs you use will allow the use of multiple cpus!

Mike

You could even downgrade the ram to 2gb to throw some more money at the cpu, but with ram being so cheap right now, that might bite you in the ass down the road.

[unfaithfulsfan]

I've built a couple of gaming machines with the E6750 Conroe @ 2.66 GHz that so far have worked flawlessly on most of the the games you've mentioned. ($189 on Newegg, don't know what your local prices are like)

As Mike mentioned, also, hold off on the fancy keyboard and mouse for now and I agree, too, 2 GB of RAM will be plenty to get you going. You can always save up and add to it later on. But who knows what prices are going to do from one day to the next.

Good luck in your decisions
Jack

[geokilla]

If you can wait till April 20, then wait. See here on why you should wait.

Are you going to overclock? If you are and you want a quad core, don't get a Q9300 (lowest multiplier one I think). A Q6600 should be able to clock higher than the Q9300 thanks to its higher multiplier. Let's hope I'm wrong though and we'll wait and see what Nate gets on his upcoming Q9300 review.

[martini161]

why not overclock? i would recommend wating and getting a t7200 like the one nate reviewed and overclocking it alot. it will save you lots o' monies

[ibleet]

I agree, the E7200 should work just fine and overclocks like a dream. Its the cpu that has the most bang for the buck in your price range.

[KPRROK]

I'll give you guys the prices I can get the various processors at.

E4500 - $115
E4600 - $135
E4700 - $145
E6550 - $160
E6750 - $180
E8200 - $190
E8400 - $215
E8500 - $315

Q6600 - $230
Q9300 - $300
Q9450 - $430
Q6700 - $560

Also, I agree with the point about the G15 and G5, but I am able to get both for $100, versus the list of about $150. That price is only good through May here, so I may still get them and just up my budget to include them. If I don't, I'll just get a standard keyboard and MX518 mouse ($35 for the pair).

I'll also put prices next to the rest of the parts so you can see the math.

Gigabyte P35-DS3P - $130
OCZ 4GB - $90 (2GB would be about $60, so no reason not to get the 4GB now)
XFX 9600GT - $190 (I know, much cheaper in the states, but for Korea, pretty good.)
Zalman ZM600 - $100
22" LCD - $230
WD250 - $60 (already have the 500GB)
DVD-Multi - $30
Case - $30
MX518/Keyboard - $35

That's about $885 for the above. I know some of these prices are high, but shipping from the States plus the import tax would be way higher!

With this in mind, what do you all think? Plus, I am planning to add an after-market cooler (Zalman 9700 probably) in a few months when I get some more cash, so I'll be sticking with stock cooling to start.

Kevin
Jeju, South Korea

[DMB2000uk]

With overclocking ruled out (which is a shame, as the core 2 processors shine at this and it is really easy), the newer E8k series of chips perform on average 6% faster than the same clocked E6k processor.

If I were building a machine now and knew it had to last a good long time, I'd want to go Quad core (for future compatibility). At stock, the difference between the Q6600 and Q9300 is going to be around 7%, so you may as well save the money and go Q6600.

I've just noticed that you haven't mentioned what PSU that you are going to be using, care to tell us please?

Dan

[KPRROK]

With overclocking ruled out (which is a shame, as the core 2 processors shine at this and it is really easy), the newer E8k series of chips perform on average 6% faster than the same clocked E6k processor.

If I were building a machine now and knew it had to last a good long time, I'd want to go Quad core (for future compatibility). At stock, the difference between the Q6600 and Q9300 is going to be around 7%, so you may as well save the money and go Q6600.

I've just noticed that you haven't mentioned what PSU that you are going to be using, care to tell us please?

Dan

I haven't ruled out overclocking entirely, just not right away. I normally don't have a need to overclock anything as nothing I do is that intensive. Who knows though. Maybe down the road when I start new hobbies like video editing and such, OCing will be something I look into.

As for the PSU, I've picked the Zalman ZM600-HP modular supply. It's the best available over here at a decent price. I could get a PCP&C for about $350 or so, but that's out of my price range. Plus, a few of my buddies have this PSU and they're happy with it.

Cheers for the help.

Kevin
Jeju, South Korea

[maj0r_pawnage]

can buy the parts off ebay, after april 20 q6600 is gunna be sub $200( its hovering around there right now) (new btw), would imagine shipping wouldn't be more than $20, and there are many hong kong sellers on ebay that sell pretty good parts