Intel based build suggestions needed!

[DMB2000uk]

I would have thought around the same time as the Penryn Quads. So you may have some luck with already waiting for the quads.

Dan

[Zertz]

wait for the 790i to come out. the 780i im sure will be plauged with heat issues. and if im sure that newegg will actually lower the price after today. that kit has been dropping in price for about 3 months now.

Isn't 790i just a DDR3 version of 780i?

[DMB2000uk]

Its also a shrunken manufacturing process (smaller nm, can't remember what from to though) and they have ditched the bridge chip from the 780 and integrated it as part of the NB or something, so all that will make it a lot cooler running.

Not sure about the move to ddr3, as with the memory controller being on chip for amd its processor dependant surely,and i havent heard anything about ddr3 amd's yet.

Dan

[Zertz]

Its also a shrunken manufacturing process (smaller nm, can't remember what from to though) and they have ditched the bridge chip from the 780 and integrated it as part of the NB or something, so all that will make it a lot cooler running.

Not sure about the move to ddr3, as with the memory controller being on chip for amd its processor dependant surely,and i havent heard anything about ddr3 amd's yet.

Dan

DDR3 AMD = Socket AM3

DDR3 support with Intel chipsets comes from the northbrige since the memory controller is there. This is making me think an old P4 should work in a new DDR3 board, someone needs to try this

[DaIceMan]

yeah... no need to worry about rebates on the ram. Both Corsair and OCZ have continuous rebate cycles. Once one ends, the next begins that day or the next day.

[camaroguy1998]

Sorry about my absence, I've been out of town and my online time has been very limited.

Pretty sure he's decided on a 780i board either the eVGA or the XFX. Leaning towards the eVGA for two reasons, he likes the eVGA line of video cards and wants to get either the 8800GTX or Ultra and with the price of DDR2 memory being considerably less than DDR3 the step to the 790i boards would be a much higher cost. He's choosing the GTX or Ultra for future 3-way SLI, he plans on getting 2 cards for now and a 3rd sometime in the future.

As far as memory goes Corsair is his first choice with OCZ a close 2nd. Performance and cost will be the 2 factors which dictate his choice when it comes time to buy.

So far, the general consensus on CPU has been the Q6600 for cost and performance.
Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas or recommendations other than the Q6600?

[DMB2000uk]

Waiting for the Q9XX's gone out the window then?

Dan

[camaroguy1998]

Waiting for the Q9XX's gone out the window then?

Dan

Not sure thats why I asked again....alot depends on when they're coming out and price. If I can convince him its worth the wait he will wait but if not....... Is there any new info on price and availability? I haven't hardly been on the net for the last 1 1/2 weeks and don't know whats new yet.
He's finally set a budget of $2k-ish before case and monitor.
He has looked at the Zalman Z-machine GT 1000 and so far has not found another case he likes. So there's $400 and of course he's looking at 24 and 28inch monitors so there goes another $600+

[Indignity]

Since the e8400 has been out, i've been in awe of the achievable overclocking abilities with very low temps and low voltage(easily 4GHz on air!). They can be had for less than $200 now as well (http://www.tankguys.com/product_info.ph ... 5e2bd4000f)..

The 8500 is due out really soon & will offer 0.5 increments of multipliers if your buddy is going to want to look into overclocking this for benchmarking. Sad thing, is they are going to be around $40-50 more than the 8400.

Just something to consider.

[camaroguy1998]

Since the e8400 has been out, i've been in awe of the achievable overclocking abilities with very low temps and low voltage(easily 4GHz on air!). They can be had for less than $200 now as well (http://www.tankguys.com/product_info.ph ... 5e2bd4000f)..

The 8500 is due out really soon & will offer 0.5 increments of multipliers if your buddy is going to want to look into overclocking this for benchmarking. Sad thing, is they are going to be around $40-50 more than the 8400.

Just something to consider.

Over clocking is something that he will do but not seriously! He definitely will not be trying to squeeze everything out of it he can, his intentions are to get the best he can and keep it for the next 5-6yrs with minimal upgrades during that period. The only 2 upgrades he's asked about so far are the video card(s) and XP to Vista.< if that is an upgrade!?!

[Apoptosis]

So what did he ever end up getting?

[camaroguy1998]

So what did he ever end up getting?

We're still working on it...lol
He's bought the Corsair 620HX, Zalman GT1000 case
He also just ordered the Zalman CNPS9700LED and I believe 4G's of Corsair Dominator 8500

He's still undecided on which Mobo, either the eVGA, XFX or ASUS 780i boards. He's set on the 780 because of DDR2 prices and he's figuring on a new Mobo and or CPU in 2-3 yrs.
He's also waiting to see if there will be any price drops<<< He's hoping,
but he's also getting impatient! He never did have much success waiting for anything!

So its going to be a slightly drawn out process.

[martini161]

tell him to wait for the x48 boards

[camaroguy1998]

tell him to wait for the x48 boards

All the reviews and articles on the X48 chipset have been less than stellar.
It seems there's not that much performance increase over the X38.

Also there's the SLI factor....

Quote pulled from Fudzilla.....

Intel engineers have told us that you can get X38 and X48 reference designs to support SLI, but you would have to put Nvidia's SLI chip inside.

It won't happen anytime soon, the sources added, as it would mean that Intel has to change its X38 and X48 reference designs, and this simply won’t happen.

It would be a defeat if Intel does this; and as far as we know this won't happen anytime soon. However, partners should be able to implement this chip and bring you X38 or X48 based motherboard with SLI support.

[Apoptosis]

everyone knows that SLI will work on intel chipsets... just not supported in the drivers, but from time to time you'll see some hacked drivers working on Intel systems... it's a shame really.

[camaroguy1998]

everyone knows that SLI will work on intel chipsets... just not supported in the drivers, but from time to time you'll see some hacked drivers working on Intel systems... it's a shame really.

Why wouldnt they just create a decent set of drivers? I'm betting it would help sell some other boards/chipsets!

[kenc51]

everyone knows that SLI will work on intel chipsets... just not supported in the drivers, but from time to time you'll see some hacked drivers working on Intel systems... it's a shame really.

Why wouldnt they just create a decent set of drivers? I'm betting it would help sell some other boards/chipsets!

The Nvidia doesn't get the sales from their nforce chip sets!
(not to mention NV and Intel don't get along)

[camaroguy1998]

So its been a while and here's the list of what he has!
Mobo..... ASUS Striker II Formula
CPU.....Intel Q6600
PSU.....Corsair 620HX
HDD's.....(2) Seagate 500G SATA drives for RAID1
Video Card......EVGA 8800GTX
Case.......Zalman GT 1000
HSF........Zalman CNPS 9700LED
Opticals......(2) Lite On DVD-RW's
Memory........OCZ 2G 800mhz Platinum V.2(Was waiting for Corsair Dominator 1066 but I believe he's going to use GSkill 1066)


He has it all put together as of today!
He spent the last 2 weeks of his spare time with the wiring!
I have to say, I havent seen to many cases wired as nice as his!
When I can get some pics I will post them!

[ibleet]

What monitor? I'm asking because of the choice of the 8800GTX.

[camaroguy1998]

What monitor? I'm asking because of the choice of the 8800GTX.

He has not bought one yet, he's looking at the Samsung and ASUS 24's and the Samsung 25.5"

He chose the 8800GTX for the possibility of 3-way SLI.
3-way SLI is only supported by the 8800 GTX or Ultra models.