Can someone update me?

M

Mushroom Prince

Gawd
Joined
Feb 20, 2004
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532
I used to be a huge computer geek several years ago. The last computer I built I think was at the end of my high school graduation in 2006.

So guys? Whats been up?


Whose making the best chipsets now?

AMD bought ATi Whoaaa ??


Fill me in on all the good stuff. What do I need to know about buying and building computers these days? Who is making the best processors and video cards?


hardforum highlights words like computer and processors in green links now?

-mp
 
In short form:
- Best chipsets for Intel CPUs if SLI is not needed: P35, X38
- Best chipsets for Intel CPUs if SLI is needed: MSI P7N 780i mobo is the most stable SLI mobo out now.
- Best chipset for AMD CPUs with HTPC and HD content in mind: 780G
- Best chipset for AMD CPUs: Still looking into this
- AMD bought ATI. However the merger didn't help too much. AMD and ATI are getting slaughtered now in the enthusiast hardware front.
- Intel Core 2 Duos are the fastest CPUs out now. No reason to go AMD unless you're building a non-gaming HTPC.
- Best video cards right now are made by Nvidia: 9600GT, 8800GT, 8800GTS 512MB, 9800GX2.
- Green hardforum links for ad revenue or something.
 
- Don't feed into the DDR3 hype. You won't be able to even utilize the performance at this time. Stick with DDR2. Additionally, the price of ram has fallen and you can get 2GB PC6400 for $50 and under these days
- The Q6600 seems to be the most popular Quad Core, as it provides the best value going the Quad route. People seem to be able to OC it up to 3.6GHz (some even a little beyond). Excellent performance for the money IMO.
- If you're going the aircooling route, some of the most suggested heatsinks are the ZeroTherm Nirvana, Thermalright Ultra-120, Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro
- Harddrive-wise, the WD Caviar 640GB and the Samsung 1TB Spinpoint seem to be the best performing 7200rpm drives, and even surpass the Raptors.
- If you ask about Power Supplies here you'll probably have everyone recommending Corsairs. Corsair's TX line seem like some of the best.
 
Penryn/Wolfdale/Yorkfield is coming out at the end of Q1'08. Its a 45nm version of the current 65nm CPUs (its basically a die shrink with slight improvements). They generally increase performance by 10-15% over current offerings and are still LGA775.

Nehalem is Intel's new architecture, scheduled for release in Q4'08. Mainstream parts should come in the following quarter (Q1'09). Nehalem will include an integrated memory controller (ICM; a current feature of the AMD K8 CPUs) and a new tech called Quick Path Interconnect (QPI; similar to AMD's HyperTransport). You will need a new motherboard (socket B; LGA1366) and most likely DDR3 for this platform.
 
enginurd said:
Penryn/Wolfdale/Yorkfield is coming out at the end of Q1'08. Its a 45nm version of the current 65nm CPUs (its basically a die shrink with slight improvements). They generally increase performance by 10-15% over current offerings and are still LGA775.

Nehalem is Intel's new architecture, scheduled for release in Q4'08. Mainstream parts should come in the following quarter (Q1'09). Nehalem will include an integrated memory controller (ICM; a current feature of the AMD K8 CPUs) and a new tech called Quick Path Interconnect (QPI; similar to AMD's HyperTransport). You will need a new motherboard (socket B; LGA1366) and most likely DDR3 for this platform.
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So say I was building a midrange gaming computer ( like something for 500 or 600 that could be upgraded later to a great gaming computer ) what socket would I want to go with on the motherboards ?
 
Mushroom Prince said:
So say I was building a midrange gaming computer ( like something for 500 or 600 that could be upgraded later to a great gaming computer ) what socket would I want to go with on the motherboards ?
Click to expand...

Depends on when you're planning to build and what exact parts you need for that $600 like HDD, DVD burner, OS, CPU, GPU, RAM, PSU, Case, etc.
 
If it's building a midrange gaming system now, then a Socket LGA 775 for Intel Dual Core/Quad core cpus.

BTW, what was your last computer that you built? AMD or Intel?
 
HardwareGuru said:
If it's building a midrange gaming system now, then a Socket LGA 775 for Intel Dual Core/Quad core cpus.

BTW, what was your last computer that you built? AMD or Intel?
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Last computer build was an AMD 939 3800 manchester, 80 , 320 gig western digitals, evga 7800gt 1 and a half gigs of pc 3200.
 
LGA1366 boards aren't out yet, so if you want the best performance right now, you'd have to go with LGA775.
 
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