gaming mobo/cpu

T

triple

Weaksauce
Joined
Mar 31, 2004
Messages
68
I want to build an intel/ATI system. I have two diamond viper 3870s already. If you had say $6-700 to blow, which mobo/cpu/ram would you grab? I already have two gigs of corsair pc6400C4pro in there, but id be willing to switch em out.

I've been looking at the x38s, would I be correct that thats the type I should be lookin at?

other specs follow,

antec 900
antec 550w neo he (too low?)
AC freezer 7 pro
 
Yeah the X38 chips would be more ideal. The P35 chipsets support Crossfire but, in a crippled fashion like it was on the P965 chipset, as it only offers an additional x4 slot to the primary x16. The X38 on the other hand, has PCI-Express 2.0 which has dual x16 lanes that should excel CrossFire performance. You can look at something like the DFI Lanparty DK X38 mobo or the Asus P5E X38

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813136045

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
 
whats the difference between the dfi LT x38 (the green one) and the DK?
 
The Antec Neo 550 should be sufficient for your Crossfire setup. Those have 3 x 12v rails at 18A each and have a total combined output of 42amps on the +12v rail (504W divided by 12V = 42A) It should be fine with your 2 x HD 3870 cards. But, this would be different if you had 2 x 2900XT cards in SLI as these cards consume more power.
 
Not much actually, just that the Green one has 2 more Sata ports with 8 as oppose to 6 on the DK, Firewire port and has Dual Gigabit Lan. It is more features on the Green Board as opposed to the Orange one.


triple said:
whats the difference between the dfi LT x38 (the green one) and the DK?
Click to expand...
 
alright alright, so the dfi DK board.. and for a processor, whats the popular choice? I'd guess the e8400 but thats nowhere to be found, the q6600? Or would the e6750 be a better choice?
 
Q6600. It's only $20 more than what most E8400 CPUs (For now anyway) sell for and will should last you a while.
 
Yeah, NewEgg has them at $255 which is not bad. They been hovering at the $275 price range for the longest time.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017

Free T-Shirt also. LoL. I wonder is this is the same shirt as what my friend gave me.

BTW, those 2gig Corsair DDR2 800s memory you got is good. No need to replace those. DDR2 800 is all you need. Even for overclocking. Also, a review on those 2 x DFI boards.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/print/dfi-lanparty-ltx38-t2r.html


Danny Bui said:
Q6600. It's only $20 more than what most E8400 CPUs (For now anyway) sell for and will should last you a while.
Click to expand...
 
Actually, if you get the Q660 get the G0 Stepping version from ClubIT.com. Processor will run cooler due to its lower power consumption and will alow you to overlock better. The Q6600 CPU from NewEgg. you will not know if you are getting a G0 Stepping version as they don't state this. The retail version though are out of stock at this time.

http://www.clubit.com/product_brows...t1=Intel Desktop&scat2=Socket 775 Core 2 Quad

However, XPCgear.com has it for a little more at $264.99

http://www.xpcgear.com/q6600.html
 
triple said:
great. will my ram run 1:1 with the q6600 ok?
Click to expand...

Yes. Here's some math:

Stated FSB/4 = Actual FSB
Multiplier x Actual FSB = CPU Speed
2 x Actual FSB = RAM Speed

Q6600:
Multi x Actual FSB, RAM Speed = Clock Speed
9 x 266Mhz, DDR2 533 RAM = 2.4Ghz <== Stock Speeds
9 x 333Mhz, DDR2 667 RAM = 3.0Ghz <== Good OC
9 x 400Mhz, DDR2 800 RAM = 3.6Ghz <== Excellent OC, About the Max

So, as shown above, all you need is DDR2 533 RAM to keep a 1:1 ratio with the Q6600. So your DDR2 800 RAM will be enough. And yes, RAM does downclock.
 
sigh

I saw a site with the q9450 available for 350ish

what about that
 
I don't think it's worth it actually for $350+ on that Q9450 CPU which is a little faster than the Q6600 at 2.66ghz By then, the new Intel Nahelm cpus will be coming out soon. If you want a system now, get a Q6600 or E8400 (if you can find these at a decent price) Even if you don't get the G0 stepping version of the Q6600, the $255 Q6600 on NewEgg is fine and you should still be able to hit 3ghz+ on that CPU.

Zipzoomfly and Mwave sells the Q6600 retail even cheaper at $249

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80864

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA23383
 
remember, this is for a gaming PC though. Would the e8400 be faster - in games - if overclocked?
 
IMO, the Q6600 is fast enough for current games and is better equipped for future games that will take advantage of multi-core systems.
 
Yeah, plus the fact that the E8400 have gone up in price since its release due to demand. The Q6600 is getting lower in price. Heck I'd get the Q6600. Just a note, I got an Acer Quad Q6600 for $549 cause it was a pretty good deal. I have the Q6600 running stock with a single EVGA 8800GT card and run graphic intensive games on a 1920 x 1200 lcd. I'm pretty happy with it. Your setup will be alot faster with your 2 x 3870 in Crossfire and an overclocked Q6600 running 3ghz+
 
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