Time to upgrade...and I hate it.

J

joeynuggetz

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Messages
133
I've been running this Q6600 for a while now. I'm a gamer running a 30 inch Dell at 2560X1600. Current rig is in my sig. I'm looking to blow some of my tax refund on a new PC

Seems like the current gen Intel chips have been out for a while and I'd hate to think that I'm going to upgrade to something that people have been running for a year already. I definitly need top of the line in both CPU and GPU as the main game I hope to run smooth is Arma2 which is a dog on CPUs.

My current PC has been blowing memory sticks and one of my 8800GTX's I believe is dying as Windows 7 blue screens when I enable SLI. My other concern is overclocking. The PC used to overclock no problem in XP but ever since I've been running Win7 64, I can't overclock a single 5Mhz without things locking up. I have a feeling its the new memory I bought a while ago.

So, I'm debating on an extreme processor but I'm sure I wont spend that much on a proc but I need to ensure that whatever I upgrade to does at least 4Ghz on Air if possible. I used to get this proc up to 3.2 no problem in XP but I've been running it stock since installing Win 7 which I think coincides with the crappy purchase of the crucial ballistix with led's. I'd also like a good recommendation on fine RAM please .BTW I'm not gonna run water.

I'm hoping some of you folks who've been following Intel, AMD and nVidia will chime in here and give me some advice on obtaining a good machine for gaming at 2560x1600.
 
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It would really help if you answered the stickied "ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FIRST" so that we can help you better.
 
Um, I kinda did that already

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

GAMING

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

Around 2K

3) Where do you live?

Chicago. I've used newegg before. I wouldn't give microcenter or fry's my money as they charge too much.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. Please be very specific.

I need mobo, cpu, ram, gpu(s), power supply

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

Case, X-fi, Monitor, speakers

6) Will you be overclocking?
Of course

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

30inch 2560x1600

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

next few weeks

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? etc.

SLI, RAID. THinking of either more raptors to add to the 150GB ones I have now or get latest raptors or SSD. Mabbe even discrete RAID controller

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?

I'm good 64bit Windows 7
 
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Since you didn't answer #3, :))), gotta ask you that question again in another way: Do you live near a Microcenter? And do you live in either CA, NJ, or TN where tax is charged for Newegg purchases?

Also, are you reusing a computer case or buying a new one? Kind of stupid to recommend parts if they don't even fit inside the case.

Anyway, for gaming at your high resolution. you shouldn't see that high of a CPU usage. When you play Arma 2, does the CPU usage go to 100% with your Q6600?

Oh and no, an Extreme Editiion CPU would not be an intelligent use of your money.
 
What I'm asking is whether or not I should wait for anything CPU or GPU wise that might be just around the corner. I've built tons of machines and I'm going to re-use my existing full tower Armor case. Need memory recommendations for OC and mobo. I had good luck with EVGA and may consider them again for GPU and mobo if I can upgrade to nVidia's latest and greatest when it comes out.
 
Fermi is supposed to come out someday... in a galaxy far far away... :) No Fermi should be out in a month or two so if you're a big Nvidia guy you could wait. Otherwise the 5870 seems like the card for you unless you want to go all out and get a 5970. CPU-wise, if you get a 1366 X58 mobo it can upgrade to Intel's 6 core proc but that won't be out for awhile. You'll be fine getting a core i7 920 as I see nothing that's better for high performance, overclockability under $300. The EVGA Classified's are sweet though if you want to wait for 6 GB Sata and USB 3.0 versions to come out you have to wait or get a Gigabyte or Asus board.
 
Good point. I didn't even think about USB3 and SATA 6G. When is EVGA supposed to be releasing boards to support that tech? Would I be able to step up to nVidia's newest chipset if I go EVGA? Last time I went for the step-up program and nvdia didn't release shit for over 90 days. Seems like we're close enough this time around.

My other concern is quality memory. Like I mentioned, I cannot overclock my machine anymore. The mobo is either dying too or the memory I have is crap. My PSU could be biting it too but its a PC power and cooling so one would think it would be ok.
 
Yeah, Nvidia can't make Intel motherboard chipsets anymore. Of course I can't blame them, the 680i and 780i were honestly dogs and when Nvidia opened SLI up to be used on intel boards(albeit with a license fee), there wasn't really any reason to have Nvidia chipsets for i5s and i7s.
 
joeynuggetz said:
My other concern is quality memory. Like I mentioned, I cannot overclock my machine anymore. The mobo is either dying too or the memory I have is crap. My PSU could be biting it too but its a PC power and cooling so one would think it would be ok.
Click to expand...

I've had good luck with Corsair, OCZ, and G.Skill. G.Skill RipJaws seems to be everyone's favorite memory right now. Latency for DDR3 really doesn't make a difference so don't spend extra money on lower latency chips. Me? I'd get the G.Skill ECO series of chips. They run at 1.35 volts at standard speeds which is .15 lower than everyone else and you can still volt them to 1.5 and OC them if you want the extra bandwith.

Nvidia is having an announcement monday so you might want to check that out, probably Fermi pricing and release dates.

As for EVGA mobo's using USB 3.0 and SATA 6... no idea... I haven't heard anything.
 
joeynuggetz said:
My current PC has been blowing memory sticks and one of my 8800GTX's I believe is dying as Windows 7 blue screens when I enable SLI. My other concern is overclocking. The PC used to overclock no problem in XP but ever since I've been running Win7 64, I can't overclock a single 5Mhz without things locking up. I have a feeling its the new memory I bought a while ago.
Click to expand...

If you think it's the memory, have you run memtest at all?

Both the overclocking and the video issue sound more like a powersupply issue IMO. An overclocked quad with 8800GTX's in SLI should consume a pretty large amount of power, what powersupply do you use?
 
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