What to do now?

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ring.of.steel

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Hi, i have my system setup as it is in my sig now, my cpu is starting to feel a bit slow and i want to get rid of this mobo.

i dont want to go amd becuase i have had enough with the built in memory controller, but i might want sli in the near future with my 8800gt.

what should i do, get a non sli intel board and a q6600 or get a sli intel board, a 8800gt and a q6600.

i game at 1680x1050
 
was thinking of,

another xfx 8800gt
q6600
xfx 780i mobo

total 520 quid thats $1000
 
What problems are you having with the built-in memory controller?

IIRC correctly, you bought that 8GB of RAM because you run a lot of virtual OSes, right? I think it would be cheaper to pick up the the Phenom 9500 for $200:
AMD Phenom 9500 CPU - $200

Yes the Q6600 IS faster than the Phenom 9500. However, you're looking at a ~$400 upgrade ($280 Q6600, ~$100 P35 mobo) for the extra boost in speed if you go for an Intel setup. And frankly, I don't think that $400 is worth that extra boost in speed.

Though if you do go with the Intel build, go for the non-SLI P35 mobo chipset. This quote explains why I don't recommend an SLI mobo:

Markyip1 said:
SLI is a terrible idea as an upgrade path, as a by the time you're ready to buy that second card, a newer, better card will be out that offers considerable more performance than two older cards in tandem for a similar (or sometimes cheaper) price. SLI is only needed if you want to game at 1920x1200 or above at max settings on most current games, and if your prepared to buy two cards today. Otherwise, a single card solution is better. Keep in mind that a single card solution runs cooler, is simpler to maintain, and gives you more motherboard choices.
Click to expand...
 
Danny Bui said:
What problems are you having with the built-in memory controller?

IIRC correctly, you bought that 8GB of RAM because you run a lot of virtual OSes, right? I think it would be cheaper to pick up the the Phenom 9500 for $200:
AMD Phenom 9500 CPU - $200

Yes the Q6600 IS faster than the Phenom 9500. However, you're looking at a ~$400 upgrade ($280 Q6600, ~$100 P35 mobo) for the extra boost in speed if you go for an Intel setup. And frankly, I don't think that $400 is worth that extra boost in speed.

Though if you do go with the Intel build, go for the non-SLI P35 mobo chipset. SLI is only needed if you're gaming at 1920x1200. In addition, it's only worth it if you're willing to pay for the two cards at once.
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The 9500 is more like $300 accross the pond. and yeah thats right about the ram. i have found the amd k8 memory controller to be a pain in the arse when overclocking 4 sticks of ram. also abit are refusing to release a bios update for quad support on my mobo.
 
ring.of.steel said:
The 9500 is more like $300 accross the pond. and yeah thats right about the ram. i have found the amd k8 memory controller to be a pain in the arse when overclocking 4 sticks of ram. also abit are refusing to release a bios update for quad support on my mobo.
Click to expand...

Oh that's right, you're from the UK. Well, that overclocking problem with 4 sticks of RAM occurs with many Intel mobos as well. And since Abit is refusing to release a BIOS to support the Phenom CPUs, I guess the Intel build would be a good idea.

I still do recommend against getting an SLI mobo. For P35 mobos, I recommend any of these mobos. Yes the prices and link are American but I'm a bit lazy at the moment to link to UK sites:
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35 Motherboard - $86
Abit IP35-E Intel P35 Motherboard - $90
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R Intel P35 Motherboard - $130
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P Intel P35 Motherboard - $145
Abit IP35 Pro Intel P35 Motherboard - $168
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4 Intel P35 Motherboard - $175

Just to help you out: If you don't need RAID, more than 4 SATA ports or legacy ports, then the IP35-E is a good choice. If you need legacy ports, than the DS3L. If you want 8 SATA ports, RAID, and legacy ports and high overclocks, than the DS3R is a good choice. If you want the DS3R but need Firewire, then go for the DS3P. If you want something that can overclock pretty damn high, than the IP35 Pro.
 
Hmm i would like to stay away from gigabyte if possible, i cant stand their multi colored designs.

Basicly from a non sli board i would need;
Raid support (0)
4 sata
not too botherd about firewire
6 usb (2 internal)
good support for 4 sticks
stable at 333 fsb.

what would be the mobo to get thats not too expensive?
 
The classic IP35 is a good choice. I didn't link it in my mobo post because it's mostly sold out or gone here in the U.S. However, I'm not too sure which mobo is actually good at overclocking with 4 sticks of RAM. Though I'm pretty sure you will get much higher overclocks with two sticks of RAM rather than 4 sticks. This analogy works well:
Entroper from Tech Report.com said:
Think of it this way: Roll two dice. The number on each die represents the maximum speed that a stick of RAM will run at, so you can overclock to the lowest die number. Now roll four dice. You're more likely to have a low die holding you back with four dice than you are with two.
Click to expand...

Though I'm fairly certain that all of the mobos that I recommend can do a 333Mhz FSB.
 
Danny Bui said:
The classic IP35 is a good choice. I didn't link it in my mobo post because it's mostly sold out or gone here in the U.S. However, I'm not too sure which mobo is actually good at overclocking with 4 sticks of RAM. Though I'm pretty sure you will get much higher overclocks with two sticks of RAM rather than 4 sticks. This analogy works well:


Though I'm fairly certain that all of the mobos that I recommend can do a 333Mhz FSB.
Click to expand...

Hmm overclocking on intel boards is diffrent because as you will know the memory controller is in the actual chipset. i was thinking that the q6600 has a multi of 9x and my ram's native speed is 333mhz. if i set the fsb ratio to 1:1 and bump up the fsb to 333 i should be running at 3.0ghz with no ram overclock.
am i correct?
 
Yes you are correct. Since you're running the RAM at native speed, OCing with 4 sticks of RAM shouldn't be a problem. Though if you plan to go higher than 3.0Ghz, then those 4 sticks of RAM are a liability. Also if your RAM need anything greater than 1.8V to run at native speed, then that might produce a problem as well since some mobos, not too sure which ones, has problems running 4 sticks of RAM at 1.9V or greater.
 
Danny Bui said:
Yes you are correct. Since you're running the RAM at native speed, OCing with 4 sticks of RAM shouldn't be a problem. Though if you plan to go higher than 3.0Ghz, then those 4 sticks of RAM are a liability.
Click to expand...

3ghz will do fine for me i think. Do you know if the abit 775 boards are as good/reliable as the AM2 ones?
 
I don't know what's the quality and reliability of the Abit AM2 mobos but I know for sure that the Intel Abit mobos are pretty damn good in terms of quality and reliability. That's the main reason why I recommend them in addition to Gigabyte. Granted, I've only had experience with the Abit IP35-E since I've used it in a few builds for fdz, the quality of that relatively low-end mobo impressed me quite a bit. If the low-end is good, imagine how the mid-range IP35 and high-end IP35 Pro will do?

I should warn you though, some P35 mobos will have a double boot issue where at first boot, the PC turns off and then boots back up again with no human intervention. This isn't a problem, just an annoyance. Won't damage your PC or anything. Usually a BIOs update should fix that issue.
 
Danny Bui said:
I don't know what's the quality and reliability of the Abit AM2 mobos but I know for sure that the Intel Abit mobos are pretty damn good in terms of quality and reliability. That's the main reason why I recommend them in addition to Gigabyte. Granted, I've only had experience with the Abit IP35-E since I've used it in a few builds for fdz, the quality of that relatively low-end mobo impressed me quite a bit. If the low-end is good, imagine how the mid-range IP35 and high-end IP35 Pro will do?

I should warn you though, some P35 mobos will have a double boot issue where at first boot, the PC turns off and then boots back up again with no human intervention. This isn't a problem, just an annoyance. Won't damage your PC or anything. Usually a BIOs update should fix that issue.
Click to expand...

My mobo was originally a mid/high end matx mobo and its been rock solid since i bought it. double boot isue should be fine, i had it on my ultra d.
 
The thing I dont like about the Abit IP35-E and IP35 is the lack of BIOS profiles, like in the Ultra-D and Gigabyte P35 boards. Those help tremendously when OC'ing, IMO.

Are you going for mATX? If so, the Asus P5K-VM is nice.
 
enginurd said:
The thing I dont like about the Abit IP35-E and IP35 is the lack of BIOS profiles, like in the Ultra-D and Gigabyte P35 boards. Those help tremendously when OC'ing, IMO.

Are you going for mATX? If so, the Asus P5K-VM is nice.
Click to expand...

Trying to move away from matx at the moment.
 
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