Moving to the dark side !!

[Vic-Dog]

Check my specs to see what I'm running.
I've always been an AMD fanboy but I'm not happy with
the performance I'm getting, So after a couple of posts
looking for advise on the best way to upgrade my system
I came to the conclusion that I need a new mobo.
Looking at the AMD mobos I felt that I was kind of at the
low end of the gaming curve unless I spend $200+ on a
newer proc also. So I started looking at Intel
When I looked at the upgrade path in processors I saw that
price wise I think Intel will give me a better shot for a noticible
increase in performance... But I don't know much about Intel
processors or related mobos. Bottom line: If my budget is
about $350 what Intel chip/mobo would you suggest. I'm
pretty good with overclocking and such, Just an Intel noob!

[Duxx]

350$ aint bad at all. I'm looking to get a E8400 in the near future, coupled with any decent P35 board should do u well :)

[UnkAsn93]

I really like Intel setups. I just run AMD cause it was cheep when I bought everything.

I'd go with a Abit IP35-e mobo, with a Core2Duo E8400, and 4GB DDR2.

[Urbklr]

I really like Intel setups. I just run AMD cause it was cheep when I bought everything.

I'd go with a Abit IP35-e mobo, with a Core2Duo E8400, and 4GB DDR2.

He's already has ram. Id say go with a E8400, and a decent P35 board, ASUS P5K, ASUS P5K-e, the gigabyte GA-P35-DSL line i believe, or the Abit as mentioned above.

[UnkAsn93]

He's already got ram. Id say go with a E8400, and a decent P35 board, ASUS P5K, ASUS P5K-e, the gigabyte GA-P35-DSL line i believe, or the Abit as mentioned above.

Any socket 775 Abit or Asus with the P35 chipset, and a E8x00 should do great!

[Vic-Dog]

Does PciE-2.0 make a big difference over 1.0
if I'm just going to use the single 9800 GTX

[JrRacinFan]

TBH, not really much of a difference. Best bet for any type of upgrade from the 5000BE with an Intel switch, the pocessor would have to be anything above an e4600, although I suggest looking at the e7200.

As far as motherboard is concerned, DFI BloodIron, Asus P5K-e, or an MSI P7N Platinum.

[hat]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052 $134.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136045 +$196.99
=$331.98
:p code needed for nice formatting :)

[Paulieg]

You're making a smart decision here. I always thought the "dark side" thing was a load of crap. It's just juvenile to pledge allegiance to any brand. They are all trying to make money. Going where the performance is is just smart. $350 will buy you some great performance. I'd go with an e8400, and a good p35 or 750i.

[blkhogan]

Now I must kill you ;)
-10 for falling prey to the pull of the darkside :slap:
Its all good. I am going to build the wifes new system on Intel. Not sure what yet. Will be my first non-AMD build ever. :D

[spearman914]

If you are a new to intel. I suggest start with a cheap intel proc incase you fry a high end chip. And are you going to do xfire/sli, if you are then go for the X38 or X48 boards. If you are really interest in learning new stuff then buy a DFI X38 DK or LT. E2180 and E4300's should be a good start.

[AsRock]

Just woundering if the upgrades actually worth while. I upgraded from a 3800 x2 and to be honest i wish i didn't. Thats coming from a hardcore gamer.

How ever much better for benchmarking. And if that counts maybe same mobo and CPU i have or even a quad if you can afford it.

[Mussels]

asus P5K-E is a great starters board. it has official 400 FSB support, so overclocking is piss easy until that point.

My advice is to aim for a CPU with a higher multi and higher cache. You can get say, an E2160 with tiny cache, but a good multi and OC the heck out of it (200FSB stock upto 400 = double clocks, if your cooling can make it) Otherwise any conroe based chip is a winner. That includes the E6xx0 series, Q6600, or one of the new 45nm chips (the 45nm chips start at 333FSB, so they dont overclock as easy. please keep that in mond)

[Vic-Dog]

Well guys I took the plunge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&Tpk=N82E16819115037

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

[Melvis]

Just woundering if the upgrades actually worth while. I upgraded from a 3800 x2 and to be honest i wish i didn't. Thats coming from a hardcore gamer.

How ever much better for benchmarking. And if that counts maybe same mobo and CPU i have or even a quad if you can afford it.

Yea i agree, im wondering if its worth the upgrade to, far as i can tell his system is fine =/

Anyway just wondering what was the reason why you wished you didn't upgrade your system?

[Dia01]

Well guys I took the plunge
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037&Tpk=N82E16819115037

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059

Enjoy!;) Good board also!

[eidairaman1]

When has Intel Been the Dark Side, i always Remember AMD being the dark side.

[jbunch07]

"you dont know the power of the darkside!"

im jk im not picky about intel or amd both are good for different things...ive always been more of a budget minded builder so ive always stuck with amd because prices are usually lower but im sure you wont be disappointed with your so called move to the darks side...

[eidairaman1]

first Neutral Opinion ive seen on here.

[jbunch07]

yea its to bad you dont see it more often on the forum...fanboy stuff gets old...paulieg pretty much summed it up nicely in post 9

[lemonadesoda]

For the money, I'd go Q6600. You get twice the performance in encoding, or (de)compressing zip files etc. You get mixed gains in photoshop. You get little gains in gaming (with current games). But the Q6600 will overclock to E8200 speeds without blinking.

If you want to play the über-overclocker then, yes, you will get the E8200 faster than a Q6600, such that it will play todays games (a bit) faster than a Q6600. But the Q6600 will still win on encoding tasks, etc.

The Q6600 is also nice because you can set the PC up to do some task (e.g. encode a CD or DVD), and you can still use the machine for other things without any lag issues.

[jbunch07]

the only problem with the q6600 is the ones currently being released dont overclock near as well as the older ones.

[eidairaman1]

yup
forced poor production so they can sell the Q9300.

[Mussels]

i even started a thread about that here on TPU, the bad quads. its ok as long as you get one with a pack date before 2008, however.