Maybe an upgrade for christmas?

[Bigjohn]

I have an EVGA 780i motherboard - that's a keeper for me at this time.
There are 2 components that I might be able to upgrade (My system is Water Cooled - and I don't want to invest to much - nor buy new water blocks if I can help it).

8gb ram (maxed out)
E8400 dual core (clocked to 3.6ghz) <<good cpu, but would a quad core do better?)
Evga 260gtx core 216 (love this, but if I can find a better card inexpensively enough - double plus if it can use the same water block!)
Or add in a second 260gtx to go SLI?

All suggestions welcome guys...
I'm not a major FPS gamer - play mainly Supreme Commander Forged Alliance (believe it!)...

So - what say you?

 

[newtekie1]

I think if Supreme Commander is your main game, then a Quad would likely definitely be the best choice. If you drop a Q9650/9550 in there and get it up to 3.6GHz+ you will be set CPU wise for a few years to come with games.

Then focus on the graphics card next.

 

[cdawall]

Quad core or just a second gtx the quad is a great choice

 

[Bigjohn]

Quad core or just a second gtx the quad is a great choice

Thanks. WOW, even with the core i series out and running INTEL is pretty damn proud of those Core2Quads!
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80569Q9550 -- 275$$!

 

[cdawall]

Any of the q series chip qould be an upgrade q8400 hell a q6600 would help

 

[JrRacinFan]

$275? You could move over to a Phenom II quad for that plus have some left. Where are you pricing that chip at?

 

[Josh154]

thats newegg prices

 

[cdawall]

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...be149b4cc5429ddc8504657cb224ab15967fa06ffe879

Q9450

 

[newtekie1]

Thanks. WOW, even with the core i series out and running INTEL is pretty damn proud of those Core2Quads!
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Yorkfield 2.83GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80569Q9550 -- 275$$!

$275? You could move over to a Phenom II quad for that plus have some left. Where are you pricing that chip at?

That is because these chips are just that damn good. The Q9650 is only a percent or two behind the 965 BE and the 965 has a 400MHz clock speed advantage. Clock for clock the Q9650/9550 is faster than the Phenom II, and both will pretty much top out at about the same clock speeds under air.

 

[Bigjohn]

thats newegg prices

Right.
The reason I'm kind of tight focused here is to have no requirement to replace or modify my cooling loops in any way...... even if I add a second video card the second/new card would stay on AIR cooling...

 

[JrRacinFan]

That is because these chips are just that damn good. The Q9650 is only a percent or two behind the 965 BE and the 965 has a 400MHz clock speed advantage. Clock for clock the Q9650/9550 is faster than the Phenom II, and both will pretty much top out at about the same clock speeds under air.

Yah and the 965 is near half the price.

 

[cdawall]

What if you did swap to amd and got an ok 880g board and phenom x6?

 

[newtekie1]

Yah and the 965 is near half the price.

Not when you factor in a board comparable to the 780i w/ 3 true PCI-E x16 slots that can push the 965 over 4GHz to compete with the Q9650@3.8GHz+.

 

[Bigjohn]

What if you did swap to amd and got an ok 880g board and phenom x6?

I'd have to completely redo the cooling loops, and, perhaps need to buy new waterblock....

But great discussion guys! keep it coming!

 

[JrRacinFan]

Not when you factor in a board comparable to the 780i w/ 3 true PCI-E x16 slots that can push the 965 over 4GHz to compete with the Q9650@3.8GHz+.

Never said anything about motherboards besides OP is running a single card anyways and Tri SLI is a waste. 780i can be resold also if need be.

 

[Bigjohn]

Never said anything about motherboards besides OP is running a single card anyways and Tri SLI is a waste. 780i can be resold also if need be.

True. But Im only going to have a day to get the system back up and working... If I just upgrade the CPU I won't have to reinstall the OS, nor will I if I just upgrade the video card...

How are the 400 series cards compared to my 260gtx?

 

[JrRacinFan]

If I just upgrade the CPU I won't have to reinstall the OS

Reinstall? What's that? Got Windows 7? It migrates pretty well between different hardware architectures, i'd say about 99.9999999% near flawless.

Yes, my point is, I am still on the same installation of Windows 7 that I've migrated between AMD and Intel about 4 times now over the past year. No problems here.

nor will I if I just upgrade the video card...

Whats the fun in that!?

@newtekie

Another point regarding your 3x 16x slots. 8x slots arent noticeably slower anyways.

 

[Bigjohn]

LOL
I've been playing with Windows since before 3.0...
This version was upgraded from win98 to Win2k to XP, then registry hacked onto XP64... through 3 different mainboards / CPUs.
It just takes more than a minute... and if you forget a step, you start over (better have a backup!)

Win7 has some issues that I just don't care for.

 

[newtekie1]

Reinstall? What's that? Got Windows 7? It migrates pretty well between different hardware architectures, i'd say about 99.9999999% near flawless.

Yes, my point is, I am still on the same installation of Windows 7 that I've migrated between AMD and Intel about 4 times now over the past year. No problems here.



Whats the fun in that!?

@newtekie

Another point regarding your 3x 16x slots. 8x slots arent noticeably slower anyways.

It is always best to re-install whenever changing the motherboard, even when using the same platform.

Yes, Win7 and Vista will handle switching over and usually work, however it is never as smooth as a fresh install.

As for the x8 slots, yes there really isn't a noticeable difference, but even still to get a decent board that will push a 965BE up over 4GHz is going to bring the cost up to the same as just getting a Q9650 or even higher.

Then add to that the fact that all decent AMD boards these days use DDR3 and the 780i uses DDR2, so add some more cost on top. Yes, he can sell his old RAM and motherboard to recoup some of the cost, but the used hardware segment isn't exactly booming, and it probably wouldn't get $150 for the 8GB of RAM and motherboard combined.

 

[cdawall]

It is always best to re-install whenever changing the motherboard, even when using the same platform.

Yes, Win7 and Vista will handle switching over and usually work, however it is never as smooth as a fresh install.

As for the x8 slots, yes there really isn't a noticeable difference, but even still to get a decent board that will push a 965BE up over 4GHz is going to bring the cost up to the same as just getting a Q9650 or even higher.

Then add to that the fact that all decent AMD boards these days use DDR3 and the 780i uses DDR2, so add some more cost on top. Yes, he can sell his old RAM and motherboard to recoup some of the cost, but the used hardware segment isn't exactly booming, and it probably wouldn't get $150 for the 8GB of RAM and motherboard combined.

Agreed get any of the q series chips and call it good

 

[JrRacinFan]

Then add to that the fact that all decent AMD boards these days use DDR3 and the 780i uses DDR2, so add some more cost on top. Yes, he can sell his old RAM and motherboard to recoup some of the cost, but the used hardware segment isn't exactly booming, and it probably wouldn't get $150 for the 8GB of RAM and motherboard combined.

Oh really?? What about the 790x board I got for sale? Even at that nearly 75% of AM2+/3 can push a 965 to 4GHz easily. Oh and take a peak here:

This is the Athlon II x4 635($115 cpu) pitted against the Q9650($250 cpu).

This is 965 Black vs Q9650

 

[newtekie1]

Oh really?? What about the 790x board I got for sale? Even at that nearly 75% of AM2+/3 can push a 965 to 4GHz easily. Oh and take a peak here:

This is the Athlon II x4 635($115 cpu) pitted against the Q9650($250 cpu).

This is 965 Black vs Q9650

I don't see what the Q9650 destroying the 635 has to do with anything.
And yes, as I said the 965BE is pretty close in performance to the Q9650 within 1% like I said despite a 400MHz clock advantage.

And I have a hard time believe that 75% of AM3 boards will do the 4.0GHz+ needed to surpass the Q9650@3.6GHz+ considering that the last review done on TPU of the 970BE coudln't get it over 3.9GHz in a Crosshair IV Formula.

 

[JrRacinFan]

I don't see what the Q9650 destroying the 635 has to do with anything.
And yes, as I said the 965BE is pretty close in performance to the Q9650 within 1% like I said despite a 400MHz clock advantage.

And I have a hard time believe that 75% of AM3 boards will do the 4.0GHz+ needed to surpass the Q9650@3.6GHz+ considering that the last review done on TPU of the 970BE coudln't get it over 3.9GHz in a Crosshair IV Formula.

In the end, go AMD, sell your current s775 and come out with a quad upgrade for half the cost of the Q9650 with performing just as good. That's all i am saying. Oh and that's the 970BE which in point isn't that great.
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

I bet the OP could get $150, leaving his upgrade at a leftover cost of ~$125, little over the cost of the chip.

 

[cdawall]

I don't see what the Q9650 destroying the 635 has to do with anything.
And yes, as I said the 965BE is pretty close in performance to the Q9650 within 1% like I said despite a 400MHz clock advantage.

And I have a hard time believe that 75% of AM3 boards will do the 4.0GHz+ needed to surpass the Q9650@3.6GHz+ considering that the last review done on TPU of the 970BE coudln't get it over 3.9GHz in a Crosshair IV Formula.

Hand me tpus chip and board and I bet I can get that chip 4.2ghz stable in linx. Its a review they don't have the time to tweak like I would or you would or jr would etc.

 

[newtekie1]

In the end, go AMD, sell your current s775 and come out with a quad upgrade for half the cost of the Q9650 with performing just as good. That's all i am saying. Oh and that's the 970BE which in point isn't that great.
Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, L...
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 ...

Add another $70 to that for 8GB of RAM to match the 775 setup.

Yes, that would be a good setup, no it wouldn't perform the same as the Q9650, but it would probably be close enough.