[flipsyde]

here is somthing to ponder about. i am planning to get a new system primarily for my work (which involves CAD and 3Ds max) and for occasional gaming. earlier i had plans of getting a dedicated system for my work and a PS3 for my gaming needs. but i have come to understand that games for the PS3 are not affordable right now and besides its 25k just on the console. so i decided to get a computer which can do both.

confusion started right from step one. processor. i have been a hard core AMD fan all this while. but lately AMD hasn't lived upto my expectations. the AMD 64 X2 processor was a bit disappointing. so when i jumped to the intel line i had quite a few options. i have shortlisted E8400 and the Q6600 both based on many user reviews and overclocking potential.

E8400 is a part of intel latest line 45nm core 2 duo processor line. runs @ 3.00ghz stock. Q6600 is a part of the older gen 65nm core 2 quad processor line. runs @ 2.4ghz stock.

both are pretty much on par when it comes to perfomance. while the e8400 runs games better the q6600 is better when it comes to video encoding and other multi tasking.

so which should i go in for??? 4 cored q6600 (old war horse and overclockers favorite) or the 2 cored e8400 (new kid on the block). the q6600 is currently the best cores for money proposition but its future is a question mark. e8400 is pretty rock solid for the near future with the latest architecture. i plan to keep this computer without upgrading for 3 years.

confusion again in the video card department. 8800GT has served well in many applications all these years. its a gr8 performer in SLI mode too. the new entrant in the market is the 9800GTX which costs USD $30 more than the 8800GT ($199 aganist $169). difference not being much which card should i go for?? time tested 8800GT or the 9800GTX. i hear the 9800GTX is 10-15% faster than the 8800GT.

and finally the motherboard. 780i offers gr8 value for a DDR2 mobo with 3 way SLI support and PCI-e 2.0 while 790i is currently top of the line mobo with DDR3 support. so which one??

please pour in your opinions. keep in mind that i am not looking to upgrade much for the next 3 years.

[low_bass_makker]

The new ATI 4850 is much better than 8800 and 9800. Also it costs 12k.

Check the price/performance ratio. Dont go which one is the fastest in the market.

[flipsyde]

@lbm - i did consider the ati 4850 but 2 things put me off.
one is that ati isnt really my favorite when it comes to video cards. i have used their earlier x1700 and x2500 and frankly wasn't impressed.
two i am looking at adding another graphic card sometime in the next year or so. and seems like crossfire link isn;t working out well for most of EA's games.

that said i do welcome suggestions as far as price/performance is concerned.

what do you think about the processor and mobo?

[ab1xlr8]

i think u should wait a while beause the prices of all the nvidia cards are going to falls sharply, and if u do use 3dmax and cad u should opt for a quad core hence q6600,on the motherboard front if want better gaming go for the sli board

[aaggoswami]

1)Processor:
Regarding the processor, if you are not going in for a lot of multitaksing, then the 8-Seires 45nm penryn are good proposition. But if you are planning to go for lot of Multi tasking work, Q6600 is the preferred one.

I suggest that Q6600 series is the better option as it can be also be overclocked to around 3.0Ghz on stock cooling.

2)Motherboard:
Regarding the motherboard, as your work combines 3D , the better choice will be 790I Ultra SLi.

3)Graphics:
On the graphics front, the 4-series are reportedly the best till now from ATi and are better than 9 series from nVidia.
ATI Radeon 4850 Cards from HIS, PowerColor, Asus and More - Tom's Hardware
AMD Launches teraFLOPS Line Of Graphics Cards


Initial results are quite positive for 4-Series cards.

[Nikhilb2008]

TechEnclave - Indian Technology and Computer Community

[cooldude1988765]

do check out the new nvidia x280 and x260.

[Nikhilb2008]

GTX280 is overpriced and the GTX260 gets thrashed by the 4870 which is a 100$ cheaper.

[low_bass_makker]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

GTX280 is overpriced and the GTX260 gets thrashed by the 4870 which is a 100$ cheaper.

Bro he does not want to go with ATI. He wants Nvidia which is right now slower in price performance ratio.

[Nikhilb2008]

You having a bad experience with ATI is NOT a valid reason for ditching the 48xx series!!

You buy an nVidia card now and if you have a bad experience with it, next time what card will you buy? Sis? Voodoo? :

Past experiences are not valid reasons buddy. It isnt like a car's A.S.S.

[flipsyde]

guys guys......you got it all wrong!!

@lbm - sir, i am not rejecting the obvious. i understand that ATI 48xx series is much more interesting price/performance wise and hence an obvious choice. but what i was afraid of was its lack of performance in crossfire mode vs. nvidia's SLI mode. this apparently is very evident with most of EA's games. i will post the link here which states the same ASAP. that was my only worry. i can't replace any parts for the next 3 years after i am done with this upgrade thats why the dilemma. so choice i make now i will have to live with for the next 3 years.

also the temperatures seem to be 15 - 20 degrees higher than nvidia cards. and here in chennai where we have perpetual summers i think if i go in for a HD4850 dual cooling fans are a must.

@nikhilb2008 - dude.... any product which has let you down in the past you do tend to have an aversion towards it. besides the board i most prolly will go for would be the 790i Ultra SLI. thats a nvidia chipset. ATI and nvidia coming together in one cabinet surely deserves a second thought!!

P.S - Techenclave really shows how many people out there are waiting to get their hands on this card!!

@cooldude1988765 - as of right now all i can do is check them out on the internet and drool!! thats wayyy over my budget bro. and besides if I had that kinda money to shell out i would consider the nvidia quadro series fx3700 which has recently been cut out keeping autocad and 3ds in mind. not a gamers card i agree but a great performance workstation.

@aaggoswami - the q6600 is a tempting deal (typical indian mind - more cores for same money!!) but what worries me is thats its almost a year old and is 65nm processor. the big question is it worth giving up 2 cores for a 45nm processor with a higher clock and $20 less on the price tag.

P.S - i don't multi task all that much. which is why i am not hung up on quad core but just interested.

and guys.....both boards are very similar on features and the 790i is about $60 more than the 780i but for that i get a board which gives me DDR3 support. so i think the question really should be DDR2 vs DDR3 over the next 3 years.

[Saiyan]

There is another Quad Core processor in market, the intel Q9300 (2.5Ghz, 6Mb L2 Cache). Its the same technology as the e8400. Unless your planning to OC. In that case both Q9300( low multi) and E8400 (the current batch is no where close what it was initially) is a bad choice. Yet E8400 will be enough for all the games right now.

ATI 4870 and the crossfire technology is anytime better than nvidia's offering. What resolution are planning to game ? Say assuming its a 24" , 4870CF can take any game thrown at it.

Here is a benchmark, the card in test is a Overclocked 4850 (similar to the performance of 4870) XtremeSystems Forums - View Single Post - 700mhz wall on HD4850 is smashed. . I don't know what you are complaining about EA games. A link would be better.

If you are willing to spend a lot, you can very well go with the DDr3 platform.
You have the choice of Intel's P45 and X48 if you going to take crossfire. P45 has a ICH10 as its southbridge.

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by flipsyde

guys guys......you got it all wrong!!


@aaggoswami - the q6600 is a tempting deal (typical indian mind - more cores for same money!!) but what worries me is thats its almost a year old and is 65nm processor. the big question is it worth giving up 2 cores for a 45nm processor with a higher clock and $20 less on the price tag.

P.S - i don't multi task all that much. which is why i am not hung up on quad core but just interested.

Although future-proofing is not the word we can use in this computer field, IMO, going for a Quad core had various advantages. Higher number of cores will always be useful than sheer clock speed and if future ( the main reason I am suggesting quad core ) the O.S will become capable of using the multiple cores available.

May I know which O.S. you will be using on this new computer ?

This is just a suggestion.

[flipsyde]

@saiyan - i really wish i could pull up that link with the EA games issues. i was going thru it at a friends place. i will put it up here soon. i agree. it seems like HD 4850 is edging its way ahead of its rivals to be the best card for under $200.

q9300 has lower cache and costs a lott more ($270). i don't think i can afford that right now.

answers for a couple of questions would certainly help me make my choice.
1) can i use the 790i/780i board with the ATI 4850??
2) the 9800 gtx i am told has phyX built into its new cards. and from what i understand thats good for gaming which doesnt seem to show on benchmarks. ATI seems to still have the edge. how come?
3) besides games i would primarily be using the comp for my autocad and 3ds max work. and specially for 3ds max a good compatible graphic card is a must. would the ATI perform better than nvidia here??

saiyan, i would mostly be running windows and my games on a 22" viewsonic monitor at 1600 X 1050. which i think is the native resolution.

i wouldn't want to unecessarily spend the extra dollars for DDR3 if it isn't going to perform that much better. (i would be saving $100 on mobo and $100 on ram which is quite a lot)

@aagoswami - couldn't agree with you more. the future is never proofed with computers. but lets just say i want to take a step in that direction.

more core maybe more useful that sheer clock speed but how about 65nm vs 45nm. other than lowered power consumptions what are the other advantages??

i would mostly be sticking to windows vista home premium or ultimate.

[flipsyde]

update : just learnt that asking if 790i/780i motherboards are compatible with crossfireX is redundant.

ok so if I go ATI way then my boards should be either a P45 chipset or a X48 chipset.