Best motherboard for Q6600/Q8200/E8400

[debojitk]

HI All,
I am new to this forum.
I want to buy a new cpu/mobo set.
Please guide me to do so.
My preferences are

CPU
Intel Q6600
Intel Q8200
Intel E8400

Mobo
MSI P6N SLI Platinum
MSI P35 Platinum
MSI P35 Neo2 FR
MSI P43 NEO

PSU
ANTEC 430 Earth
Cooler master 450W

One good case, one aftermarket cooler for overclocking, one 2gb DDR2 800Mhz RAM Kingston, One Seagate sata 320gb hdd(7200.11)

My Budget INR 25000/-
Plaese suggest me to get maximum priceerformance ratio
If any other cpu/mobo set give better performace other than i mentioned, please suggest

I have one evga 8600gt 1gb ddr2 in my existing pc.
So what should be the max power requirement

 

[raybay]

There is no "BEST" in computerdom... And there is no accurate price to performance ratio. All that you list are fine, though I would choose the E8400 and the
CPU
Intel Q6600
Intel Q8200
Intel E8400 with MSI P6N SLI Platinum or P43 NEO. Other opinions will differ.

There is a power requirement on the manufacturers web site... but nothing that defines quality, which is the critical component in power supplies and motherboards. The Antec is better than the Cooler Master, but I would choose neither... there are better ones for the same price, such as Seasonic, Sparkle, FSP Group, Corsair, OCZ, and other Antecs.

You might find the indepth reviews at www.tomshardware.com helpful.

 

[FoReWoRd]

MSI P35 Platinum, because I have a MSI P35 Neo2 FR and is perfect for a light/moderate gamer, overclocks well, extremely stable, no ram compatability issues, works wonderfully with xp or vista....wat more can i say, it's been a perfect board

ps i am using Q6600 @ OC 3.8 on air

 

[debojitk]

Thanks for your replies.
But what i don't understand is the relation between TDP (Thermal Design Power) and actual power consumption of the CPU.
Say for Q6600/Q8200 both have TDP 95W, Is that mean the power consumption of the CPU only is 95W.

 

[FoReWoRd]

i think that is the amount of heat energy in watts it gives out, i think power comsumption is different..

 

[debojitk]

finally bought the new pc

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all your opinions, However i bought my budget pc

CPU Intel Q8200 -INR 9000/-
MOBO MSI P45 NEO-5200/-
HDD Seagate 360 GB SATA-2500/-
RAM Kingston 2gb ddr2 800-1200/-
Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus 460-2350/-

I thought the mobo will be fit on my old iball 370 cabinet, but it did not, so i will be buying a new cabinet for it.
plaese comment on my buying.

 

[raybay]

Thanks for the update. It is always fun to learn how the story ends... all the equipment appears to be first rate as a package...

 

[debojitk]

Hi Raybay,
Thanks for your reply,
Please make some comment on the motherboard, becoz, it is a bit cheaper,
Actually i bought the system in a way so that i can make it future proof for atleast 3 years ahead, that;s why i have gone for Q8200 instead of E8400, but i have a doubt on the mobo, i wanted to buy P35 Neo2 FR, but it was unavailable at our market, and p45 platinum was overriding my budget. the mobo can be overclocked to 1600 FSB, and default for Q8200 is 1333 Mt/s.
Mistakenly i bought a DDR2 800 ram, and this cpu is compatible with 667hz ram, so would it be a problem of ram speed mismatch.
The mobo also supports the dual channel ddr2,
so i will be buying another ram 2gb ddr2 800,
Please suggest me something regarding that

 

[raybay]

Read the details on that board. It may be possible it will use that ram if it has a firmware upgrade.
We haven't had any of those boards in our shop lately, but it comes well recommended.

 

[debojitk]

Thanks for the update, i will try to do so

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Everything looks great in your system, save for the PSU. That Cooler Master is quite crappy and not recommended for long-term use, especially if you plan to keep the PC on for long periods at a time. You should have purchased the Antec EA430 instead.

 

[debojitk]

Hi rage,
Thanks for the comment.
But the thing is no other well known brands are not available at our market,
I searched for antec/thermaltake, and even for corsair or tagan also, but nothing was found
Actually i have bought the psu, so cant i run with this for atleast one year.
My wife will beat me if i wanna spend more on the new system P)

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Your original post states that you had a choice between the Antec Earthwatts EA430 and the Cooler Master eXtreme Power 460. That Antec was the one I was referring to.

 

[debojitk]

Hi Rage,
Thanks for your reply, but antec is not also available at Nehru Place (India) IT HUB.
Another question i wanna ask regarding CPU power consumption.
As per wikipedia info Q660 and Q8200 both have TDP of 95 w, but people are saying that Q8200 will be taking less power than Q6600.
Actually what i am unable to understand is the calculation of power consumption of CPU
I have read that the core voltage of cpu is 1.2v to 1.7v, So if we multiply the current (Amp) with core voltage can we get the power consumption. How can we measure the the cpu power consumption (not TDP).
One more question, in which mode should i set the chassis fans, i mean if i have three 120 mm chassis, how i would set up the fans(which one in exhaust, which one in intake mode) so that internal temp can be kept in optimum.
Please clarify

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The actual difference in power consumption is small enough to be negligible. The Q8200 runs slightly cooler due to the 45nm process vs 65nm for the Q6600. But the latter has much more cache per core, so performance is much better than the cache-starved Q8200.

As for the fans, I recommend having one for intake and two for exhausting air out of the case.

 

[raybay]

You cannot split hairs. You must have a top power supply. It is as important as motherboard, processor, and memory... and more important than video graphics. Your power supply will not care whether it is supporting a Q6600 or an Q8200. The issue is how quickly the power supply can adjust to the demands of the video graphics AND the memory AND the CPU and still provide steady output.
Tell us what power supplies ARE available through India suppliers. I would get one that is also sold in the UK and the US so you benefit from the testing standards of the international community.

 

[debojitk]

Hi Bosses,
I have got a cooler master elite 331 chassis, and yesterday i installed the system, the cabinet is equipped with one 120 mm exhaust fan at the back side of the case(near cpu), and i bought another CM 120 mm fan that i've installed at the front side in "air intake mode", and set them as system fans (3 pin socket on mobo).
What i wonder is, both fans speed is around 1200 rpm. Isn't it too low!!! Please make some comment.
one more thing! I tested the cpu(Q8200) with prime 95 using large FFT test.
On full load the temp of cores were going around 65c (core0 is 65c, core3 is 55c).
And the stock cpu fan speed remain 1800-2000 rpm max.
Please make some comment regaring cpu temp and cpu fan speed.

My prev pc is equipped with Asus p5gc mx, which has a Q-fan option in bios, which if enabled controls the fan speed depending on cpu load (off-load is 1400 rpm, full-load is 3000 rpm).
Now i am having MSI p45 neo mobo, that also has a option of controlling fan speed
(it has a threshold temp option and a fan speed percentage option, i.e., you can set fan speed percent as say 65% and if the cpu temp goes beyond say 50c it will spin in full speed),, but the max speed can't cross even 2000 rpm.
Is there any problem in new fan!, or how can i control the fan speed in a better way (using any s/w), becoz cpu temp 65c is not smelling good.
am i going something wrong or what.
Please put some thought on these points.
Thanks in advace to all gurus.
regards,
Debojit

 

[raybay]

1200 rpm, especially with two fans, will keep the air moving nicely, but without noise that so many of the faster ones have. Yours will be cool and quiet.

 

[debojitk]

Hi, raybay,
Thanks for your reply
But noise is not that much corncerb of myself, but what i care is the cpu temp which is going 65c,
is it perfect,and wat abt cpu fan speed(1800 rpm)

 

[raybay]

A CPU temperature of 65c is not considered dangerous.
There a lot of studies which show that RPM speed has little to do with cooling power or air moved. A well designed set of fan blades moving air at 1800 (or even 1200) works well.
It is important not to get hung up on such things as rotation on fan speed, but rather on air flow and changes in cooling temperatures.
That is nice that noise does not bother you, but it does bother enough people that they often turn down the speed on the adjustable ones, just to avoid the speed. (Some users I know even shroud their computer to cut down on noise.

Quality fans, that are designed to move air, will cool extremely well at low speeds.
The problem comes where manufacturing shops copy other fans from days of old, or design their own without knowing how to design for air movement, then sell them in the UK, AU, and USofA at low prices to the unsuspecting buyers.

 

[debojitk]

Hi raybay,
Thnx for the reply.
One more thing i wanna discuss
I have two softwares installed, one is speedfan, and another is msi dual core centreWhen i observe the temps using both softwares i found some discrepencies among the results
speedfan shows temps of four cores, and the temps are 44,42,40,39c or cores 0 to 3 resp.
but the dual core centre shows even 5c lesser from the lowest temp shown by speedfan, however dual core centre shows only one temp.
Even in load, the temp diff remains as it is.
So which reading should i take as correct?

One more question; what is the time duartion after which the thermal paste layer on cpu/gpu should be added/relayered, and how it makes impact on heat generation.

Another question, in which direction cpu fan revolves, imean intake or exhaust.
the northbridge and south bridge chips don't have active cooling, so they are getting heated enough, what should i do regarding this.

MSI dual core centre has a dynamic overclocking technology button(dot), it automatically changes the fsb speed/fanspeed to give best output on cpu load, even in no load condition it slows down the fsb+fanspeed (even less than 1000 rpm).
So should i enable the dot always, i mean, can it make harm to cpu/mobo.
Thnx in advance.
Regards,
Debojit