Major Dilema

[F1N3ST]

Should i buy a X1900GT and a E6400 Core 2 Duo, or a X1900XT and a E6300 Core 2 Duo. I dont want a POS 7900GT either, both of these cards outperform it for less money.

 

[wolfram]

I'd get the X1900XT and the Core2 E6300. If you want, you can always overclock the E6300 to E6400's speeds

I'm pretty sure that the X1900XT is the best choice

 

[F1N3ST]

Thats what i thought too

Meh, im gonna be a cheapskate, and get the E6300, X1900GT, and a Creative Sound Blaster.

 

[sellmesanity]

thats not being a cheapskate, its being unwise. you don't even need a soundcard. that should be secondary

 

[zephead]

i think it is wise. the performance difference between the e6300 and the e6400 is neglible, if that. the noticeable increase in performance happens when you go from an e6400 to the e6600. and wolfram is right-the speeds of an e6400 are well within reach of an air cooled e6400.

depending on your motherboard, you may have very good onboard sound. but using a seperate soundcard is still going to be better, partly because an onboard card eats up way more processor time than a soundblaster card would.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The E6400 has a higher multiplier (x8 vs the E6300's x7) which allows for greater overclocking headroom. My friend's E6400 is comfortably OC'd to 3GHz with stock cooling.

 

[sellmesanity]

I was only talking about the soundcard, and what does it matter that it eats up processing power? It's a dual core for god sakes. If he is going to get a soundblaster let it be an x fi, the only card worth buying unless you have a single core processor or create music and need a card more tailored for development. Get the XT. Worry about the soundcard later.

 

[wolfram]

Havinga powerful CPU like the Core 2, you won't notice any performance difference between onboard audio, and a Soundblaster.

Unless you want superb audio quality, maybe you can consider it, but you need to have really good speakers, to take advantage of the Soundblaster's greater quality.