New Intel advice needed

[bertz]

well i recently bought and built my old system around a 939 x2 4800 chip but im now thinking of selling the 939 components and going to intel so i need a little advice

im in to mind of going for a duo or quad chip i was thinkin of the e8600 but i heard that it not worth the extra cash and to get the e8400 is this true im more of a gamer so im lookin into a chip mostly for that,not sure on quad chips

the mobo im after is the Asus Striker Extreme II

i have a 9800 gtx+ xxx so im stickin to a sli setup and plannin on another card,

my gpu is a pc power & cooling 750w silencer.

would these parts be ok im clueless about ram and what type id need so any advice would be a help its DDR3 looking by the mobo..


my old system is the same gfx card with amd 4800+ x2 , 2 gig of corsair 3500LL pro on a Asus A8n32 sli deluxe, raptor x 150g , would it be just worth sticking with my old system for the time being on the current games or is about time worth while going to intel

thanks in advance to who ever takes the time to read and reply

 

[raybay]

The e8400 is a great cpu, but for a gamer the high speed one, only marginally faster in actual use, is faster. The E8400 prices are very low and going lower, with new processors coming out very soon. We just bought five for $149, and now find them at $139 with the after Christmas specials.

 

[bertz]

thanks for the quick response so you would recommend the 8600 for gaming then and be the one i require, there some real good prices compared over here in the uk

 

[raybay]

If the price is right. I am not much of a gamer. So you may get some real gamer opinions on Saturday

 

[captaincranky]

I'm going to to try and predict what our legions of gamers might say, "buy the E8400 and overclock it".

This based on the fact that not every gamer has the money for an E8600, and the reviews of this CPU on Newegg.com. ("Oh man, this chip overclocks like crazy", et al.)The graphics card(s) is(are) the trick here, and even at stock speed the E8400 should certainly not cause a bottleneck.

However, if you simply must be the envy of every kid on the block, buy the C2D "extreme" version and overclock and water cool it. OK, that's probably a little extreme, pardon the pun.

 

[luvhuffer]

"buy the E8400 and overclock it".

I couldn't have said it better myself. My E8400 is running at 4GHz on air. Got it bundled with a crappy ECS board for $159 at Fry's that I immediately sold for $25.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

I don't recommend SLI unless you're looking to game at 1600x1200 or higher. A motherboard like the GA-EP43-DS3L will do fine, and if you want a lot of OCing headroom and good northbridge cooling as well, the GA-EP45-UD3P is an excellent choice.

As for the CPU, the E8400 is the sweet spot, but if you're going to OC, get the E8600 for its newer E0 stepping. As an alternative, you could go with an AM2 system instead, and buy a new video card too, since a good AM2 motherboard and CPU will cost you ~$150, and if you want, you can spend another $200 for an HD 4870. The E8400 alone costs $160 or so in comparison.

 

[luvhuffer]

My E8400 SLB9J is an EO step. Is there any differences in the 2 step wise?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Not all E8400s are E0, and I don't think Newegg specifies the stepping. The E0 stepping allows for better OCing due to some improvements in the chip's design.

 

[luvhuffer]

Ya I had a problem with the ABIT IP35Pro. It will run CO step but not EO step. And no BIOS revisions to fix it. You really need to watch the fine print on the compatable CPU lists nowadays. So i had to go to something with a P45 chipset.

 

[bertz]

I don't recommend SLI unless you're looking to game at 1600x1200 or higher. A motherboard like the GA-EP43-DS3L will do fine, and if you want a lot of OCing headroom and good northbridge cooling as well, the GA-EP45-UD3P is an excellent choice.

As for the CPU, the E8400 is the sweet spot, but if you're going to OC, get the E8600 for its newer E0 stepping. As an alternative, you could go with an AM2 system instead, and buy a new video card too, since a good AM2 motherboard and CPU will cost you ~$150, and if you want, you can spend another $200 for an HD 4870. The E8400 alone costs $160 or so in comparison.

humm, the problem is ive only just bought the 9800gtx card so its brand new and i cant really convert to ati.
i was lookin at that mobo u suggested is there anyones i could get but based around sli with nice Ocing headroom .at the minute im still looking at this Asus Striker II mobo but am unclear if its anygood compared to gigabyte one u suggested http://www.kikatek.com/product_info.php?products_id=72233&source=froogle

ive been lookin into gettin the e8400 but with the EO stepping as ive found some sites where they state it has the new stepping.http://www.overclock.co.uk/product/...5W-6Mb-Cache-LGA775-1333MHz,-Retail_8280.html


thank you to everyone who has took time to reply with there input im slowley buildin an idea

so far im thinking of :
[
Asus Striker Extreme II
Intel e8400 (on air)
2x 9800gtx+ (in sli)
pc power & coolin Silencer 750w
WD Raptor x 150g (sata 10k)
CM stacker case
Memory ( im unclear on what to get )

Current System
Asus A8n32 sli
amd x2 4800+ (939)
9800 gtx+ (2nd one soon)
pc power & coolin Silencer 750w
WD Raptor x 150g (sata 10k)
CM stacker case
Corsair XMS PRO 2GB DDR RAM PC3500 LL

is it worth payin all this extra or would i just be best to stick with my current system

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

You'd need the new CPU and motherboard to avoid the bottleneck created by your current CPU (when you run SLI). As for a motherboard, the eVGA 750i SLI FTW is a great board that uses DDR2 and is reasonably priced.

For memory, I advise buying only from Corsair, Crucial and OCZ for the best RAM available. Corsair's Dominator, Crucial's Ballistix and OCZ's Reaper kits are their enthusiast range that are meant for OCing, so look at those if you're into OCing the RAM.

 

[bertz]

thanks rage for your helpful advice its much appricated :grinthumb, i looked and did some research into the FTW board but wasent to keen on the chipset fan blowing onto the back of the gfx ,

ive now purchased a Asus Striker II extreme board, gonna get the e8400.

im just looking at the ram you have pointed me in the right direction of and work out which one to get

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

This kit is excellently priced and has some great timings as well, besides being OC-friendly.

 

[klepto12]

Why buy $300 MB when socket 775 is fixing to be obsolete. Maybe just pick up the cheapest i7 and a new board and overclock the cpu then you have a lot of room for upgrades later.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Socket 775 is far from obsolete.

 

[bertz]

thanks for the link for ram rage, gonna get that but irl have to shop around as i live in the uk and newegg dont seem to have shippin to here even though there half the price then in the uk typical ,

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Here you go mate. £170 or so including VAT and with free shipping to boot.

 

[bertz]

thanks m8 :grinthumb