Current vs emerging hardware for my new system.

[Memnok]

I’m looking to upgrade my system and need some advice. It’s really more of a complete build, since my old system is socket 478. Believe it or not, I’m not looking for someone to tell me which board/brand is better; it’s more of a philosophy question.

My dilemma is that I’m not sure if I should go with current main-stream components: nForce 680i, SLI, Dual Channel DDR2. Or should I go with something a bit more future proof: X38, Crossfire, PCI Express 2.0, DDR3.

It seems to me that the current stuff has the edge in terms of graphics/games. When I look at reviews, SLI seems to be much faster and more widely used in gaming than Crossfire. But the current systems have also reached their limits in terms of FSB and memory speeds.

The more future proof X38/DDR3 combo looks to be handicapped by Crossfire, but will soon dominate in the FSB/memory speed areas.

Like I said, this is not a “What motherboard/memory/GPU should I get” type of question. I’m really more interested in what you think about current vs. emerging hardware.

If it matters, I will be running Vista and using only one GPU at first. I'll reserve the second GPU slot (or 3ed/4th with Crossfire) as a future upgrade.

 

[Mr. Smith]

Single gpu config will always be the best option - e.g. one ultra consistantly outperforms CF/sli dues to the hit and miss nature of multi gpu configs; great if the drivers support your game, awful if not. New games never have correct multi gpu drivers at launch so you will always be waiting...

To address your q, personally penryn/ddr3/x38 etc do nothing for me. The real world gains are minimal over current hardware - a q6600/p35/ddr2 combo will 'lose' vs q9650/x38/ddr3 but apart from a few synthetic benchmarks you wouldn't feel the difference.

Going from my e6600 to q6600 I have seen little evidence it performs better in games! Maybe if I used video encoding etc I'd be able to tell but I don't. I got the q6600 for 'future proofing' but there is no such thing...

The price/performance isn't there at the moment to justify the move to 45nm/ddr3.

Grab a decent q6600/p35/ddr2/8800gt - best price performance kit available atm. When the d9e's drop in Feb buy one flagship card the 9800gtx or whatever. That will keep you going strong through to the end of '08. By then nehlam will be around, mobos that justify an upgrade will be out and ddr3 will be better spec'd and priced.

Not sure if that is the kind of response you want!

 

[Rastalovich]

Single gpu config will always be the best option - e.g. one ultra consistantly outperforms CF/sli dues to the hit and miss nature of multi gpu configs; great if the drivers support your game, awful if not. New games never have correct multi gpu drivers at launch so you will always be waiting...

To address your q, personally penryn/ddr3/x38 etc do nothing for me. The real world gains are minimal over current hardware - a q6600/p35/ddr2 combo will 'lose' vs q9650/x38/ddr3 but apart from a few synthetic benchmarks you wouldn't feel the difference.

Going from my e6600 to q6600 I have seen little evidence it performs better in games! Maybe if I used video encoding etc I'd be able to tell but I don't. I got the q6600 for 'future proofing' but there is no such thing...

The price/performance isn't there at the moment to justify the move to 45nm/ddr3.

Grab a decent q6600/p35/ddr2/8800gt - best price performance kit available atm. When the d9e's drop in Feb buy one flagship card the 9800gtx or whatever. That will keep you going strong through to the end of '08. By then nehlam will be around, mobos that justify an upgrade will be out and ddr3 will be better spec'd and priced.

Not sure if that is the kind of response you want!

All I can say is "GEIRI!"

 

[Memnok]

Not sure if that is the kind of response you want!

Thanx Mr. Smith, that was exactly what I was looking for. As you can see from my signature, I don't get to update my hardware too often. My last computer build was in 2002 or 2003. That is the only reason I even consider looking at a DDR3 board. But like you said, it is a steep price increase for not much gain.

Anyone have any other thoughts?