Upgrade opinions!

[Hiks]

Been out of touch with pc hardware a bit lately, had other things to occupy my time and no games were coming out that appealed to me.

Kinda getting back into it though and realized i really need to upgrade my puter. Just wondered what good upgrade paths there is at the moment, after the best bang for buck really and good overclocking potential.

Was looking at the E6750 a while back but now I'm seeing the E8200 around the same price.

The Q6600 looks tempting also but like i said i haven't read any articles or seen any bench's in around 6 months so I'm pretty out.

Was also thinking of an IP35 pro, would anyone recommend anything different around the same price range dont mind going a bit higher.

SLI isn't important also

Already have 4gig of DDR2 (6400) sat on my shelf so its mainly just the CPU/Board recommendations I'm after.

 

[Pat123]

Erm, ide say, Q6600 or Q9450 if you can stretch a nice aftermarket cooler and the ip35 pro is a pretty solid board i think.

What graphics card you got?

 

[inonefly]

if only for gaming a higher clocked dual core would be better than a lower clocked quad, you can get the E8300 for £112.10

 

[Pat123]

Hence why i added the after market cooler, with the Q6600 a decent aftermarket cooler and the ip35 pro you should be able to get it to atleast 3.2, 3.4Ghz. Which is plenty speed, and the fact its quad core means its more future proof, if that counts for much in the computer market these days, lol.

And you can then take advantage of the latest quad core ready games.

Edit*** just read that, sounds abit snobby, i wasnt meaning to be 'snobby' lol.

 

[Hiks]

Sorry i should of mentioned it will be watercooled, I've got all my old gear pretty much just need a CPU block.

The graphics card i was going to get after, I have a 1950XT i can use for now just to get a working system then add a 8800 of some sort?

How are Ati doing lately?

 

[The Computer Council]

ATI are pretty good - the X2 is a good card and it will be betetr still once Crossfire is supported by the drivers.

The Q6600 is a great chip, especially in a board like the IP35 Pro which is as solid as they come.

We build the Q6600 into the IP35 Pro boards and all the systems are clocked to 3.4Ghz stable, so overclocking shouldn't be a problem for you.

 

[Pat123]

Well in that case get the Q6600 take it to around 3.6Ghz.. Bish Bash Bosh wicked pc.

Ide say being an nvidia fan boy go for the 8800GT, but as someone already said the X2 is a good card..

 

[The Computer Council]

It depends on your budget really, and your card preference. Personally I'm not a huge fan of ATI drivers, and an 8800GT is alot cheaper, and still provides excellent performance.

We get over 15K in 3DMark06 with our GT, with the Q6600 running at 3.6Ghz. Temps are a little toasty mind, which is why 3.4Ghz may be a better option, depending on your cooling/case setup.

 

[inonefly]

i dont see why a 65nm quad is more 'future proof' than a 45nm E8xxx, also how long do you think the games will take advantage of quad core? by that time the q6600 might be 2 gens old... imo

 

[Pat123]

it might be indeed, but surely in every aspect getting a quad and clocking it to 3.6-3.4 will give better performance.

 

[Hatman]

Not an X2..

Here the X2 is £250 and an 8800GT can be had for £120. No contest really.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-071-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1008

 

[ali_james]

I'd tend toward the nvidia cards, the 8800GT is very good, the stock cooler is comes with is trash though, so you might need to keep about 20quid by for a new cooler for it, eg Acrtic Accelero S1.

I've got an IP35-Pro, 8800GT and a quad, a setup like that can't be beat for value IMO

Cheers!