drwho

For my next upgrade on my computer, I've decide to get the Intel Quad-Core QX9650. Now the burning questions. I'm not interested in a SLI setup so I'm looking for a X48 board and memory to go with it. What are you're recommendations? Please comment.



drwho

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kris23

are you planning to go DDR3? or do you plan so stay DDR2? also, when X48 hits, QX9770 hits

most likely a better stepping too

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drwho

I'd like to get DDR3, but it seems a little too pricey at the moment. I've been looking at info on the X48 boards and they are very interesting. Do you have any info on the pricing on the QX9770, kris?





drwho

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ChaosMinionX

Asus Maximus Extreme or Intel Bone Trail (I personally would use the Bone Trail as Intel's last showings of extreme chipsets is quite impressive ala Bad Axe and Bad Axe2)

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drwho

Just wondering, would you consider this a good deal. What memory should I get with it (I'm looking for 4 gigs)?


After looking at the price of DDR3 memory, maybe just 2 gig.

One more question, I currently have a Enermax "Liberty" 620w PSU, is this PSU enough or should I invest in a new PSU and at what wattage?




drwho

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kris23

the whole DDR3 market is still crawling out the liquid

wait for when you buy to get stuff.

the OX9770 is most likely gonna be in the same price range as the QX6950 at probably $1000-1300

the X48 boards are your best bet for performance, better performance in really all areas, though minor.

and PSU, yea id get a new one if ur getting new graphics cards

a setup to aim for is the one in my profile

too bad none of them are on the market but the PSU....

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ChaosMinionX

Just to clarify......

X48 is useless to the non-extreme enthusiast, as it does not give the average user anything to warrant the "Premium" pricetag thats going to come with it when its released, besides 1600mhz official support from Intel, beyond that X38 is more than capable of 1600mhz, but Intel couldnt guarantee it so it wasnt "official".

You are much better off getting X38, it will be cheaper. And the refresh everyone would like to think X48 is, is merely a "speed binned" X38 that had exceptional electrical properties, that in their testing allowed for "higher" overclocking, which also allowed Intel to "officially" support 1600mhz FSB chips (IE- QX9770)

Main differences in X38 and X48

Maybe 50mhz (at a very generous allowance) better FSB than X38, and possibly better memory clocking, and lower voltage requirements to get higher Overclocks stable.

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kris23

why else would he buy an Extreme Edition processor if he wasnt an extreme enthusiast?

after laying out that kind of cash, a good motherboard to squeeze the Mhz out is good. get a few more FPS in games too

after the whole setup, the extra few dollars for that good chip is minimal

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ChaosMinionX

He might not be an Enthusiast at all, remember the average consumer looks at specs and pricetags to determine a "high end" system they just put together.

So he might be buying the Extreme Editions because they are the fastest available processors at stock (which is guaranteed to run the speeds stated, and warrantied if any problems should arise), just things you have to think about Kris when people come asking for recommendations, find out what they are going to use something for, what they expect to get out of the system, and what their experience level is with computers, and if they plan to do any overclocking.

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drwho

Let's say I'm the average consumer at the moment, but looking to go to the next level in the learning curve. I'm looking to get the best equipment I can afford but not to the point where I feel I'm over spending for things thta won't do me a whole lot of good. Over the last few years I've built myself the best computer I could buy, this year the funds I have available is more that in previous years, but after looking at the price of DDR3 memory I'm wondering if it is really worth it. This is mainly the reason I was asking for advice. I was wondering if going with the QX1770, X48 and DDR3 memory is worth the expenditure of money I'm looking at. I mean no offense kris, but not all of us can go out and get the kind of equipment that I see in your hardware setup to the left. I'd be thrilled to have that kind of setup for my computer, but I can't really afford it or at least I don't think I can.

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ChaosMinionX

If it were my money?


Asus Maximus Formula

Intel QX9650 or wait for Q9450/9550 in feb-march.

Corsair Dominator 8888C4DF (faster than 1800C7DF when tuned properly), or just any DDR2...DDR3 still is not impressive enough to be worth switching.

HD 3870's Crossfired, or wait for new nvidia/ati offerings.

The next level in the learning curve would be a moderate overclock with some cooling..... its quite fun, and once you OC you will never look back.

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drwho

ChaosMinion, I really appreciate your help in these matters. Have a couple of questions for you. Instead of the Asus Maximus Formula would you say this board would be OK. What memory would you recommend with that board. To be truthful, I'm looking forward to the Nvidai 9800 when it comes out in a couple of months. Would I still need to upgrade my PSU?

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kris23

lol i mean its guidelines, and i see DDR3 prices dropping fast....

cant say the same about mobos though..... the DDR3 mobos are as much as the DDR3 itself so that aint good.....

but still DDR2 is the best deal for cash and the motherboards are cheaper by a large margin.

Super Talent has cheap 2x1GB DDR3 1866MHz sticks at $299 on newegg but they got quality control issues i think.....

but if you have a budget set, i could tell you the best route,

DDR3 is better in my opinion as its more futureproof, you can easily move nearly all the parts to a new system if u go with something such as nehalem.

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drwho

Let's just say that but the end of January I would around $2500 to spend, give or take a few nickels.

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kris23

holy crap.....

is that just a tower or a whole new thing?

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drwho

Let's just say, the Xmas bonus was extra big this year,



The only three things I'm looking to replace at the moment is the CPU, motherboard and memory, and possibly the PSU if it becomes necessary. Everything else will stay the same for now. Am looking on adding a Nvidai 9800 GPU when they hit the market.

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kris23

uhh..... ok im retarded, can you explain that in simpler terms please?

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drwho

Which part. All I'm interested in upgrading right now is the CPU, motherboard, and memory.

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kris23

there i get it now.

thats an insane amount for just 3 items. lol

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kris23

Newegg.com - CORSAIR XMS3 DHX 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Newegg.com - ASUS MAXIMUS EXTREME LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Yorkfield 3.0GHz 12MB L2 Cache LGA 775 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail

shipping + taxes in CA for me leads this to $2,612

if you dont live near any of the warehouses, youre safe

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drwho

Well I wasn't necessarily planning on using all of it to upgrade these three items. There are some other items I have on a list not computer related.

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kris23

i think youd be better off with DDR2 then.

do you still want an extreme edition though? they do take up an awfully large part of the budget.....

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drwho

Agree on the DDR2. I'm still thinking about the extreme edition. All I really know is I want one of the Perwyns when they come out. I've also considered the e8500 also. I guess I'll just bide my time and see what happens. Thanks for your time, appreciate it.

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kris23

yea im not sure how good the DDR3 memory controller is on the X38 boards, i think some dont work properly with 4 DIMMS at high speeds.....

so i guess sticking with 4 gigs of DDR2 is a good choice

the Penryns wont come till march it seems.... so i guess an EE CPU is ur only bet if u want it soon.

and no prob, i got lots of free time and am enjoying my new z5500s so im blowing my brains out....

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ChaosMinionX

Just to shed a little light on it.....

The QX9770/9650(about $1000-1300USD) have unlocked multipliers meaning you dont need as high a FSB to achieve an overclock, so its less strain on the board, and gives you alot more headroom to play with.

The Q9450/9550 will have an 8x / 8.5x respectively..... Meaning that if you decided to overclock you would be more relient on your FSB especially if you have plans for the 4ghz range on Air as some people have already shown Penryn is fully capable of (there have been some duds though, so caveat emptor)

Anyways assuming you get a Q9450 with its 8x multiplier (about $300-350USD), and are using an X38/X48 (which very rarely run stable at 500mhz 24/7) you would need to run a 500mhz FSB x 8 (multiplier) = 4000mhz, to go any higher would solely rely on your boards FSB capabilities with a Quadcore. And if you were to use the Q9550(about $500-550USD) with an 8.5x (Intel has reintroduced the half multiplier, to further cover performance levels) you would need at least a 471mhz FSB x 8.5 = 4003... and again FSB permitting you can go beyond 4000mhz (4.0ghz).

And if you were to buy the Extreme Edition Penryns (QX9650/9770) you have unlocked multipliers so you could easily hit 4000mhz+ by simply bumping the multi up, and leaving FSB alone.... So technically you could have 400mhz FSB x 10 = 4000mhz (which is very doable with quad/x38/48) or 450mhz FSB x 9 = 4050mhz (which IMO is a sweet spot for X38/48 and quad in terms of performance, and strain on the components.)

So just to recap that.....

QX9650-9770 have Multipliers usable from 6x to 13/14/15x+ (really anyone you could think of, however they are not usable in almost all scenarios) so that is less strain on your FSB when Overclocking

And Q9450-9550 have 8x and 8.5x multiplier (6x - 8/8.5x) and will require more FSB to get the clocks you want out of them.

Hope this all makes sense, not saying you will be overclocking, but if you were going to be, and looking for 4ghz+ 24/7 I would highly recommend the QX9650, if you are happy with a 3.6ghz (450x8) or 3.8ghz (450x8.5) then I would recommend the Non Extreme Edition processors coming out.

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drwho

translation; if you can afford a extreme edition processor, buy it, it will make OC alot easier.


I've seen hard copy that the new penyrns will come out on January 20th. I've yet to see anything that definitely says that the Penyrns will be coming out in March. I'm think I'm going to wait until January 20th and see what happens. If they end up being delayed, then I will buy a qx9650 and whatever board is the best available at that time, then upgrade the processor later when I decide.

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The_Neon_Cowboy

*thought* Board wise if you want to be able to do DDR3 later with out a new board
get one of the boards with dual slots 2 ddr2 and 2 ddr3 and go with decent ddr2 for now

If you wanna go cheap but good for the buck...
g.skill pc8000 $114 Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
g.skill pc6400 $94 Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
g.skill pc6400 $109 better timeings Newegg.com - G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

you'll pay 2 to 3X for other brands, the only draw back is their memory heat
spreaders aren't the best/basic but you can easily change that

check out newegg they have some wikkid deals going on
Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

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kris23

with an EE processor, just up the multiplier and FSB a bit lol

there was news on several sites that said that penryn quads will be postponed till late February or early March...... i dunno the reasons but its probably to milk the richer computer people in the market to buy an EE processor lol

well, if you can afford it, and it looks like you can, get the Extreme Edition, you'll like it alot, and have tons of bragging rights lol, but if you are not doing any heavy OCing then a lower model may be just your thing.

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kris23

lol that board is DDR3 not DDR2

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drwho

I've been giving thought to my choices this weekend and have decided to do the following. I'm going to get the e8500 processor and either the Asus P5E3 Premium or the Gigabyte x48T-dq6. What DDR3 memory would you recommend to go with eith of these boards? Just for conversation sake, which of the two mobos I've mentioned will be better to get?

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