Upgrade time is approaching..

[Mephisto_Helix]

well Flight Sim is gonna benefit from either a 8800/9800 or a 9600. I remember going from my MX440 to a 7600GT and it blew me off the chair

 

[Grimspoon]

You mean it allows two GPUs to combine their power but still only output to one display?
I suppose the GPU needs to support the feature as well?

Yes that is what it means...amazing huh?

Basically if you buy a Sli board you have to use 2 x Nvidia cards - If you want to use Ati (which you shouldn’t ) then you will need to get a crossfire board, this is the equivalent to Nvidia Sli

 

[redarrow]

Yes that is what it means...amazing huh?

Yea.. that is quite something!

Basically if you buy a Sli board you have to use 2 x Nvidia cards - If you want to use Ati (which you shouldn’t ) then you will need to get a crossfire board, this is the equivalent to Nvidia Sli

Ah well.. I really don't foresee myself having the need for such vast graphic processing power..

Anyway.. I've got to sleep over this stuff (a couple of nights may be needed actually) ..

 

[redarrow]

All right guys.. I've been doing some thinking..

So I've listened to some advice and um ignored some..

First of all I decided to scale down on the HDD after all my current 250GB has mostly been sufficient up to now (and I can still use it my upgraded PC anyway)
I've also noticed that currently the 500gb hard disks seem to have a better rand per gig value than the 1tb and 1.5tb .. go figure
So I'm gonna go for a 500GB hdd.

Secondly I've more or less decided that a 9600GT is going to work fine for me..

Then I come to RAM, I'm dropping to just 1 2GB module for now, it's very easy to add more RAM at a later stage and I've survived very long with just 1GB on my current setup.

Using Sybaratic's pricing as a guide this brings me to:
500GB HDD: @ R770.00
DDR2-800 2GB @ R350.00
Geforce 9600GT @ R1350.00

Right now onto motherboard/CPU.. my original budget was R7k, subtracting the above expenses leave me with R4530.00 to spend on motherboard and CPU
Sorry but this is just too much money to blow on a motherboard and CPU so instead I dropped my budget to R6k

So ... with R3530.00 to spend on motherboard/CPU .. Intel Quad core has suddenly become an option.

Basically I got:
AMD Option:
Asus M3A AMD 770 @ R1045.00
AMD Phenom X4 9750 @ R2371.00

OR

Intel Option:
Foxconn P35AX-S IP35 @ R1078.00
Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ R2447.00

Opinions guys? I have no idea which of the above processors are better?

I have come to realise that I am actually a bit of an AMD fanboi as I find myself preferring the AMD option with no actual reason for it.. OK it is about R100 cheaper and besides "Phenom" sounds so much cooler than "Core 2 Quad".

 

[Grimspoon]

I think you are on the money with most of your decision but this is what I would change:

Do yourself a huge favor and forget about the 9600GT, you are just shooting yourself in the foot. Not saying it is a bad card at all, but if you have the option to upgrade a bit then do it, else you will seriously regret it in a year when you can't play the latest game...Do yourself a favor, allocate a bit more to GFX card and get a 8800GT....As for AMD vs. Intel, that is a topic for a whole new thread...I was once a AMD fan, moved over to Intel and personally happier with Intel....They both good. That Mobo sounds ok, not sure if I would choose Foxcon though, warning bells come on with them...I would say Asus would be a better choice.

 

[scotty777]

All right guys.. I've been doing some thinking..

So I've listened to some advice and um ignored some..

First of all I decided to scale down on the HDD after all my current 250GB has mostly been sufficient up to now (and I can still use it my upgraded PC anyway)
I've also noticed that currently the 500gb hard disks seem to have a better rand per gig value than the 1tb and 1.5tb .. go figure
So I'm gonna go for a 500GB hdd.

Secondly I've more or less decided that a 9600GT is going to work fine for me..

Then I come to RAM, I'm dropping to just 1 2GB module for now, it's very easy to add more RAM at a later stage and I've survived very long with just 1GB on my current setup.

Using Sybaratic's pricing as a guide this brings me to:
500GB HDD: @ R770.00
DDR2-800 2GB @ R350.00
Geforce 9600GT @ R1350.00

Right now onto motherboard/CPU.. my original budget was R7k, subtracting the above expenses leave me with R4530.00 to spend on motherboard and CPU
Sorry but this is just too much money to blow on a motherboard and CPU so instead I dropped my budget to R6k

So ... with R3530.00 to spend on motherboard/CPU .. Intel Quad core has suddenly become an option.

Basically I got:
AMD Option:
Asus M3A AMD 770 @ R1045.00
AMD Phenom X4 9750 @ R2371.00

OR

Intel Option:
Foxconn P35AX-S IP35 @ R1078.00
Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ R2447.00

Opinions guys? I have no idea which of the above processors are better?

I have come to realise that I am actually a bit of an AMD fanboi as I find myself preferring the AMD option with no actual reason for it.. OK it is about R100 cheaper and besides "Phenom" sounds so much cooler than "Core 2 Quad".

I suppose that intel is good for you man, it will be a decent performer... I'm just worried about the cache(4mb is a bit low for a quad core...) and it's low clock(2.33ghz, and it's got a 7 times multiplier... which is shyte for O/C)

Oh, and got for a 9800gt/8800gt(THEY THE SAME CARD!!!) coz later on you will be taking god, as the 8800gt/9800gt has more shaders then the 9600gt, and with games getting more and more shader intensive, it would be a wise decision

 

[redarrow]

I think you are on the money with most of your decision but this is what I would change:

Do yourself a huge favor and forget about the 9600GT, you are just shooting yourself in the foot. Not saying it is a bad card at all, but if you have the option to upgrade a bit then do it, else you will seriously regret it in a year when you can't play the latest game...Do yourself a favor, allocate a bit more to GFX card and get a 8800GT....

Bang! Ouch.. hmm.. I'll have to think about this..

As for AMD vs. Intel, that is a topic for a whole new thread...I was once a AMD fan, moved over to Intel and personally happier with Intel....They both good. That Mobo sounds ok, not sure if I would choose Foxcon though, warning bells come on with them...I would say Asus would be a better choice.

I hadn't given a huge amount of thought to the motherboard actually.. theres a fair amount of choice for about R1k

Personally I've always liked Gigabyte mainboards but these all seem to be way above R1k at the moment.

I also noticed something odd.. Sybaratic has the Phenom X4 9750 for R2371.00 and the Phenom X4 9850 for R2184.00 .. I assumed that the more expensive one is the better one but maybe it's just a typo?

 

[PostmanPot]

@redarrow: What kind of multitasking do you plan on doing? Sure you need a quad core?

Also, PCInt.co.za have an Asus P35 board for ±R990 incl.

 

[redarrow]

@redarrow: What kind of multitasking do you plan on doing? Sure you need a quad core?

Must have quad core!!
*throws temper tantrum*

I wanna pirate DVD's 4 disks at a go..
^ This is a joke.. just in case someone wants to report me somewhere or other

Also, PCInt.co.za have an Asus P35 board for ±R990 incl.

Cool, I'll check it out, thanks!

 

[PostmanPot]

Must have quad core!!
*throws temper tantrum*

I wanna pirate DVD's 4 disks at a go..
^ This is a joke.. just in case someone wants to report me somewhere or other

I'm serious. What multitasking will you be doing? Why not find out first whether you'll really be needing one or not? You could get an E8*** nearly R1000 cheaper than the quad cores you've mentioned which would run most programs and games better. Also, if you were to go quad, the Q6600 would surely be a better option than the Q8200.

 

[redarrow]

I'm serious. What multitasking will you be doing? Why not find out first whether you'll really be needing one or not? You could get an E8*** nearly R1000 cheaper than the quad cores you've mentioned which would run most programs and games better.

I just always find myself trying to toggle between various tasks and getting annoyed as the machine struggles to keep up.. Multiple cores just always appealed to me..
Besides, isn't it the wave of the future?
I do actually like playing around with CG animation.. and I do have video encoding tasks running quite often (DV camera).

Also, if you were to go quad, the Q6600 would surely be a better option than the Q8200.

Would it? I really don't know.. I just looked for the most expensive one in my range.

 

[scotty777]

I'm serious. What multitasking will you be doing? Why not find out first whether you'll really be needing one or not? You could get an E8*** nearly R1000 cheaper than the quad cores you've mentioned which would run most programs and games better. Also, if you were to go quad, the Q6600 would surely be a better option than the Q8200.

I agree with the Q6600 is better then the Q8200, the Q8200 only has 4mb of cache while the q6600 has 8mb

 

[PostmanPot]

I just always find myself trying to toggle between various tasks and getting annoyed as the machine struggles to keep up.. Multiple cores just always appealed to me..
Besides, isn't it the wave of the future?
I do actually like playing around with CG animation.. and I do have video encoding tasks running quite often (DV camera).

I assume you've got a single core machine at the moment... Remember, a dual core will be a huge step up from that.

I suggest you study this thread in detail before making up your mind.

Would it? I really don't know.. I just looked for the most expensive one in my range.

It would be seeing it has twice as much cache. The Q6600 is also ±R350 cheaper.

 

[redarrow]

I assume you've got a single core machine at the moment... Remember, a dual core will be a huge step up from that.

Single core yea.. you're right of course.. heck even a high end single core 64 bit machine would be a big step up from what I have..

I suggest you study this thread in detail before making up your mind.

Checking it out, thanks..

 

[N1sh]

Not bad But I must have quad core!! I neeeeeed quad core .. I have quadcorewantism
What is "Sli" btw ?


Funnily enough I was just about to post that I could always save some bucks by buying a real cheap GPU like a 7200GS or something, and then upgrading the GPU in another month or two.

That way I wouldn't have to give up on my 1.5TB HDD idea
Oh and even the cheapest GPU available today will probably draw circles around my current 64mb Geforce 4 MX440

No point in getting a 7200GS with that sysyem, rather get a 9600gt, something that can run most latest games on high.

 

[redarrow]

Right... after much reading and thinking, I've decided:

I'm getting the 9600GT .. my brother games very happily with his one, I do not forsee myself playing any games that he cannot.. and hey.. I can always get a new GPU later if really needed..

I am getting Quad core, I thought about it like this: What would be more useful to me, 4x 2.4Ghz machines or 2x 3Ghz machines and I have to come to the conclusion I'd prefer the 4 2.4Ghz systems

I have been converted to the Intel cause
So I'll be going for the Q6600

All that remains is the motherboard .. seeing as the Q6600 is 300 bucks cheaper than the Q8200 I can put a little more to the motherboard..
So I'm thinking: Asus P5Q SE IP45

So my final list:
9600GT 512MB
Seagate Barracuda 500GB
2GB DDR2-800
Q6600
Asus P5Q SE IP45

On Sybaratic's pricing this brings me to R5995.00 not bad for a R6k budget eh?

All that remains now is to see if I can find the same any cheaper elsewhere .. any dealers here who can better the above feel free to PM me..

 

[redarrow]

Hooray!

Posting this from my new system with above mentioned specs..

Really dig this quad core.. right now I'm compiling a Linux kernel in the background and it's so effective that I don't even realise it's busy..