Deciding on a budget rig

[eBoy0]

I'm looking to build a budget rig while using some of my old computer hardware from my older, and completely unstable current rig..

I'm having a hard time deciding on which route to take... I'm looking at about 300-350$ max on cpu, mobo, memory.... going intel, the best cpu can probably get is a 2.4 Q6600... with whichever mobo, and some cheap memory..

Going amd, I can probably go off with a 9650... with whatever mobo and some pretty good memory...

Reason I'm asking, I'm not all too caught up with my reading and I really don't know much about the chipsets anymore....

Can anyone help me out on deciding on which route to take? I'll be running 8800gt SLI if that helps any.

[B.E.E.F.]

What will you be using it for?

If you're mostly gaming you're better off with a fast dual core CPU. E8400 E0. Really cheap too.

Then you can upgrade to dual E8400's, aka the Q9650.

[eBoy0]

What will you be using it for?

If you're mostly gaming you're better off with a fast dual core CPU. E8400 E0. Really cheap too.

Then you can upgrade to dual E8400's, aka the Q9650.

Thanks for the reply... uhhh it'll be used for an assortment of things from encoding, burning, tri-display browsing, gaming on occasion... i'm sure both will do it with ease, i'm just not too caught up with the chipsets and the issues they present.

I'm also probably going to be watercooling this rig.

[KamuiRSX]

I'm looking to build a budget rig while using some of my old computer hardware from my older, and completely unstable current rig..

I'm having a hard time deciding on which route to take... I'm looking at about 300-350$ max on cpu, mobo, memory.... going intel, the best cpu can probably get is a 2.4 Q6600... with whichever mobo, and some cheap memory..

Going amd, I can probably go off with a 9650... with whatever mobo and some pretty good memory...

Reason I'm asking, I'm not all too caught up with my reading and I really don't know much about the chipsets anymore....

Can anyone help me out on deciding on which route to take? I'll be running 8800gt SLI if that helps any.
I'm an AMD guy so I would recommend getting an AMD Quad Core. Now keep in mind the prices on the AMD Quads will be dropping once the Denebs release here in about an month. Keep that mind because while you wait, the prices only drop.

If you wanna stick with a X2 solution, I'd say get yourself either a 5800+ BE or a 6000+ 3.1 Ghz 89w. For the encoding, the Quad will be a better solution. The 9850 BE and the 9950 BE are some decent OC'ers when paired with the SB750 southbridge and you can get an 790GX/SB750 mobo by Biostar for less than $100 and then another $100 for the processor. Right now, you can get some decent OCZ 4GB kits for less than $30 after MIR. You even have an extra $120 for a 4850 GPU :D.

[SoulsCollective]

There's little point in getting a quad if all you'll be doing is gaming. A faster-clocked dual will beat out a quad in current games any day. For a general-purpose rig, however, I would recommend a quad, as there's more to life than gaming. AMD is good value for money, but if you're at all serious about OCing then there's again little point - Intel quads are faster clock-for-clock and have more headroom. I would recommend a cheap P45 board and 4GB of DDR2, except that you have SLi. Unfortunately, pretty much all nVidia chipsets apart from 790i (DDR3 only, expensive) are teh suck compared to Intel equivalents in OCing ability and throughput, stability and heat. The eVGA 750i FTW board is cheap and quite good, although I would be surprised if you managed to push a quad to much over 3.6 on one, and so is probably your best bet.

[eBoy0]

There's little point in getting a quad if all you'll be doing is gaming. A faster-clocked dual will beat out a quad in current games any day. For a general-purpose rig, however, I would recommend a quad, as there's more to life than gaming. AMD is good value for money, but if you're at all serious about OCing then there's again little point - Intel quads are faster clock-for-clock and have more headroom. I would recommend a cheap P45 board and 4GB of DDR2, except that you have SLi. Unfortunately, pretty much all nVidia chipsets apart from 790i (DDR3 only, expensive) are teh suck compared to Intel equivalents in OCing ability and throughput, stability and heat. The eVGA 750i FTW board is cheap and quite good, although I would be surprised if you managed to push a quad to much over 3.6 on one, and so is probably your best bet.

I see we both have a budget system in mind.. I was so close to buying AMD, but for some reason intel came out cheaper?
Q6600
OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2x2GB)
ASUS P5N-D

Came out to 325$
What do you think??

[zanzabar]

NV chipset is a bad idea if u want sli use an amd cpu, and look at this ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231211

and for MB p5q pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299

[B.E.E.F.]

I see we both have a budget system in mind.. I was so close to buying AMD, but for some reason intel came out cheaper?
Q6600
OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2x2GB)
ASUS P5N-D

Came out to 325$
What do you think??

The only reason to buy AMD is for Phenom II in January.

So far the 45nm chips lauched for the server sector and they are awesome. Not as powerful as Nehalem but better than Core2. They run very cool and can OC really well. Benchmarks show a easy 4Ghz on air and 6Ghz on Nitrogen.

And you can upgrade all the way to Socket AM3 whereas LGA775 is a dead end with the Q9650.

Check the AMD section.

[LagunaX]

Get either $55 free ship ram described on this thread:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=207847

[eBoy0]

The only reason to buy AMD is for Phenom II in January.

So far the 45nm chips lauched for the server sector and they are awesome. Not as powerful as Nehalem but better than Core2. They run very cool and can OC really well. Benchmarks show a easy 4Ghz on air and 6Ghz on Nitrogen.

And you can upgrade all the way to Socket AM3 whereas LGA775 is a dead end with the Q9650.

Check the AMD section.

Hmm, what exactly do you mean by upgrade to AM3? Do you mean current AMD mobos will run phenom II?
Shame I didnt find that memory before I bought the OCZ... should I return the OCZ and get the Gskill instead?

[LagunaX]

Depends on how much you paid for the OCZ ram.
If you can return it with minimal shipping/restocking fee and if it will save you $50 or more, do it.
Otherwise not worth the hassle.
The Black Pi is $50 free ship now.

[eBoy0]

Depends on how much you paid for the OCZ ram.
If you can return it with minimal shipping/restocking fee and if it will save you $50 or more, do it.
Otherwise not worth the hassle.
The Black Pi is $50 free ship now.

Uhh, I paid 40$ for the OCZ, so it doesnt seem like its worth the hassle really.

But i'm starting to consider returning the CPU/Mobo and going AMD actually... can someone tell me about the current mobos + phenom II?
Also, AMD chipsets run SLI, or am I missing something here...

[zanzabar]

the 780a runs sli and its not a defective POS like the NV xxxi chipsets (expet for teh 790 thats out of your range)