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View Full Version : Buying some new hardware on newegg, what do you guys think?



Mr. Joe
January 2nd, 2008, 11:48 PM
I'm looking to buy a new cpu, motherboard (preferably with onboard graphics for now) and some ram. I have about 400, and this is what i have so far:
cpu-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

ram-
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034

what i need is a nice motherboard, as it is i have about 130 left.

I'm looking on newegg right now for the motherboard (and a cheap graphics card if i have to)


any comments on what i picked out, or suggestion on what i should get, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
~Joe

mysticrider92
January 3rd, 2008, 12:05 AM
What exactly do you need from the motherboard? That would help a lot with giving suggestions. You have choices like IDE, SATA, SLi, Crossfire, chipset maker, form factor, overclocking ability, amount of memory, etc...

Something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131043) or this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121099) might make a good board, given the features you want.

Also, I might just be complicating this, but you might want to look into an AMD setup, since their parts will do what you want, and are typically cheaper. Personally, I would recommend a setup with this processor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194) and a motherboard something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130119) (using the ram you linked to). That setup is over $100 less, but has the same potential, plus some nice extras.

Mr. Joe
January 3rd, 2008, 12:29 AM
Thanks, as far a a motherboard, i just need a stable bases to support any modern components like cpus ram and video cards i can/ will eventually throw at it,

And I checked out the amd cpu, vn, I really like the value (especially the ability for me to conceivably get a better one for the same price)

I stumbled on the phenom, and i'm wondering what the appeal of quad core cpus? i know that may sound dumb, but i was talking to a friend who said that at this point they didn't show much speed advantage.

I think amd is where i'm leaning towards now actually...

so can anyone show thier best pick for an amd at lets say, about 200.00?

Mr. Joe
January 3rd, 2008, 12:42 AM
actually, not to put my foot in my mouth but with what little knowledge of hardware (software geek) i have, i've noticed amd processors typically have much less cache than the intel i had picked out. I'm shooting for 4mb at least.

but hey, thats from a novice with about 10 minutes of searching new egg. anyone kow of a processor from amd that could compete with what i have picked out for a similar price? is the one suggested by the first responder as good?

Pethegreat
January 3rd, 2008, 12:46 AM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231121

I have one stick of the ram right now. It is $25 cheaper, and give you another free ram slot. I have not run into a problem with the ram yet.

maniacmusician
January 3rd, 2008, 01:20 AM
$130 is cutting it kind of close for a good board.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050 This is a budget Gigabyte board. If you absolutely have to stay within your $130 budget, I'd go for this one. While it probably has everything that you need, I can't really vouch for its quality. I've bought some really good Gigabyte boards before, but they were in the $170-$210 range.

If you're willing to stretch your budget a little ($10), this ASUS board (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225) is an excellent value for its price.

Neither of those have onboard video though, so you would need to buy a video card for them.

Also, I'd recommend staying with the Intel processor. While the AMD processors are certainly kinder to your budget, they also can't compare power-wise. You won't be able to find an AMD processor as fast as the E6750 you picked out for a comparable price. I prefer to use AMD when I'm working on a small budget and don't need much power; for example, I need to build a small file server for my parents. It doesn't take incredible processing power to shuttle files across the network, so I'll be going with cheaper AMD parts for that. But for my personal desktop, I'd stick with Intel, at least until AMD comes out with something comparable.

Red Shift
January 3rd, 2008, 01:23 AM
What do you want to achieve with this CPU, motherboard, and RAM?

How many USB ports do you need? Do you need FireWire ports?

Do you plan on overclocking? In my opinion, overclocking today is a near risk-free way to add 10% + "performance" to your system.

Quad cores are useful in CPU-intensive work utilizing multithreading. Audio and video transcoding, rendering, number crunching (such as Folding@Home), and a few recent video games are some examples.

The E6750 is a popular dual-core processor. I don't think you can go wrong with it.

I have not used the Corsair RAM you linked to. I think you are planning to claim the mail-in rebate. Look through the reviews to make sure Corsair has been honoring the rebate.

I'm pleased with this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
memory I purchased one month ago. The "savings" are instant.

pjkoczan
January 3rd, 2008, 01:48 AM
I stumbled on the phenom, and i'm wondering what the appeal of quad core cpus? i know that may sound dumb, but i was talking to a friend who said that at this point they didn't show much speed advantage.

Quad-core is quite useful in "big-iron" servers. Unless you're running a high-load LAMP server, running a personal MythTV media center, running virtual machines, and using the box as your desktop machine, quad-core is probably overkill. The main appeal for the general consumer, I believe, is to say "look, look, quad-core" to all your friends.

For most desktop usage patterns, dual-core is the sweet-spot, you can run CPU-intensive programs with almost no lag in responsiveness, and you aren't wasting as many CPU cycles.

The likely reason that your friend said that quad-core isn't much of an advantage is mostly due to desktop usage patterns, and slightly due to the fact that more cores means more potential cache contention.



actually, not to put my foot in my mouth but with what little knowledge of hardware (software geek) i have, i've noticed amd processors typically have much less cache than the intel i had picked out. I'm shooting for 4mb at least.


Intel processors have been known for memory bottlenecks, hence the greater cache to offset that. However, I think that general adage became moot once the Core 2 Duo/Quad/Extreme series was released.

Mr. Joe
January 3rd, 2008, 01:49 AM
well, i don't need firewire, and number of usb ports isnt that importent (as long as i have at least a few 2.0 ports i can always just get a hub)

I want to be able to play a fair amount of games with it, though playing games like crysis in the highest settings mode is rather irrelavent.

and also, i say i'd like to play games, but i mean later on. I realize that cheaping out on a video card now is going render my comp pretty useless for many games right now. just as long as the day i upgrade the g card the rest of my system good enough to match it.

sorry if i'm being vague here

mysticrider92
January 3rd, 2008, 01:53 AM
actually, not to put my foot in my mouth but with what little knowledge of hardware (software geek) i have, i've noticed amd processors typically have much less cache than the intel i had picked out. I'm shooting for 4mb at least.

but hey, thats from a novice with about 10 minutes of searching new egg. anyone kow of a processor from amd that could compete with what i have picked out for a similar price? is the one suggested by the first responder as good?

Yes, AMD procs do often have less cache. I seriously don't think you will notice a difference in 2mb or 4mb in real world work. That AMD proc I linked to has a few massive advantages over the C2D. The main one is the 65watt power consumption. This means that the processor runs cooler stock, and has the potential to save some on your power bill (not much, but over a long term...). Where this 65 watt will really shine is if you overclock the processor. You should be able to get 3.2ghz stable off of stock cooling, with still small power usage.

Don't get me wrong though, the Core 2 is a great processor, it just depends on what you plan to do with it.

About the quad core, obviously it has four cores, and thus can execute four major processes at once. Your friend is correct, quad core will not show a massive speed boost at this point, but that is because most programs are not written to work with all four cores. This will change in the near future, but right now dual core is sufficient for a lot of things. The one benefit to getting a quad core CPU now is that you aren't spending a whole lot more, and you are future proofing your computer for maybe 2 years past a dual core.

As for Phenom vs. Core 2 Quad, they are fairly similar, but each has a certain advantage. The Core 2 Quad's cost a little more, but have a higher out of the box clock speed (.1-.2ghz), and have reported higher overclocking potential (2.4ghz model tops out at 4.6ghz using liquid nitrogen cooling, but that is useless...). The Phenom use some different technology, which allows faster communication between cores, and "true" quad core. The difference here is that Phenom cores use direct communication between all parts of the processor, while the Core 2 Quad is literally two dual core CPU's stuck on one chip, communicating throught the front side bus, therefore, they are limited by the speed of the front side bus. If all that is a little odd, basically just keep in mind that the Core runs at a higher clock speed, the Phenom has a lower price.

The appeal of quad core is that it is similar to the power of two dual core processors on a single CPU. Right now, only a few programs can take advantage of this, so you have to decide if it is worth it.

For around $200, you could get this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103226) Phenom or something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103191) X2. The 2.2ghz Phenom is quad core, while the 3.2ghz X2 is dual core, but meant for overclocking (the Black Edition versions have unlocked multipliers, but you might not want to worry about that with these processors).

Oh, about your motherboard selection: if you want a better gaming rig, most motherboards with intergrated graphics are not well suited for games. I am not talking about the graphics card, as that can be changed, but they don't usually have many options for tweaking that could be useful when you want to get more performance out of them. Boards with intergrated graphics are not always bad, but they are not always quite as good as ones designed for dedicated cards.

cmorse
January 3rd, 2008, 02:42 AM
As mentioned previously, the C2D chips have more cache to overcome memory bottleneck problems. The AMD processors (Athlon/Phenom at least) have the memory controller integrated on the CPU thus reducing the bottleneck potential. Intels have the memory controller in the Northbridge if I'm not mistaken.

But like the dual core / quad core issue, its going to depend on the application types you are running as to which one is better - but both are good for general purpose.

Mr. Joe
January 3rd, 2008, 02:57 AM
thanks, one last question: does it matter if i get a micro atx board? i know its smaller, but is that really an issue?

here is what i hope is the final arrangement, then i can relax a bit:

cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121316

ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231121

Nifty keyboard: (not that it matters, but i like it XD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823237002

did i make any major errors? how's it look?

forrestcupp
January 3rd, 2008, 03:08 AM
Before you buy from newegg, check out Price Watch (http://www.pricewatch.com). It scans all of the online stores for what you are looking for and lists them in order of price including shipping. Newegg is good, but it's usually not the cheapest.

Mr. Joe
January 3rd, 2008, 03:28 AM
i know this isn't even that far down, but i need to bump this so i can just get another opinion soon and buy it, none of my friends are on right now. will it be a nice setup as it is?

mysticrider92
January 3rd, 2008, 04:54 PM
That setup looks good to me. The only real difference between MATX and ATX is the size. Obviously, there are less add on slots and ports, but with today's technologies (e.g. onboard sound, video, networking) that won't matter much.

One other thing I would check before ordering is your power supply. The new mobo will need a 24 pin main and 4 pin CPU connector, so make sure you have those.