[StretchNuts]

In the upcoming months I am planning on a new build. I want the best bang for buck ratio and I think I know what I would like to do, I just want others opinions. I have a few builds in mind that I am comfortable with and prices I can handle.

• Q8200
• Asus P5N-D SLI board
• 4GB PC2-800 RAM
• Corsair 650TX
• Second XFX 9800GT For SLI
• All for around $525

• Q8200
• 4GB PC2-800 RAM
• Corsair 650TX
• Palit GTX260 - 216
• All for around $515

• Core i7 920
• ASRock X58 Extreme
• Crucial Balistix 6GB DDR3-1333 RAM
• All for around $615

• Core i5
• Gigabyte P55A-UD3
• G.Skill Ripjaws 4GB DDR3-1600
• XFX GTX260 (not 216 model)
• All for around $620

In all honesty I am not ready to leave the 775 platform just yet, as I would also need to either buy a better cooler for the i7/i5 builds or get a bolt kit?
I am not sure on that, but I am heavily leaning towards the Q8200 builds for price and I think they will suit my needs just fine. So what would you do?

 

[mothergoose729]

The i5 is just so much of a better processor. If you want to stick with 775 then a Q8200 will be adequate... but TBH that CPU doesn't even pull ahead of 100$ athlon quads. i5 however is second only to i7.

 

[Dobbie]

I know what feel about the jump off the 775 platform. I think that if you mostly game, you might want to go towards better dual not a quad but that all depends on what you use your system for. I dont know how well/if your current board can OC but a P45 board most likely would be best for a quad. And for a video card, I would go for the 260 not SLI because I would guess it would beat the 2 GTs. But thats my

 

[StretchNuts]

Thanks Dobbie, thats about what I was looking for. This board clocks quite well actually. In my sig you can see where I currently have this E5200 @ 4GHz. The main reason for wanting a quad is better in-game performance. I have been playing GTA 4 and it sucks on this chip at anything under 4GHz. Since OCing it to 4GHz I have had much better frame rates and the textures loading faster. Kinda crazy but I think this game is more demanding than Crysis and Crysis Warhead which I can play at almost all "Enthusiast" settings and not have texture loading issues like the ones I have in GTA 4.

Come on people, more suggestions welcome!

 

[Dobbie]

Your welcome. But for sure, if I were you, CPU and video upgrade for sure. If you want to save some money/time stick it out with only 2 gb of RAM now cause I dont have any issues right now unless you think that you won't be moving off the 775 for like 1-2 yrs.

On a side note, I'm currently thinking of 1 of the few; new video card, high quad, RAM but I dont know if they'll make enough change for me to feel good about spending the money (dont have much to spend, fiance might kill me

)

 

[psi_guy]

go for the i7 build. add a better cooler to it and you will love it.

 

[BounouGod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobbie Your welcome. But for sure, if I were you, CPU and video upgrade for sure. If you want to save some money/time stick it out with only 2 gb of RAM now cause I dont have any issues right now unless you think that you won't be moving off the 775 for like 1-2 yrs. On a side note, I'm currently thinking of 1 of the few; new video card, high quad, RAM but I dont know if they'll make enough change for me to feel good about spending the money (dont have much to spend, fiance might kill me )

This is one of the big perks of a long distance relationship, my GF does not get any say on how i spend my money!

 

[Dobbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BounouGod This is one of the big perks of a long distance relationship, my GF does not get any say on how i spend my money!

LMAO, I love it.

 

[grossebeaver]

I think it really depends on how you plan on using the rig. If you are planning on picking up one of the newer titles over the course of the next year, and want to play with most/all of the settings set near the max, then it would be worth picking up the i5 rig at the very least (assuming these games are multi-thread aware and fairly dependent on the CPU). For now, going from the i5 to i7 really doesn't make too much sense for gaming.