Processors

[1erik1]

EDITED QUESTION:



about the 3gig RAM upgrade (from the 2gig)
is it important to get the 800mhz instead of the 667mhz?

Reason for asking is because I'm getting the XPS 630. And my budget my dad set is $1,450.
If i get the E8400 and 3gigs of ram at 800mhz the total is 1,509 haha. If He'll let me go 50 over it's no problem but if not then i'll have to get 3gigs at 667mhz

 

[tektrnica]

Raw speed is helpful, but in no means the most important aspect... but try and go for a nice balance between the both. just dont go crazy otherwise you'll have to spend an equal amount on the other components to insure there is litle risk of bottlenecking.

With regards to RAM.... depends what your doing tbh, but 2gb is really what you should get now... there will be some poeple who say i only have 1gb and its good enough. but RAM is cheap enough now to grab 2Gb... you can NEVER have too much RAM lol

 

[1erik1]

okay heres the options
Intel® Core™2 E8400 (6MB,3.0 GHz, 1333FSB)
OR
Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB)

they're the same price 0.o
and for RAM I was wondering more like
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
OR
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 DIMMs.
other options:
Intel® Core™2 E8200 (6MB,2.66GHz, 1333FSB)
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs

 

[tektrnica]

personally, id go for the E8400.

with 3Gb of ram...

Quad core is nice, but not useful yet...

 

[alexandgruntz]

I'd also go for the E8400 with 3GB RAM, however to upgrade RAM, you would need a 64-bit OS. (32-bit operating systems can't recognise all 4GB of RAM.)

 

[1erik1]

yes i was just reading that lol. But your'e talking about if I upgrade from 3 to 4. 3 gigs is alright to get with the 32-bit right?

ALSO:
about the 3gig RAM upgrade (from the 2gig)
is it important to get the 800mhz instead of the 667mhz?

Reason for asking is because I'm getting the XPS 630. And my budget my dad set is $1,450.
If i get the E8400 and 3gigs of ram at 800mhz the total is 1,509 haha. If He'll let me go 50 over it's no problem but if not then i'll have to get 3gigs at 667mhz

 

[bookworm99]

Any combination of those will be quite speedy, but I would recommend the dual core with 3GB of RAM as the Quad-Core processors aren't as much of a useful upgrade as you'd think, unless the cost isn't too much higher.

 

[1erik1]

err i already said that the price of the processors was the same?
and i need THIS question answered now
vvvv

yes i was just reading that lol. But your'e talking about if I upgrade from 3 to 4. 3 gigs is alright to get with the 32-bit right?

ALSO:
about the 3gig RAM upgrade (from the 2gig)
is it important to get the 800mhz instead of the 667mhz?

Reason for asking is because I'm getting the XPS 630. And my budget my dad set is $1,450.
If i get the E8400 and 3gigs of ram at 800mhz the total is 1,509 haha. If He'll let me go 50 over it's no problem but if not then i'll have to get 3gigs at 667mhz

 

[Zangetsu]

QX9770 FTW, but you didnt ask that

basically what i find important is the performance of the cpu not the GHz or the cache if you search for reviews you might find it that a cpu with a lower clockspeed/cache better then a cpu with higher clockspeed

oh and the Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.40GHz,1066FSB) is better cuz its a quad core processor

 

[Smith6612]

Go for the 800Mhz. If you can, try to get 1066MHz if you can support it. I've built my own gaming computer and I have 800MHz RAM and it runs nicely. I can always trade in my DIMMS for 1066MHz of RAM as I can support it on my motherboard. So yeah, when you get the Dell, get 800MHz. It's a lot better than getting 677MHz, even if it is more expensive.

As for CPU, a CPU with a high clock speed, lots of L2 cache and a good frequency will get you going good. The Intels are well known for having nice L2 cache. Otherwise, a Q6600 is a very nice processor, have the same thing in my gaming computer and it runs very nice. Very hard to push up to 100% usage on Vista due to the speed, but when video exporting in Windows Movie Maker, I can easilly utilize 80% of the CPU (HD video ), as well in many other programs.

Otherwise, If your dad does have a budget, give him some money to bump the budget up a bit to get that RAM. Otherwise, as for Processor, go with what you hear good reviews on and what people here say. I personally love my Quad core over a dual core any day, but it's my opinion.

Oh yeah, for video card, try to see if you can fit an nVidia 8800 or 9800 card in there if you haven't already. You won't regret it

 

[1erik1]

i think the standard is 8800, and I can always buy a newer one later. Thank you all for your help, I guess i'm going to get the E8400? lol so many people say they love both.

I'm repping you guys

wow. After reading this monster i think I'm going witht he 6600. anyone got any info on overclocking?

 

[bugzon]

Convince your Dad to give you a few extra money ....


Tel them' i wont eat anything untill you extend my budget...'


:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::naughty::naughty::naughty:

 

[1erik1]

well i got the 630 with the Quad6600 and 3gig at 800mhz with a 19" screen and my mom wanted the premium mouse for $10 extra so my total with tax was $1,619. but we still got it

 

[hopper]

i you want my oppinion
DONT GET A DELL!
there, i said it
honestly, for that much money you can get a computer thats about the same speed, same amount of ram but better quality parts if you just build one yourself or have someone build it for you. that and computers you buy from the store are preloded with tons of craplets and free trials of every antivirus antispyware and online service under the sun, not to mention spyware from the manufacturers etc..
a custom computer is the real way to go, trust me i have experience working at a computer shop that repairs computers and we see much less of the computers we build then ones that were bought off the shelf.

 

[Smith6612]

Good luck with your new Dell! Just remember to uninstall some of the Google Software, such as Google sidebar as Vista (if this is what you chose) already has it's own built-in sidebar program. Dell seems to like to install Google's software on their OEM installs.

Also, I did a few months ago what hopper said and built my own system by hand. It's kind of an easy task if you know what you're doing. Just as long as you spend some time looking around to see what is good, and you find what will work with your motherboard and such, power equirements, etc, you're all good to go. When it comes down to assembly, it's easy as heck, you just gotta make sure you put the cables in certain angles for maximum air flow and maximum data efficiency (even SATA cables), and that the jumper settings are fine. I've had to build several basic productivity computers and only one or two gaming computers for people, so I know what I'm doing. The people to bought my hand built computers couldn't be happier, as after I got them what they wanted, I optimized the PC, installed the OS (nice clean install), updated the OS, registered it to them, and optimized the OS, then shipped it out.

 

[hopper]

dell is crap
hp is crap
compaq is crap
gateway is crap

my recomendation
amd proccessor
gigabyte motherboard
enlite case 400watt enlite or antech psu
kingston ram
nvidia video card
liton dvd drive
one burner one reader, use the burner only for BURNING
maxtor hard drives
windows xp professional

edit: manufacturers of pre-bullt computers like dell, gateway etc.. have a habit of putting in an inadaquately rated power supply that leads to the inevitable failure of the motherboard over time, the symptom of this is capacitors start to bubble and eventuall leak fluid.

 

[Zangetsu]

anyone got any info on overclocking?

err yeah dont do it and if you do it do it in steps

ohh and heres a good forum to ask for help 3GM Forums sign up and ask away (im known as Solidus_Snake there)

dell is crap
hp is crap
compaq is crap
gateway is crap

haha all retail computers are crap, they are not build for extreme gaming the best way to make sure it is build for gaming is to make your own computer