big computer upgrade

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

To do SLI without a hack (its an easy hack but it still makes people nervous) you need a intel or nividia chip set on the mobo southbridge(?). AMDs chipsets dont allow SLI only crossfire, although im fairly sure nividia chips allow crossfire... odd considering they dont let you use a physix card with a amd card w/o a hack (once again its an easy hack, but its still a hack none-the-less)

If you dont actually plan on going SLI with your 450s, I say just use an AMD chipset with an AMD mobo, as sometimes those nividia chipsets when running on am3 boards freak out and do some odd things, nothing major, just odd.

I actually would say go for the x6 the cost of 2 extra cores is only 50 bucks and even though it wont make much of a difference now (like 4-5 frames), I am sure it will in 2-4 years when games actually start using those cores, and if you use apps like photoshop or video editing, you will notice the difference instantly. However this artical will disagree with me D: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...i-x4,2791.html

The board supports SLI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0nForce%20980a

even with AMD and if u read the specs it is an nvidia chipset, and as far as him buying the X6 for use 2 years from now I'll guarantee that in less than 2 years there will be aniother chip for les money and FAR better than the X6 when he can have all he can handle now with a quad chip and an xtra $100 in his wallet now.

Anyway, I'm done here and Brent u have more than enuff info to make a decision and have a great system for a cplof years with a few minor adds....



adios

[ZERO]

Currently the AMD sockets have the worst upgrade routs short of the 1157 socket. They are all going out of production soon.

Check the latest issue of Maximum PC for recommendations. It is on shelves now and so I am not able to link any direct data now look up the info as my copy is back in atl.


Currently the only socket that I know of that will have decent upgrade routs for the next 3 years is the 1336 socket. This will not be replaced for 2 years and still will have xeons on it. So unless you want to hold to buy a board on one of the new sockets coming out you can either buy a 1336 board or get screwed down the road.

[StarsMine]

how does 1366 have upgrade routs? it only can use the i7 9xx and will only ever be able to use that.

and dead eye, I said I doubt that the first am3+ mobos would have nividia chips, wasnt anything to do with your recomendation

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

Currently the AMD sockets have the worst upgrade routs short of the 1157 socket. They are all going out of production soon.

Check the latest issue of Maximum PC for recommendations. It is on shelves now and so I am not able to link any direct data now look up the info as my copy is back in atl.


Currently the only socket that I know of that will have decent upgrade routs for the next 3 years is the 1336 socket. This will not be replaced for 2 years and still will have xeons on it. So unless you want to hold to buy a board on one of the new sockets coming out you can either buy a 1336 board or get screwed down the road.

Although I said I was done here I MUST post at least this...

Z, the site that u reference must be in INTELS pocket as I know u are a staunch advocate of Intel and anti AMD for the most part, BUT, if u read all the info that is out there atm, u will find that the AM3 socket will not be left out in the cold all too soon and has a future more so than most of the rest.

But let's face it, really, if u stay on top of the game, have the resources, and can do your own builds, who the hell keeps a system for more than 1-2 years anyway?!

Don't answer because it's an academic question as not many do. I update my primary and pass it down/recycle it to my secondary, to my 3rd, etc. etc and I upgrade annually unless the market is just building w/o retooling for a revenue and not a whole lot of pluses or increases in performance over what I already have then I'll overextend.

AMD- ASUS - FTW




PS--- Let the clusterfuck begin :P

[ZERO]

My system is already over 2 years old so clearly I do. My systems usually last 4 years before needing an upgrade and have historically lasted 5 years before requiring processor changes.

My previous system was used from 2004(early)-2008(late) and only received cooling, gpu and memory expansions in its lifetime.

So far my current system is 2 years old and has had:
a gpu upgrade due to the old one failing
a ram upgrade to expand to 64bit
an os upgrade to win 7
a HDD update to RAID 6 and 12TB more capasity
a HDD update for the OS disk to be a SSD
a recently purchased new SSD to upgrade the previous one that will be used to upgrade my tv computer
a minor cooling upgrade to account for the new HDDs added

I plan to easily be able to continue to use this system for another 2 years. Ultimately I can upgrade my current 965 to one of the 6 core chips of either another extreme edition or to xeon chips. From there I should be able to then get another 2 years or so out of this platform. For a total of at least 6 years. If you jump on the correct platform at the right time you can really make a single system last for many years though isolated upgrades.

Note too that in my case my other computer is on the same architecture so I actually upgrade 2 computers for the price of one at every major update. For example the cpu from my current computer upgrades the tv computer when it is upgraded.

[StarsMine]

Well, since you arnt getting the money till Christmas, I would say wait for a AM3+ mobo as I dont think you are planing on SLIing in the future this mobo will give you room to upgrade your CPU later down the line in say 2-3 years when 8 cores will make a difference (yea bulldozers going to be 8 freaking cores , and thats not even the high end) and get say an x4 955(or 965) for 120 some bucks as I recall from there roadmap (i dont remember where I saw it ) that is going to be like the projected area possibly late q1 next year.


edit: If there is anything wrong with what I said here, tell me its late and im just throwing out ideas

[mag36]

My system is already over 2 years old so clearly I do. My systems usually last 4 years before needing an upgrade and have historically lasted 5 years before requiring processor changes.

My previous system was used from 2004(early)-2008(late) and only received cooling, gpu and memory expansions in its lifetime.

So far my current system is 2 years old and has had:
a gpu upgrade due to the old one failing
a ram upgrade to expand to 64bit
an os upgrade to win 7
a HDD update to RAID 6 and 12TB more capasity
a HDD update for the OS disk to be a SSD
a recently purchased new SSD to upgrade the previous one that will be used to upgrade my tv computer
a minor cooling upgrade to account for the new HDDs added

I plan to easily be able to continue to use this system for another 2 years. Ultimately I can upgrade my current 965 to one of the 6 core chips of either another extreme edition or to xeon chips. From there I should be able to then get another 2 years or so out of this platform. For a total of at least 6 years. If you jump on the correct platform at the right time you can really make a single system last for many years though isolated upgrades.

Note too that in my case my other computer is on the same architecture so I actually upgrade 2 computers for the price of one at every major update. For example the cpu from my current computer upgrades the tv computer when it is upgraded.

I would agree with Zero on this.

I pretty much have the same philosophy as he does. Ifyou buy right s system will last you just fine for 4-5 years. But you have to know yours stuff.

My Rig will be 2 years in Feb. and its still faster then what most people are buying now. Only thing I have upgraded so far is the CPU cooler and added a Second GPU.
(probably give it one more change in GPU series before I upgrade my ATI 4850s . They are still doing me well for the price I paid)

Though its about time to add some more memmory and a extra HDD or two.

[brentidge]

i really want to wait to get the am3+ mb but i really dont need that beast of a pc i mainly want it for pure bragging rights lol but i am thinking it will be around 200-300$ am i right if so i think i will just go with what i was planing but i still have a few weeks to make up my mind

[brentidge]

yeah i think i just will wait till the am3+ boards come out and buy one of those but my question is how long till they announce the am4 socket lol how long was the am2 out befor the am2+ came out

[DeadEyeDeNNi$]

yeah i think i just will wait till the am3+ boards come out and buy one of those but my question is how long till they announce the am4 socket lol how long was the am2 out befor the am2+ came out

LOL, u will be waiting forever as as soon as one comes out another is on the way, or haven't you figured that out by now?

Regards to Zero and Mag, well my system is 2 years old and I'll bet that my stats stack up to yours and I paid HALF the money but am willing to upgrade more often just because of that fact. That's why I use ASUS, AMD, and I have NO problems with ATI and my OC'd 4890's in Crossfire mode, but will upgrade my Crosshair 3 MB, and my AMD X4 955 as soon as there is a MAJOR marked difference which isn't going to be for 6 months is my guess but that's always up in the air. We'll see about this "new" Bulldozer and the MB of the future but as of now I'm not impressed with it or anything else for that matter.

For now it's more than I need and faster than the majority for all I use it for. My peripherals are also more than I need and I too will pass it down to the # 2 slot when I do make the jump and that will be the last of my nvidia GPU's for at least the major half of my gear.

On another note regarding INTEL -- I am SUPER happy with my Intel Core i7 720QM laptop and I don't see a need for an upgrade there for quite awhile either. I just upgraded my RAM to 8g and added a 1TB HD for extra storage for both business and pleasure on the road so I'm a happy camper! (PS- the ATI 5870 GPU really rox, Z- even you would be impressed!)

So as you see, although I am an AMD-ASUS-ATI- fan, I am not totally biased to that scenario.

Good input tho and yes Z that’s a nice system but not the only good one in existence. We all have our preferences and that's what makes us individuals in this capitolist society that we are lucky enough to be a part of.

May not suit everyone, but it's the best game in town!