CPU/Mobo/RAM

[BobtheCkroach]

So, Christmas-time, I'm finally gonna drop some cash and get off my DDR1 system :P I'm looking to spend about $500 on the Chip, Board, and RAM. I'm sticking with the 4850 for now for my video needs.

I haven't kept up with anything over the last 12-18 months, so I'm a bit lost as to what's good right now.

I see Intel has their new i5 and i7 chips. At a glance, the i5 chip and the introductory i7 chip look pretty similar, but are almost $100 different in price. Is there a hidden factor, because they look pretty similar on paper.

Where is my best option at right now? Should I be looking to grab an i5/i7, or is a Core 2 Duo/Quad offering the best option right now, b/c they're cheap?

Or heck, how's AMD looking nowadays? Last I knew, they couldn't really compete with the Core 2 Duo stuff, but that's been like 2 years now.

Are there any mobo features that weren't around 3 years ago that are now?

I should be looking at DDR3 ram now, right? based on the couple of mobos I glanced at for the i7, it looks like I probably want 1333 speed?

Before Term comes up with a google link, I know I could google. :P but it will take me forever to glean through all this when there are competent members that can get me help much quicker, and i trust their opinions.

[BobtheCkroach]

This article seems to make the i5 seem pretty exciting:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410-14.html

[BobtheCkroach]

I wishlisted a pretty similar setup on the Intel side, price is almost identical. The Tom's Hardware link seems to indicate that the i5 is a better buy than the AMD chip. Not buy a huge amount, though - they seem pretty close. The i5 wins some, the AMD wins some, and they're just about tied a lot.

MOBO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131604)

CPU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115215)

RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260)

$406.97 total

[BobtheCkroach]

:rofl:

That it is :P

[Grimmy]

I've been reading about this in my last couple of MaximunPC magazine, about the new i5/i7 chips and future upgrade options. They were saying that the new chips are cheap in price, but mentioned that if you were to spend a little more now, to get the older i7 chip, that upgrading later on, would be cheaper, for you'd already have the mobo. In other works, the 1366 socket will be used later for future chips, where as the new i5/i7 chips use a different socket.

The downfall of the 1366 chip, triple channel memory, so you have to buy a 3rd stick of ram, where as the newer socket (1156) is back to dual channel memory.

I think I found the article I was talking about: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/core_i5

Check out that read, it might help ya out a bit. ;)

What would I do, well hard to say. I am stuck with the cpu I have now, but I tend to spend more on hardware (more then I really should) so for my to upgrade, there has to be a lot of changes. I think you'd really like that i5 chip though! I love my i7 (specs on in My System link)!

[JIMINATOR]

the i7 will be better for running multicore apps since it has a greater memory bandwidth and will be able to feed multiple cores more easily. for single threaded apps you might as well get an i5. if you want to go for budget then a q9500 or similar would probably work as well. It will be the end of the road for that cpu series, (ie: no upgrade path) however you might be able to reuse your memory. Or you can go with amd, they have some great chips, although they may not overclock as much as an intel.

[BobtheCkroach]

I won't overclock, so that part doesn't hurt - I don't have the balls to try :P

I use my machine 99% for games, 1% for basic internet things like browsing/IM. Have games started taking advantage of multi-core enough to care about that difference yet? Or will they any time soon?