Intel 2 duo or an AMD CPU?

[DarkPacMan77]

I have decided to get an intel 2 duo but want to know if I should get AMD over it. Please save the fanboy rubbish for someone else, I just want to know what I should have for my gamer pc.

I hope to have an x1900xtx gpu if that helps. I want to play Oblivion and games more advanced than it when they are available.

thx

[Mr.Ferrari]

Currently there is no reason to amd for a performance user when theres core 2 duo. Unless of course your a paranoid and or /obsessed fanboy. Which I doubt you are.
Right now the people that should go amd are the ones with existing 939 systems are looking to upgrade their proc's. Best time for that now.

[DarkPacMan77]

939 is the amd socket right?

i've been learning

i may get a dif mobo (gigabyte) it uses 775 and is compatible with the intel 2 duo. I think I am going the intel route.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Yes 939, 754, 462 (A) are some examples of amd sockets.

And yes the gigabyte ds3 and or asus p5wdh are both compatible with conroe.

What exactly is DIF? You mean DS3?

[DarkPacMan77]

lol, i just meant "different".

guess i won't do that again. lesson learned.


what is DIF and DS3 anyways? for the sake of learning.

also, i will post links to the two mobos I am considering.

and would like you to recommend one.

thx

[DarkPacMan77]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128012

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128323

i guess the question is... "what are the noticable differences between those two?"

thx a TON

[Mr.Ferrari]

Oh lol I thought you mightve meant DFI or DS3. Sorry that was my bad, didnt realize it couldve just been diff.

Ok noticable difference. Go look at each spec sheet. The dq6 offers more features and is basically wat p5b deluxe is to the normal p5b except to the ds3. It has more beefier voltage requlation, extra features, revised layout etc etc. Basically for a normal user, you wont notice too much of a difference. Although if your a overclocker, You will. However, if you dont plan on overclocking to the extreme, I suggest you take the asus p5wdh over the dq6. Right now stability wise and overclocking performance gigabyte's ds3 and dq6 have been the best. But if your in for budget I pick ds3. If your in for dual card I pick p5wdh over the dq6.

[DarkPacMan77]

you said it. I've had my eye on that asus for over a week. My estimated build date is actually around the first week of January and I know prices will go down and new things will be out, but I am building a system now and buying it later because of price drops.

i will get that board somewhere else if you say it is much cheaper elsewhere, thanks for the money saver!!!

later today, when home, I will post links to everything I have decided up to this point and I will hope that you give it a good once-over. Thank you for your "professional" help.

thx a TON

[blue60007]

January? You'll have to completely revise it by then. There'll be new CPUs and video cards out, older parts will have been discontinued, different parts will be better values, etc...when you say "building a system" do you mean planning it out?

[glc]

January??? Come back in December and ask questions then. Anything we tell you now will probably be old info by then. 6 months is forever in computer time.

[jayb1234]

Yup, Intel and AMD might both have quad core cpu's out by then, newer video card releases, etc. etc..

[Mr.Ferrari]

AMD's quadcore is looking very far off atm. We would be suprised if they could get it in by the end of the year, they just added another delay yet again. However kentsfield looks promising. A few already have early production models and are showing to be just plain awesome. Right now amd needs to concentrate on getting 65nm chips out to the market.
Already there are plans to make their new bought company, ati, and making their gpu's in the older amd fabs making use of those more efficiently. And meaning a bigger cost advantage on ati gpu's over nvidia's in the upcoming future.

[RazorDX]

Given the current processor market, you don't need to worry about anything at all until december arrives. In the month prior to your build you can start researching, but any research you do now will be out of date.

Besides, I don't trust the current benchmark comparisons. I'm not by any means a fanboy looking to demean Intel, but I would prefer to see the benchmarks after the processors are readily availible to see what the true difference is. After AMD resolves the memory handling issues with AM2 and after we see how dependable the Core 2 Duo is (in terms of memory compatibility, chipset issues, etc), you'll actually have a reliable comparison of the two platforms.

[Mr.Ferrari]

There have, and extensive ones at that. The only real difference seen is a loss of a little overclockability in the retail conroes vs the allendales. The 975x chipset is a very mature one and has been showing stability. Only limiting factor right now is the reqularity of bios updates from the motherboards. And the 965 have been proving to be even more stable and geared toward high performance. The only difference between old 975x motherboards and these new conroe supporting ones is the vrm11 standard specifically made for conroes lower power requirements. 965's are the only ones to be left to see how well they perform. And thats usually with overclockability, otherwise intels chipset tend to be rock solid every generation. It seems that with conroe the motherboards have also made a huge leap. Motherboards are doing things right now that was never expected of them in the previous pentium d generation. All is left is the decision on the motherboard to have. Which are still being released every week. Newest comer is the abit ab9 pro. Which also seems to say abit has changed. And i dont think they have much of a choice anyways. Because if they dont do good with this generation, they are gonners. Other then that, 3 avaited arrivals are the new nvidia nforce chipsets for intel, ati's famed RD600, and intels own 985. Amd right now is lookin pretty dim. They will be lying low until release of 65nm chips and the final k8l. Which is hopefully before next year ends.

[DarkPacMan77]

yes, currently I am PLANNING. However, I PLAN for these parts to be efficient, and they are I believe. I will post another thread containing everything thus far, and yes, I will be back and asking questions upon questions for many months... and would love the help I am getting from this site currently. There are a ton of knowledgable people here and someday, I will be one =D.

I am planning now, but I hope that my parts aren't discontinued. Intel 2 duo won't be and prolly not the x1900xtx vid card but I plan for the price to be dropped because of "outdated" parts (which will still work exactly how I want them to) and take advantage of christmas deals as well.

[DarkPacMan77]

I apologize for making a few posts on the same build glc. I will try to limit them from here on and plan on being an active member of this website. This will be the main thread for my build now, and if possible, you can rename it to "custom gaming pc" or something along those lines.

please don't disrespect me because my build date is far away, I am ready and anticipating things to change and if need be, changes will be made.

so far the main components are selected. As for cooling I have held off on deciding now, just as I have held off on a good HDD because there are always different deals and steals floating around for those. If I am missing anything vital, I have probably taken it into account and forgot to put it in here. Here are my parts so far.

mobo : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131025
ASUS P5W DH DELUXE/WIFI-AP Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard – Retail $280

CPU: http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ductCode=80859 2mb cache 2.13ghz

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...ductCode=80860 4mb cache 2.4ghz

depending on what money I have at the time, I may get the 2.4ghz

GPU: ASUS EAX1900XT/2DHTV/512 Radeon X1900XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card – Retail $350
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121554

RAM: sorry no link, I'll try to get one G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit System Memory – Retail $190.00
i think this is the proper link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231020


PSU: Sunbeam NUUO SUNNU550-US-BK ATX12V/ EPS12V 550W Power Supply 100-120V CE, UL (CUL), TUV, CB, FCC, FIMKO, SEMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817709004


MISCELANEOUS
<><><><><><><>
Round cables for hard drive
Link Depot 18" ATA133 UV Cable 3-Connector Model UV-ATA18-SL-3 – Retail $5.00

I will also probably add lights somewhere down the line, no need to worry about that now though.


constructive criticism is always welcome. I am looking hard for cases in the $50-$75 range, but may spend more if I fall in love with one. I will probably post links to cases in a bit.

***** i do kinda neat support, but if this post gets pushed back a bit it is ok, I will repost this in a new thread at a different time*****

[blue60007]

Never heard of that brand PSU. I wouldn't trust it. Here's the best PSU for the money you can get:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103931

Keep in mind there's a good chance you'll have to toss this whole list out at the end of the year. While all the parts may still be around and cheaper, there may be newer stuff that's a better value, etc...

[DarkPacMan77]

i know about better value and what-not... however, the way I see it. Those are great parts....everything I am looking for now. My main objective is to play elder scrolls oblivion with good FPS...if it can play games like that, or fear...it can do anything. Intel 2 duo is the best money I can spend right now, and I KNOW it will be around later, and I KNOW it will be cheaper, and I KNOW it will be good. And I am in love with my mobo as well. The gpu is great, and will be great for my purposes, and if ever it is "outdated very very badly", I can use Xfire. I think I have made one of the best PCs you can for gaming, at an "affordable" price. That said, one reason I have begun this list early is so that I can anticipate those changes in things. As for the cpu... I believe that is the exact same thing as mine lol, just diff brand. Like my gpu. It is the same card, just cheaper because of brand. Sunbeam is quite well-know now-a-days, and it was recommended to me by 3 different people.

I don't think I will toss that list, but I know that my choices for HDDs and cooling systems will be decided upon last minute...and other than that, my parts will be old, cheap, affordable, and.....still, outrageously awesome.

sounds good to me, any other suggestions, anybody?

[Mr.Ferrari]

Do you plan on going crossfire in the future? If so, do you want to already get a crossfire psu now, or upgrade later? No way is that sunbeam or antec gonna handle 2 X1900XT/X's in xfire.

[glc]

That Sunbeam PSU has gotten very good reviews, it happens to be SLI-certified too.

[DarkPacMan77]

i thought sunbeam was rather well-known... but yea, it is sli certified, so it should run crossfire someday, also, it is very good for the price.

Doing some slight research, I found that the cords on the antec one aren't modular selective, and have no sleeves, which would make a new system look all cluttered and possibly hurt a fan somewhere... and makes no sense to cough an extra 5 bucks into.

If another good psu comes along, I will consider it, as of now though, that sunbeam is looking mighty nice.

[blue60007]

Shouldn't be too bad if it's SLI certified. BTW, modular cables and sleeved cables are useless - up to you though.

[DarkPacMan77]

well, modular cables would really clean up a case quite nicely instead of that antec psu where you have to let them just kinda hang... i mean, you could try to clean them up but no matter how well you got it cleaned up it would still look sloppy.

are there really any complaints to make about modular cables?

[blue60007]

They can increase electrical resistance because of the extra connection. But, I don't have any proof of this - it's just what I've heard (it does sound reasonable though). I agree, it would be nice to get extra cables out of the way, but you can usually shove them above a CD drive or above the PSU itself. Sleeved cables I think are harder to route and put out of the way, cause they end up being stiffer.

[DarkPacMan77]

well if you have "bare" wires, I thought of the idea that you could buy some surgical tubing, similar to a slingshot band, and slice it longways, and put the wires inside of that to help airflow and perhaps give your psu wires a different look. I like the idea, but don't like the idea of the maintenance.

twistie ties are also a very good solution to that. Then again, I think it is best not to worry about excess wires being "shoved above a cd drive or the psu".

I will read some customer reviews on different types of modular cabled psus later today