So im thinking about buying an eVGA

[snugglealufacus]

I've been looking at upgrading my comp for a while, and considering my taxes have come back, I now have the financial aspect of this purchase covered. I was looking at a lot of the motherboards that everyone has been suggesting to me (mainly the Gigabyte motherboards) but I was looking around and from my research I found that the Intel X38 does not support SLI, correct? Since that might be in my future, I had to reconsider my motherboard choice and thats when I came across the eVGA NF78, which uses the nForce 780i chipset and fully SLI compatable. What would you guys think of this motherboard combined with 2 sets of 2x2GB Partiot memort and the E8400 Wolfdale?

[Angry_Games]

good looking cpu and RAM. Not familiar with the SLI Intel boards. I just buy a single card because by the time it's necessary to buy a second card a year or three later to play all the newest games, there's a new gpu out with the power to beat two of your generation's vid cards in SLI.

 

And then there's things like teh ATI 3870X2 with dual gpu's, and at some point I'm sure Nvidia will enter the game again, and maybe this time quad-gpu's will be a reality (AMD/ATI already showing off 3x cards and even 4x cards in a single board now).

 

But mostly the fact that once you buy into a single card from this generation, by the time you actually need a second card, you can simply buy a new gen gpu that will outperform 2 of yours like I said.

 

On top of that, no one makes a chipset better for a cpu than the cpu manufacturer itself, and Intel has been doing it for...since the x86 and before honestly. The SLI boards might decent but I've always stuck with Intel chipsets for Intel cpu's and have never had a bit of a problem, and they always perform better than 3rd-party chipsets (like Nvidia/VIA), and they almost always overclock not only better, but a lot easier than the complex Nvidia stuff...and they are infinitely more reliable over the long run.

 

Plus the do Crossfire natively...which isn't SLI but there again, you can buy a single 3870X2 and if drivers mature it will be the same as SLI but on a single card blah blah. I'm just not really into two video cards (and I've run Crossfire and SLI through X1900XT/8800GTS now) when one is more than enough (and less hassle).

 

But, if you are for sure wanting to go the SLI route, I'd say from what I read here daily, the eVGA SLI Intel boards are the only way to go (you can imagine I'd never suggest a problem-prone, over-priced, usually-with-some-major-Oskar Wu-defect DFI board when the Giga X38 and eVGA SLI costs less, does more, better support, more reliable, blah blah).

 

ok that's my speech. Newegg has the Q6600 on sale for $255 or something I saw in my email...

[snugglealufacus]

Yeah I saw that Q6600. I would get the OEM and just attach my SI-120 to it with the adapter for 5 bucks.. 10 dollars less than the retail and I can save Intel a HS/F.

 

the only thing holding me back is would a quad at 2.4ghz be better than a duo at 3.0? I will keep them at their stock clocks unless you can somehow write a rant persuasive enough that I change my ways

[Angry_Games]

Yeah I saw that Q6600. I would get the OEM and just attach my SI-120 to it with the adapter for 5 bucks.. 10 dollars less than the retail and I can save Intel a HS/F.

 

the only thing holding me back is would a quad at 2.4ghz be better than a duo at 3.0? I will keep them at their stock clocks unless you can somehow write a rant persuasive enough that I change my ways

 

um...NEVER buy OEM on a cpu as you don't get the 3 year warranty (or you pay extra for it).

 

For $5-$20 more I'm ALWAYS buying retail cpu

[soundx98]

4GHz is almost a given at reasonable voltages with the Wolfie's.

You'll love it.

 

I'm with AG on the best SINGLE card you can afford.

The Dual Monitor issues with SLI really turned me off.

 

Heard good things about the latest Gigabyte boards.

I am absolutely in love with this P35 T2R/E8400 combo.

[kitfit1]

Evga are good mobo's. But as AG has said, Intel chipsets with Intel cpu's is the best combo by a long way. Soundx98 is right about the DFI P35 T2R as well. In combination with a E8400 or E8500 it simply blows everything else out of the water. AG won't agree with that of course, but then again, he's not using one (not to sure he ever has).

[red930]

the only thing holding me back is would a quad at 2.4ghz be better than a duo at 3.0? I will keep them at their stock clocks unless you can somehow write a rant persuasive enough that I change my ways

 

I'd get the dual core.

 

No rant, but overclocking is so easy on these things you might as well give it a shot. Best processors to learn on since you get results with so little effort.

[Praz]

Got to agree with Carl and Graham on the 8400/8500 and the DFI P35 T2R combination. For approximately $400.00 you won't find a faster or easier to clock setup. Although I might be a bit biased.

[Branjo]

SLI = More money than sense IMPO, save yourself a fortune and just get 1 sweet card.

 

A Quad at 2.4Ghz is still 2.4Ghz it won't feel faster than the 3Ghz dual core. but when the program or programs that take the Dual to 100% load make you wait until they are finished ,the Quad will be grinning back at you wanting more.

 

Although I have to add, my comparison is between my cousins E6600 vs my Q6600.

[snugglealufacus]

yeah, I think I am going to go with the Q6600 (yes, the retail version). And IF, only IF, there is not an extreme amount of stress/heat put on the card, I might.. MIGHT try to OC it to 3 ghz. I hear on average these cards can top 3.5Ghz with adequate cooling; I'm sure my SI-120 still has some kick left in it to pull it off.

 

I would like to keep everything below 35-37ºc and I have kept that so far with the exception of my GPU which is at 54ºc on stock cooling (waiting for a nice cooler for the 8800GTS to come out).

[Branjo]

Mine will do 3Ghz at 1.2625v which is its actual stock voltage. cores idle around 32C with a load of 54C and thats just with an arctic freezer 7 pro, a 20 dollar HSF, not bad at all.

 

P.S If you do go for the Quad make sure you get the G0 stepping, a lot lower voltage and more resilient to heat which will benefit you when overclocking. Clubit.com still let you choose which stepping you want

[snugglealufacus]

I have decided to go with the Gigabyte EX38-DQ6 over the DS4 due to the more robust heat pipe cooling as well as underside cooling (the HS under the CPU should do great considering my case has an 80mm fan slot on the underbelly of the mobo plate right there). I also think it is a plus to have 8 SATAII connectors; can never have too many SATA ports .

 

I think I will also go with the Q6600 and try to find a retailer that has them in stock and guarantees a G0 stepping and fit my SI-120 on it and 2 2x1GB Patriot Extreme Performance RAM PC1200. Thanks so much guys, always have fabulous advice to offer!