So my motherboard has failed on me....I figured i'd take this as a chance to upgrade, thinking a quad core...a few questions though: 1. will a quad core take 4 1GB DDR ram sticks? 2. will i need a new power supply, does it take that much more power to run the quad? 3. any recommendations? its my main comp so i need to get it fixed rather quickly...any help is appreciated.
1) I don't think so. The quad core mobos I have seen all take DDR2 memory. The good news is that DDR2 is pretty cheap right now. 2) Not sure but I am upgrading in a few months and will be looking at the answer to this one 3) www.newegg.com
WTF do you need quad core for? 99% of casual users don't even take advantage of all of the processing power offered by dual core.
Quad cores are overpriced right now imo. I think the E8400 is the current sweet spot for price/performance ratio. Virtually no programs take advantage of the extra two cores right now, and future software improvements are likely to be incremental. Clock speed and core efficiency... that is, how much work is done for each clock cycle... are the most important factors imo (with the duo 2 extreme and Wolfdale cores being the best) The quad cores are at least equal in terms of efficiency but the clock speed/money ratio isn't there yet I don't think. I picked up an OEM E8400 with cheapo ECS mobo for 169.00 at FRY's last week and immediately overclocked to 3.6 ghz (from 3.0) Runs like a dream. Not all motherboards have 4 ram slots, so be aware of this fact. As for a power supply, it depends on what you have now, and what other cards you have plugged into it.... the primary power hog being your video card. If your case has room,use a dual power supply adapter cable so you use your current psu and a cheap power supply instead of spending 60-100 dollars on a 500w+. I recommend this motherboard and this chip
I just bought this. Getting it delivered tomorrow. Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit) Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad processor Q9450 (2.66GHz) Memory 4GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (4x1024) Graphics card 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT, 2 DVI, HDMI adapter Networking - No Modem Hard drive 1TB RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA HDDs) - performance Primary CD/DVD drive LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive Front Productivity Ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner w/remote control Sound Card Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer Productivity software Microsoft(R) Office Home and Student Edition 2007 Keyboard and Mouse HP keyboard and HP optical mouse Power Supply 460 watts Man, I can't wait. This quad core CPU is really excellent. I've read about people overclocking the Q9450 (2.66GHz) to 3.2 GHz! Has a 12MB L2 cache and the mother board has a 1333 MHz front side bus. The graphics card has 1 GB of on board memory and is a souped up GeForce 8800GT. I may be able to put two of them in SLI later. If it ends up that I can't, I'll still be happy.
E8400 Wolfdale retail (with fan) $159 Gigabyte 3870 512mb video card for $99 after rebate. Includes a copy of Neverwinter Nights. Man, it's a good time to build a gaming system.
Your power supply is too small to run SLI. Under load, that quad core/mb will eat up about 210-220 watts, and about 180-190 for the video. Add in 2 hard drives, sound card, dvd burner and you're maxed out. Honestly, you might have longevity issues... and I would refrain from overclocking it until you add a second PSU if you have the space and an extra PSU or simply get one with some additional headroom.
So I'm upgrading my desktop. Based on my needs (Mild Game play, net surfing, writing, music burning) I'm considering this motherboard and cpu combination. Any info and advice is welcome. motherboard CPU
Both are fine choices. You might consider the DFI 965 MB as it has two PCI-E x16 slots for video. Buy one card now (the Gigabyte card I mentioned earlier in the thread is an great under 1600x1200)... and in a year or two if you like you can pop in a second card without upgrading the whole system. You have a lot of room to upgrade with either motherboard as they'll both support much faster processors so a future upgrade on the cheap if you like. Just a thought.
What's the difference between a PCI 2.0 x 16 and a PCI x 16? I got a GeForce 8600 GT 256mb card use it for a few years before I upgrade. Will a PCI x16 Express fit into a PCI x1 slot?
I guess I'll find out. I'm not concerned about SLI, as it won't bug me if I can't do it, but I would be very surprised if the PS couldn't handle what I'll be running. I'll let you know. Damn thing didn't get delivered before I had to leave town Friday. Now I won't be able to get it until Tuesday. Bad luck and stupid FedEx "home delivery."
I'm guessing you're asking what's the difference between PCIe 16 2.0 and PCIe-16 1.1? It's simply a faster bus and the two are mostly compatable. If your 8600 is PCIe it'll work on either MB. PCIe 1x is different, it is a tiny little connector used for things like SATA controlers. I'm sure they make them, but I've never seen a PCIe x1 video card. That's PCIe 1x
