The Overhaul

[Gunny04]

Mid-range cards are good enough to do what the more expensive cards can... sure you might not be able to max everything out but they work, and they can be overclocked a bit to get even more out of them. They are also cheaper and smaller.... for the people with a smaller computer case!

Gunny

[ctjoyce]

Conroe isn't really needed right now, when it will be needed, it will be outdated. Same with the G80.

You can go buy your E6600 now, wasting it on applications a 3.9ghz Pentium D can already do. When DX10 is out and established (Q4), I will be running a Kuma (Dual core clocked up Barcelona) paired up with some awsome ATi card. Then we'll decide who made the better choice, k?

Have you heard of Windows Vista? Its this cool new operating system RUNNING DX10, and correctly uses dual core processors to divide tasks over two or even four cores.

And as for Barcelona and other AMD technology? LOL!!! They are now almost a year and a half behind Intel. AMD made a HUGE mistake when they bought ATi. Now AMD is barely making budget, and ATi really isn't helping. Both stocks are plumeting, and there are market expirts who see both companies folding by 2009, or ATi buying itself back so as not to be dragged down by AMD. So should AMD bring something to the table to knock out Conroe or Kentsfield, it will be too late, as Intel will have its next chip firmly seated in the market, and two steps ahead of AMD. Same with ATi, usually we see GPU companies release technology withen weeks or only one or two months of each other. G80 came out in December, we are still waiting on R600.

Cheers
Cameron

[flymo]

Conroe isn't really needed right now, when it will be needed, it will be outdated. Same with the G80.

You can go buy your E6600 now, wasting it on applications a 3.9ghz Pentium D can already do. When DX10 is out and established (Q4), I will be running a Kuma (Dual core clocked up Barcelona) paired up with some awsome ATi card. Then we'll decide who made the better choice, k?

Have you heard of Windows Vista? Its this cool new operating system RUNNING DX10, and correctly uses dual core processors to divide tasks over two or even four cores.

And as for Barcelona and other AMD technology? LOL!!! They are now almost a year and a half behind Intel. AMD made a HUGE mistake when they bought ATi. Now AMD is barely making budget, and ATi really isn't helping. Both stocks are plumeting, and there are market expirts who see both companies folding by 2009, or ATi buying itself back so as not to be dragged down by AMD. So should AMD bring something to the table to knock out Conroe or Kentsfield, it will be too late, as Intel will have its next chip firmly seated in the market, and two steps ahead of AMD. Same with ATi, usually we see GPU companies release technology withen weeks or only one or two months of each other. G80 came out in December, we are still waiting on R600.

Cheers
Cameron

and yet everyone knows the R600 is going to kick the shizzle out of 8800's

imo nvidia realease things to fast. when their is no rela market for it (8 series before vista release) they release cos they can like intel do.

i agree intel have 1 good core the conroe but i havnt seen any benchmarks or anything for the AMD quads and things. just cos they havnt released yet DOES NOT mean the tech is going to be worse.

seriously cam think on your own beofre posting what you have read on other forums

[ctjoyce]

I don't repost things donut, I take whis I learn off of numerous hardware sites, and create my own opinion. Then I voice that opinion here.

Cheers
Cameron

[Scorpiоn]

Well I can say for sure I will not wait to build.  Technology is always moving.  If you wait 'till October, there will be something better on the horizon then as well.  My rig is clearly starting to show it's age.  And it's time for a change.

Sorry I did not read the sticky.  I read it before but it was no use to me then.  I forgot what it was even about.

[congo]

Scorpion,

What mainboard etc do you have now, is an upgrade out of the question?


Cameron,

What's the advantage of the 680i chipset over the 650i chipset (Asus 650i board is only $94 USD).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 813131142R

I know the 650i only has 8x + 8x PCIe graphics lanes in SLI mode, but say you were not intending SLI....... would the cheaper 650i based board be a good bargain?

What is the advantage of using the nvidia conroe chipsets over the Intel 965/975 chipsets unless you are planning an SLI rig?

[ctjoyce]

Other than the lane difference, the 650i is basically a stripped down 680i. And 680i vs 975x is overclocking. So if you want the best clock you can get, then the 975x is the way to go, however the 680i is a much better for gaming (usually a few frames faster).

Overall the nForce 6 chipsets are more versitle than the 975x, unless you plan to go crossfire or for max cpu clock.

Cheers
Cameron

[DizZa]

Conroe isn't really needed right now, when it will be needed, it will be outdated. Same with the G80.

You can go buy your E6600 now, wasting it on applications a 3.9ghz Pentium D can already do. When DX10 is out and established (Q4), I will be running a Kuma (Dual core clocked up Barcelona) paired up with some awsome ATi card. Then we'll decide who made the better choice, k?

Have you heard of Windows Vista? Its this cool new operating system RUNNING DX10, and correctly uses dual core processors to divide tasks over two or even four cores.

And as for Barcelona and other AMD technology? LOL!!! They are now almost a year and a half behind Intel. AMD made a HUGE mistake when they bought ATi. Now AMD is barely making budget, and ATi really isn't helping. Both stocks are plumeting, and there are market expirts who see both companies folding by 2009, or ATi buying itself back so as not to be dragged down by AMD. So should AMD bring something to the table to knock out Conroe or Kentsfield, it will be too late, as Intel will have its next chip firmly seated in the market, and two steps ahead of AMD. Same with ATi, usually we see GPU companies release technology withen weeks or only one or two months of each other. G80 came out in December, we are still waiting on R600.

Cheers
Cameron

Other than fsX, name me one APPLICATION which will use the full power of a E6600.

Year and a half beind intel? LOL! A 2.3ghz Barcelona bate a 2.66ghz Clovertown by 42%. All intel has is there great manufacturing, other than that, there processors are terrible. Even if Barcelona does fail, why waste money now on a useless processor? Why upgrade now and waste money on a useless 8800?

[quote]Then I voice that opinion here.

[ctjoyce]

As opposed to yours? If you look back to my earlier posts I was a huge ATi fanboy until they let me down horribly, so after realizing that there is another company in the market, my view is an even plane. Same with processors. If AMD is the top, then I will pimp AMD, and I was doing that for a time. Now Intel is number one across the board, so I am back to pimping them.

As for the benchmarks, care to share where they came from. Because all the mainstream tech sites seem not to have anything but core architecture specs, and speculation.

Oh yea and programs other than FSX that use the power of Conroe? Music and video encoding, CAD design, 3D animation suites, but you know nothing that anyone really uses. If Conroe is such a waste of money, why is it cheaper than the competing AMD chip, faster, and to boot more energy efficient. Yea Conroe is a HUGE waste of money. Oh and also if its so horrible then why are Intel's sales still higher than AMD even with AMD making its way into the OEM market this year?

Cheers
Cameron

[DizZa]

Music and video encoding, CAD design, 3D animation suites, but you know nothing that anyone really uses.

Is 605 Scorpion going to be doing CAD Design and 3d animation suites? Doubt it. You have found one application.

As for the benchmarks, care to share where they came from

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070301-8958.html

If Conroe is such a waste of money, why is it cheaper than the competing AMD chip, faster, and to boot more energy efficient. Yea Conroe is a HUGE waste of money.

Buying AMD at the moment is also huge waste of money.

All I'm tying to say is, it's good to wait for competition to arrive, and it's good to upgrade when applications which take full advantage of this new hardware. If someone needs a video editing rig now, then good for them, go grab a QX6700. However, if you want a gaming rig, I strongly suggest you wait till Q3 or Q4, so then you can do these things:

A: Have a faster computer than one now

B: Don't waste your money playing old games like FEAR at 200fps (Why buy hardware your not going to properly use for half a year?)

C: Use your hardware features and speed on applications like Crysis and Age of Conan.

D: Have your computer run things it was designed for, for the entire lifespan of it.

All intel has is there great manufacturing, other than that, there processors are terrible.

Sorry, I really shouldn't of said that. My fault.

was a huge ATi fanboy until they let me down horribly,

I bought my super expensive X850XTPE a few months before the 7800GTX came out. I used that power playing Half life 2 at 120fps. A year later my card was reduced to a 100$ peice of crap struggling to play Oblivion. I should of wated till the 7800....

[congo]

Thanks for the info Cameron, but I'm still confused a little.

however the 680i is a much better for gaming (usually a few frames faster).

Why is the faster mainboard slower at gaming? This doesn't seem to make sense? How does the mainboard/chipset affect gaming anyway? If the CPU, RAM and Video subsystems are doing their job and the mainboard does not have any bus bottlenecks, then surely it's just a matter of bus speed? The few FPS difference.... is that measured at stock hardware clocks using identical cpu/ram/video/OS etc on an even playing field?

Also, a few FPS difference in games is a broad claim, Is that when you are getting 160 FPS and then maybe 163 FPS on the 680i board? If it is, then it's no practical difference and the FPS rate in FSX would be identical with both chipsets..... Do you actually know what percentage better FPS the nVidia boards produce, is it enough to make ANY noticable difference, say 5% or more ?

Overall the nForce 6 chipsets are more versitle than the 975x, unless you plan to go crossfire or for max cpu clock.

In what way? One has crossfire support, the other has SLI support, so it's up to the buyers preference of Dual GPU system type in the end, and even then, very few of us will ever run dual GPU systems, so either the Intel or nVidia chipsets are suitable to the single video card crowd.

Max overclock will ever only be achieved by a very tiny percentage of owners and both chipsets clock extremely well anyway. More important are feature sets, reliability and good bios.

Not mentioned yet is the hot chipsets on the nVidia chipset boards that are commonly built with passive cooling only, when they really need an active cooling fan to keep the temps down.

The last time I looked seriously at an nVidia chipset, it was loaded with useless extras and frills that I would need to somehow disable anyway, I simply did not want the complications of the new features. That, coupled with the heat issues, has put me right off them until they get serious and stop wasting my time with superfluous dribble.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the nvidia 600 series boards are bad, (I love my current nVidia nForce4 chipset), I just think there is a lot of hype about them because they are the latest release, and I do not know of anything significant (other than SLI support) that sets them apart from their Intel couterparts, (965/975 chipsets).

Is there any outstanding feature of the 680i chipset that makes it so attractive to you Cameron, I have not even done proper research on the new nVidia chipsets, so come on, sell it to me please

[mhoffman50]

Back and forth, back and forth.  I believe that everyone has some points to be made.  What I think is really happening is that each person has a different perspective on what is best at the moment based upon what requirements/desires they have and where they are at today.  You can't chase technology and expect to catch it let alone beat it.  Today's $5,000 PC is tomorow's piece of trash.  I remember having an original IBM PC at work and was happy that I had a PC when everyone else was using terminals.  At that time I had the same exact discussion with a guy who raved about the Apple II.  It's a discussion that will never end.  However, it is fun to watch.    

[congo]

I was just trying to pick Cameron's brain to save myself six hours research

[ctjoyce]

I was just trying to pick Cameron's brain to save myself six hours research

And I'm being lazy, so no answerers for you.....today at least.

Cheers
Cameron

[congo]

DOH!