New Computer

[olic87]

I am currently dodging work at the minuite but am scheduled to finish my degree in Architecture this summer and am looking to beef up my computer a bit more around june/july time, i have done some research and have found out that both nvidia and amd(Ati) are releasing gfx cards but am nt sure which one to choose, i am a casual gamer so both would do for any of the games i play like crysis and stuff but for photoshop work and autocad work i was wondering whether a unified shader path or a seperate one would give better performence with photoshop, cad and 3d modeling programs

I also have heard that intel are releasing 45nm chip that are supposed to be alot better than what are availible today does anyone know if they are to be availible in june/july?

Once i have specified this i can get to work on detailing all my other components

Cheers
Oli

[Mul.]

Welcome to the forums,

The 45nm Core 2 Duo's and Core 2 Quad's are already out.

As far as CPU's are concerned, I'd be looking at the Core 2 Duo E8400, Quad Q6600 and Q9450, the E8400 and Q9450 being 45nm chips. They're in good supply now and their prices are quite fair.

Motherboards will depend on what your needs are. Generally for the sub £100 boards, I suggest Intel P35's, including the Gigabyte P35 DS3R and MSI P35 Neo2-Fr. Between £100 and 150 my main suggestion's the DFI LanParty DK X38 T2R and DK X48 T2R. Might be worth waiting around for the Intel P45 chipset next month.

As it stands, both nVidia and ATi have some form of a unified architecture but they work differently. As it stands, nVidia has the faster graphics cards but ATi remains quite competitive regardless. If you're in no rush I'd see what these new gen graphics cards have to offer next month.

[Lynx]

Ati cards work well with photoshop for graphic acceleration, i myself have used my card for that before. The new cards coming out look promising, youve picked a good time to buy a system.

[olic87]

Hey thx for your replies yeah i cny usually afford to upgrade alot but im starting a new job soon so hopefully ill be able to treat myself, i figure that its a good time with 45nm cpus and new ranges of gfx cards :P

Hmm didnt realise the new chips were listed i was looking for basically a 45nm version of the Q6600 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel/Core+2+Duo/Intel+Core+2+Quad+Q6600+2.4GHz+95W+G0+Stepping+%28 Retail+775%29+?productId=28356) Which i guess is the Q9450 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel/Core+2+Duo/Intel+Core+2+Quad+Q9450+2.66GHz+%28Retail+775%29+? productId=30246) pretty much? Will this be as quiete as the 6600? (The Heatsink) i guess that the 45nm uses less power-makes less heat-smaller fan?

If so thats the processor sorted lol so ill need a 775 Socket Motherboard, i intend to use sli/crossfire with the gfx cards, i guess that theres nt too much difference between the 2 bands as the new cards are consumer models but i am geared to changing to ati with my upgrade as i hear that they are pricing them competitvly and that they will be low power consumption, which is slightly annoying cuz id rather go with Amd Processor and Ati Card on AMD Board for compatibility :(

Now all i need is too save up for another screen!

Oli

[Lynx]

As for sli/crossfire, getting the most powerful single card is what you want rather than getting two cheaper cards crossfired. The 3850 and 3870 can be paired though for instance, so you can get a powerful card then add a slower card and still get performance enhancements. As for the cpu, get a aftermarket cooler so you can overclock your cpu and gain more performance, dual cores overclock more, while quad cores are more futureproofed.

[PeterStoba]

Hmm didnt realise the new chips were listed i was looking for basically a 45nm version of the Q6600 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel/Core+2+Duo/Intel+Core+2+Quad+Q6600+2.4GHz+95W+G0+Stepping+%28 Retail+775%29+?productId=28356) Which i guess is the Q9450 (http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Processors/Intel/Core+2+Duo/Intel+Core+2+Quad+Q9450+2.66GHz+%28Retail+775%29+? productId=30246) pretty much? Will this be as quiete as the 6600? (The Heatsink) i guess that the 45nm uses less power-makes less heat-smaller fan?


The heatsink and fan is the same iirc, but the 45nm duals use an aluminium base and quads still copper afaik. Either way you can get an Arctic cooling Freezer 7 pro, which is quiet and allows some moderate overclocking.



id rather go with Amd Processor and Ati Card on AMD Board for compatibility :(


You can use an ATI Card on an Intel board.

What is your budget?

[00mike000]

i would wait for ati's 4800 series coz if its as good as people are saying its gunna kick *** for that price

[olic87]

hmm i guess ill just ride it out and wait to see what the specs of boths cards are but from what I've read so far i think that ati card will be stronger and more competitively priced too

I haven't rly set a budget i don't think that setting a budget is the most efficient way of getting the most out of your computer, i believe that you should wait and buy at the right time, but buy the best available the last time that i bought a computer core2 had just come out as well as the 7950's so i got a 32 bit 6600 core 2 as it was one of the best performing chips with a large L2 cache, cuz i dont see the point in spending £100 to get a .2 ghz rise in performance and 7950 gt which was the best at the time, 2 gb ram upgraded to 4 gb at a later date, the best asus board available with built in (USB hack by the manufacturer how cheeky!!!) wifi and 300 gb boosted to 600gb storage

In all honesty i could probably wait till the next phases of technologies arrive but i primarily bought this rig as a gamer b4 i started uni, but now i have different or additional need for a pc, i am going for a quad core cuz it yields better performance with what i do, i usually find my self with at least CAD, photoshop open and sometimes 3ds max too!, this would be ideal for that i also want to go 64 bit and get 2 4GB ram sticks for a start of 8Gb of ram and then get another 1 or 2 at a later date as this year i have been producing bigger and better renders in 3ds max and having to limit them due to computers hardware, this with vista 64 home premium unless anyone knows any pluses for going for the business and ultimate editions? i will buy the best gfx card as there's no point buying a cheaper one that will age within a year, i am also interested in getting a raptor 10,000rpm for storing windows, start-up and key programs such as photoshop, cad and 3ds max, then reuse my 2 300 gb sata drive but put them in a Raid config where i get 600gb of storage nt 2 identical 300gb i was going to do it thins time round but i upgraded mid project...needless to say that it is not the best time to be swapping everything around lol does anyone have any information on this as i am confused about it. on a side note i want a random thing too...a multi bar with a surge and whatever other protection i can get as my housemates computer has just blown a week before his hand in :cry:, and also im nt sure if anyone else has seen it, but asus released in small number a multicard reader specifically for asus boards called front linker and i have wanted one for ages but no where stocks them, anyone know where i can buy a similar perhiphial?

I think that this rig may be quite expensive but it will last quite a long time, with me being able to add more ram and another gfx card and will also play crysis perfectly :) no more 12 fps yay!!!

Oli

[Lynx]

Forget raptors the F1 750gb hard drive is just as fast and far bigger. Ultimate has more features, but not worth the money over premium, i have ultimate and dont find the extras useful, just fancy. You say last you a long time, this rig will last you 5 years before most likely a full upgrade would be needed, that estimating you will play newest games etc. I keep my pc upgraded to play newest games on rec spec as a general rule of thumb, but thats just because i cant afford much.

[SimCity]

Depending on your budget, see if those new AMD cards can live up to their hype in June :)

Sim