Computer upgrade options, Core 2 Quad, P35 chipset, DDR3, etc

DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
edited June 2007 in Hardware
I'm running a still new C2D E6600 on an Asus P5B with 2GB of OCZ platinum DDR2 800 ram.

I'm starting to look at upgrading towards the end of July, when Intel has their next price drop scheduled and the Core 2 Quad drops in price to the $350 CDn ish price point. The more I'm reading the more I'm starting to think that I should be looking for a new board at the same time, specifically the P35 that supports DDR3. If I go that route, then I'd be looking at waiting till more like October or November, just so prices can come down a bit.

I don't really need all the power that a quad core cpu can provide for anything other than folding. As is, I can throw anything at the system and have no issues playing games maxed out, so it's completly a case of want, rather than need.

On the plus side of just dropping in a new cpu, that means I have only a C2D to dump, whereas if I get new chip board and ram, I've got 90% of a working system and can add it to my farm and retire something like my Opteron or my P4 2.8.


Got any advice?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    P35 is good. The prices probably won't go down for a while. DDR3 mfgrs are reporting a maximum of 200,000 DDR3 sticks in the entire world by the end of '07. The price is not coming down on these DIMMs in 2007.

    DDR3 won't be mainstream until summer of '08, really. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6 today, and in fact, I'm considering it and am in pretty much the same position as you, hardware-wise.
  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    Damn, only 200,000 sticks world wide? Bling bling. Just adding a kentsfield C2Q is beginning to sound like a much better option.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    I would agree. Get yourself a good P35 board and so far, reports are that the Asus and Gigabyte options are among the best ones. I'm personally eyeballing the Asus "budget" one. The Intel Xeon 3210 seems to be the best bang for the buck cpu right now. Quad core, 8mb cache for 450-500 Dollars is a really nice cpu.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    Should fold like hell either way.
    It will be a while before DDR3 is ready for primetime with low latency and lower prices.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    DanG wrote:
    retire something like my Opteron

    Let me know if you go that route :)
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    the nice thing is you could probably sell off your C2D stuff at a good return cause it's still so new :D
  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited June 2007
    From what I've found on these new boards, it's either DDR2 or DDR3 only, there's no combo board, so I guess it's buy a new board and stick with DDR2 and then buy another board when DDR3 comes down from $500 for 2GB.

    As it stands, I think it's going to be go with a Kentsfield C2Q this summer, and maybe another 2GB of ram and a copy of vista ultimate 64bit, get a cheapie C2D board and dump my opteron, and depending on my finances at the time, it could find it's way into the SMX program...
  • sweavesweave boston
    edited June 2007
    there is a combo ddr2/ddr3 from gigabyte
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048
    but you can't mix them at the same time.
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