Computer upgrade options, Core 2 Quad, P35 chipset, DDR3, etc
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?
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?
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Comments
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.
It will be a while before DDR3 is ready for primetime with low latency and lower prices.
Let me know if you go that route
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...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048
but you can't mix them at the same time.