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**GalasaKoll** · 02-26-2008, 08:18 PM

Ok, I've been looking into building a new computer for about 2 weeks now, and have pretty much all my hardware pegged out. But I am having a hard time deciding between mobos and procs.

I have the mobos narrowed down to:

EVGA nVIDIA nForce 780i SLi

or

eVGA nVIDIA nForce 680i SLi

Initially, I am only gonna run one 8800GT, but I like haveing the option of running 3way SLi with 9800GTX's in the future. On the other hand, thats $1800+ worth of video cards which will be out of my price range in the forseeable future. But I still like having the option. The 780i will also handle 1200MHz ram, where the 680i will only handle 800. The ram I am putting in right now is only 800MHz, but could be upgraded later for a few hundred bucks.

As far as the procs go, its either

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale

or

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield

Now the E8400 is a really nice piece of tech. It may only have 2 cores, but is manufactured at 45 nm, has 6M L2 cache, and can be overclocked to 4GHz pretty easily (as far as I have heard). The biggest problem is availability. They are extremely hard to find. Newegg is sold out. Mwave is sold out. Tigerdirect is sold out. Buy.com is sold out. Even local boys, CPU (I was desperate) said they couldn't get any. I have managed to find one, for a bit more then Newegg (still cheaper than the Q6600), but I could get it in 3 days if I was ready.

The other option is the Q6600. Quadcore. Makes me giggle just saying it. This one clocks at around 2.4GHz. It has 8M L2 cache, which is more then the E8400 overall, but less per core. It is also manufactured at the old 65 nm, which means more heat. With that being said, I have read that this one isn't nearly as overclockable, but with 4 cores, do you really need it? I know most games don't handle 4 cores, but my other 3 big proggies, 3dsmax, photoshop, and mudbox, do.

I've done a fair bit of research over the last couple weeks, and this is what I've come to: I can't afford the system I want, but I can build something that is a LOT nicer then what I have right now. So, with all that being said, anyone have any experience with any of this hardware? Or do you have anything else you can recommend?

02-26-2008, 08:18 PM	#1
GalasaKoll Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 441 Senior Member	Recommendation Ok, I've been looking into building a new computer for about 2 weeks now, and have pretty much all my hardware pegged out. But I am having a hard time deciding between mobos and procs. I have the mobos narrowed down to: EVGA nVIDIA nForce 780i SLi or eVGA nVIDIA nForce 680i SLi Initially, I am only gonna run one 8800GT, but I like haveing the option of running 3way SLi with 9800GTX's in the future. On the other hand, thats $1800+ worth of video cards which will be out of my price range in the forseeable future. But I still like having the option. The 780i will also handle 1200MHz ram, where the 680i will only handle 800. The ram I am putting in right now is only 800MHz, but could be upgraded later for a few hundred bucks. As far as the procs go, its either Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale or Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield Now the E8400 is a really nice piece of tech. It may only have 2 cores, but is manufactured at 45 nm, has 6M L2 cache, and can be overclocked to 4GHz pretty easily (as far as I have heard). The biggest problem is availability. They are extremely hard to find. Newegg is sold out. Mwave is sold out. Tigerdirect is sold out. Buy.com is sold out. Even local boys, CPU (I was desperate) said they couldn't get any. I have managed to find one, for a bit more then Newegg (still cheaper than the Q6600), but I could get it in 3 days if I was ready. The other option is the Q6600. Quadcore. Makes me giggle just saying it. This one clocks at around 2.4GHz. It has 8M L2 cache, which is more then the E8400 overall, but less per core. It is also manufactured at the old 65 nm, which means more heat. With that being said, I have read that this one isn't nearly as overclockable, but with 4 cores, do you really need it? I know most games don't handle 4 cores, but my other 3 big proggies, 3dsmax, photoshop, and mudbox, do. I've done a fair bit of research over the last couple weeks, and this is what I've come to: I can't afford the system I want, but I can build something that is a LOT nicer then what I have right now. So, with all that being said, anyone have any experience with any of this hardware? Or do you have anything else you can recommend?
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