Which CPU?

[TrooperJac]

Re: Which CPU?

I have a Coolermaster Silent Pro 500w PSU - it's a very good supply. The 700w is probably a little overkill for your system but would allow room for upgrading in the future.

[eradicator8]

Re: Which CPU?

Since everybody is talking about how to save power and especially Asus supplying us with MB´s using less power the future looks more in the line of power saving thus negating the use for 1000W PSU´s.
Keep the 550W for now ensuring it has the right connection for the GFX.

[stilla-killa]

Re: Which CPU?

I still have about a month before I order. Trying to catch New Egg on a good day. Thanks for everyones input. I hate to keep asking but can anyone suggest another MB in that price range besides the Biostar as I am not familiar with that brand.

[signa]

Re: Which CPU?

Yes, there is probably a noticeable difference.

The 2500k is the best processor for gaming ATM, ..

why do you say the i5 is the best? what about the i7 2600k?
are you just comparing cost vs performance?

[stilla-killa]

Re: Which CPU?

But if I got a AM3+ MB now then I could upgrade to the bulldozer at a later date if it is any good. From what I have read Intel is not very MB friendly when it comes to introducing a new chip. Meaning I would have to upgrade the motherboard as well. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Anarchy1]

Re: Which CPU?

why do you say the i5 is the best? what about the i7 2600k?
are you just comparing cost vs performance?

Sort of. For gaming, there is no noticeable performance difference at all between the i7 2600k and the i5 2500k. And in many cases, the i5 actually has better performance because it has no hyperthreading. And it's what, $100 cheaper?

But if I got a AM3+ MB now then I could upgrade to the bulldozer at a later date if it is any good. From what I have read Intel is not very MB friendly when it comes to introducing a new chip. Meaning I would have to upgrade the motherboard as well. Please correct me if I am wrong.

I'd stick with Intel.

[Vreki]

Re: Which CPU?

But if I got a AM3+ MB now then I could upgrade to the bulldozer at a later date if it is any good. From what I have read Intel is not very MB friendly when it comes to introducing a new chip. Meaning I would have to upgrade the motherboard as well. Please correct me if I am wrong.

In my experience, AMD doesn't change socket as often, and is better at releasing new CPUs for old sockets.

But my experience also tells me that it is losing game trying to plan your upgrade path more than a year in the future.
In the future, will you need support for SLI or Crossfire? Can you reuse you RAM or is a new type available? Can you MB support the new CPUs in the BIOS? Does the new CPU even offer a significant upgrade? 20-30% extra CPU power means nothing IMHO, as a rule of thumb I don't upgrade a component unless I can double the performance.

If you are on a budget then I would just just look at the charts for the best price / performance.
My own AMD Phenom II X4 955 didn't let me down in the BF3 alpha, so if that is what you are targeting, any of the CPUs you mentioned should be fine.

[Scinto]

Re: Which CPU?

I would wait to be honest. The Engineering sample of Bulldozer looks like it can beat Sandy bridge, although there is Intel's Sandy bridge-E & the 2011 socket coming end of the year. As always its going to be a pain to choose which one to get.

[signa]

Re: Which CPU?

I considered waiting for the Sandy bridge-E, but hell, there is always going to be a "new" better chip out every 6 months.

[The_Eliminator]

Re: Which CPU?

Just a quick question i dont mean to hijack! Are you saying that the Core i7 2600K is better for gaming (lets say BF3) than a Core i7 980? Forgive me as im very much out of touch with the processors in comparisons to games now. Also, is the 2600K worth getting over the Core i5 2500K if i primarily want it for gaming (BF3).

[stilla-killa]

Re: Which CPU?

Well this is what I went with:

GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990X SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL

AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition Deneb 3.5GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HDZ970FBGMBOX

The MB has the new AM3+ socket so I will be able to upgrade the cpu at a later time which I had in mind when I ordered these things. That and I am on a budget right now.

For the time being I will be staying with the Antec 550W PSU until I do upgrade the CPU at a later date.

Now I just need a graphics card. Based upon my PSU I was looking at the GTX 460. Is that a good card for the time being?

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Which CPU?

Yeah, thats a good card. I dont know the power differences between it and the 475, but I like mine a lot.

Crunch

[stilla-killa]

Re: Which CPU?

Also Crunch does the 460 use two six power connectors like the 560 ti?

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Which CPU?

I think so. My 475 does and I looked up a few of the 460s and they all did. That may be specific to the manufacturer though.

If they do, they should come with some power adapters, in case you do not have enough.

Crunch

[stilla-killa]

Re: Which CPU?

Ok so I went and bought a new PSU. A Thermaltake 850W which was made for gaming. I did get it from Best Buy so hopefully it will be ok lol. So i should be good to go on that hopefully. Now I just need to save up for a kick ass graphics card which I hope to get in the next few weeks.

This is the one I got: NewEgg.

It got decent to good reviews so hopefully it will hold up.

So now is the question. Which video card should I go with.

For the time being I will use my 8800 GTX until I get a new one. It will suffice for a couple of weeks.