Hi, I'm upgrading my computer for Christmas and need help deciding which parts to get. I play GW, BF, COD 4, might get crysis Currently running GA-M55SLI-S4 mobo AM2 7600GT amd 64 3500+(total shit) 2 gigs ddr2 667 400gbHD So I've been looking around for dual core and some quads, came up with these two http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103191 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103226 and I'm trying to choose between the 3870s and the 8800GTs. Price wise I like the 3870 and I've been hearing that is deserves more credit then people give it. Also I got a crappy 420w power supply that came with my aspire x-discovery case and that needs to be upgraded as well, how are these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341012 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817148008
The idea of getting a duel core or quad is up to you. There is a price difference, and I don't know anyone who has experienced a phenom before, so I couldn't say if they're good or bad. I do know that people with a 6400+ love it and haven't had any problems with it yet. Get the 3870. I see you said 3870(s), so are you going to be doing CF? Well, all I know is that although nvidia's graphics cards are a little faster, ATi doesn't cheat on image quality for performance. The 3870 has a better picture than the 8800GT, so I would get the 3870 hands down. The power supplys you picked out are decent, but this one is far more reliable and you system will never use over 500watts. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001&Tpk=corsair+520
If your'e getting a quad core, do it right and get a Core 2 Quad, not a Phenom. They're much faster. I'd recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102713 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148070
Btw sam, is there a difference between the Sapphire 3870, and the other companies? I remember seeing a benchmark somewhere, and the HIS had about 2 more fps than one of the other brands...
Probably because HIS overclock theirs... As for the brand, it's basically which one won't go wrong. Sapphire and HIS are trusted brands. Powercolor aren't.
I said the 3870s meaning them in general, and I don't want to get a whole new mobo for the quad cores. I'm using the existing one I have and was also kinda wondering if I would get the benefit of the phenom over the 6400+.
The benefits of moving to a quad core from a dual are far more subtle than those of moving from a single core to a dual core. Generally you wouldn't notice the difference unless you did lots of video work and played four-core games such as Supreme commander.
Hmm, interesting. I don't see why it wouldn't. Contact Gigabyte about that, their tech support's usually quite good.
The 3870 will work in any motherboard that has a PCI express 16x slot, but you MUST get a new power supply before you start using it.
http://tw.giga-byte.com/Support/Motherboard/CPUSupport_Model.aspx?ProductID=2310 this rev 1.0 w/e that means supports it... dunno which I have though, I'll check tonight
Heh, did you have to get that page from the taiwan gigabyte website? The connection to it is terrible! Took me 4 minutes to open the page! It's curious that the 6400+ has been omitted from version 2.0 of the board. However, if you're not sure, just send the damn people an email! Their tech support over email is supposed to be quite good! http://www.giga-byte.com/Support/ServiceCenter.aspx