Recommendations for new PC

[hermeticist]

I`ve been asked by a friend to advise him on a new build, primarily for Photoshop, some video & general multitasking - has lots of big programmes open simultaneously, will be overclocking:

Q6600/E8***
Corsair HX620
4x1GB RAM
TR120 cooler
ATI 38**

Bearing in mind he`s given me a guide price for what he wants to pay for each item, in the case of the `board it`s up to £130.

My initial thought was Abit p35 Pro, but on looking about I`ve confused myself & am now thinking maybe the Asus P5k Deluxe might be better for similar money or X38 (Asus P5e/ Gigabyte DS5/DS4).

Doubt he`ll use Xfire, but it`s a possibility - not really into gaming, but nice to leave options open.

PSU is HX620 for the same reason & he`s unsure on how many HDD`s he`ll be using.

Your wisdom is appreciated.

[leoncc]

i am using an abit ip35-pro and its perfect, very stable

q6600 sounds fine and definately future proof

4gig ram ok, im guessing your taking the plunge to vista/xp 64 then?

nvidia cards work fine on xfire mobos as well, i still think 2 gfx is overkill though, will be wanting x38 if he wants 2 gfx cards for full performance! some good 8800gt/gts out there

i would maybe invest in a different psu, like tagan i have found these to be very good

[Buzzsaw]

Abit IP-35 or Pro would be fine.
The pro has a few features more, but nothing that you'll miss.

Q6600 is not the best, some of the new quads look to me to be better value. Or you may be able to get a dual able to do the work. It depends upon how much multi-threading he expects to do, and his budget.

4Gb good, but try for 2x2, as he may need to add more memory later (Vista).

I'll personally recommend any Scythe cooler.

GPU looks fine, as does the PSU.

[staffsMike]

I coubt you will need the 620w regardless of the volume of hard drives. The 520w is better for the money but if you are unsure then I guess you could stick with the 620w.

The IP-35 dark raider would be fine i'm sure.. £58 on scan today only

[this_is_gav]

As Buzzsaw said, go for 2x2gb RAM, which always leaves 8gb as a possible upgrade. 4x1gb might work out cheaper, but there's not much in it.

Gotta be an ATi graphics board for 2D work and in particular multimedia stuff. HD3850 would be fine. nV still have better OpenGL drivers (though it's closer than before) so that might be a consideration if 3DSMax or something is used.

[hermeticist]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

Would you rate the Abit Pro higher than the p5k deluxe?

Now that the x38 is a little more mature, is it enabling higher clocks (FSB) than the P35 (the Gigabyte X38 DS4 is now available for £115, a similar price to the P35 `boards mentioned above)?

[staffsMike]

Very similar preformance I would imagine.

I rate Abit themselves much higher than Asus though due to support. Quality wise or performance wise between those two boards will be fairly indifferent.

[hermeticist]

This_is_gav has reminded me of another question that I wanted to ask:

Some years ago I remember reading an article which basically said that ATI`s picture quality was superior to Nvidia`s. Now, I`m not sure whether we were talking in games here or in general use - surely most of the picture quality is down to the monitor & how much does a graphics card affect the performance when doing 2d work, such as photoshop?

[staffsMike]

Gaming wise, there are sometimes noticable differences between the Anti-Aliasing when comparing the two. Sometimes it is apparent, others it isn't but it's nothing to base a recommendation or a dismissal on.

[hermeticist]

leoncc, thanks for your response, yes 64bit OS.

The reasons for the ATI 38** are: Price £110 for a 3850 512mb (screen resolution is 1600x1200) or 3870 £135 - as he won`t be playing games, didn`t think it was worth him running an 8800gt. HD playback is I believe superior on the ATI cards & finally the post above about image quality.

[staffsMike]

if he isn't gaming then something like the 2600XT or their new replacements are fine for running that resolution and HD. They're around £50.

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK 3650's

[hermeticist]

Buzzsaw, I`ve thought about the Q9450, however I have some reservations: When will it be released? With such a low multi you`ll need to hit 450mhz to clock it to say 3.6GHZ - which seems to be achievable on the Q6600 & I`m sure it will be faster at this speed, but worth the extra £60?

[hermeticist]

staffsMike, do you think the Abit darkraider clocks as well as the pro?

[staffsMike]

What you should be asking is do you need a board that clocks as well as the Pro?

By deffinition the dark raider shouldn't clock as well as the pro but it is a very stable overclocker and perfectly suitable for most peoples overclocking needs

[this_is_gav]

Buzzsaw, I`ve thought about the Q9450, however I have some reservations: When will it be released?

March apparently. Seems they're trying to clear the majority of Q6600 stock first.

It's annoying as hell, as my work PC has just fallen over (4-5yr old Antec PSU blown) so is needing an upgrade. I'd have immediately gone for the Q9450 myself had it been available, and I can't afford to wait until March or April. Can't justify spending £500 on a Q9650 either. I'm thinking of getting a E2180 to last in the meantime then upgrade when the new quads come out. Wish they would just release them dammit.

[hermeticist]

I can`t remember where I saw it now, but quite recently someone had posted one of those Intel roadmaps, showing release of E8** in Jan. Q9** in late Q1 & shortly after a price reduction of Q6600 to $219 (I think), obviously I don`t know whether there is any truth in this & to be honest, it doesn`t seem to fit with previous Intel policy - not normally reducing the price of superseded CPUs.

I said this on a previous post, Intel should clear this up, it`s not cricket! We`re releasing them now, then, when we can be bothered. It`s not like they`re a big secret, people are using ES ones now.

staffsMike, thanks for your help. He`s a bit of a fiddler, so he`s probably better off with the Pro, keep him amused longer.