Which Intel CPUs should I get?

Ant wrote:
On 11/24/2008 5:22 PM PT, jt typed:

I am planning to upgrade my computer again next month. I am at a loss
on which Intel Core 2 Duo CPU to get since there are so many models:

E7300 (2.66 ghz 1066 fsb) = $135
E7400 (2.8 ghz 1066 fsb) = $155
E8200 (2.66 ghz 1333 fsb) = $175
E8400 (3.0ghz 1333 fsb) = $190
E8500 (3.16ghz 1333 fsb) - $205
Q6600 (2.4 ghz 1066 fsb) = $200
Q8200 (2.33 ghz 1333 fsb) = $210

I am planning to have 2 GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4850(most
likely)/4870 (all details cranked up at 1280x1024 resolution), use
Windows XP Pro. SP3 (screw Vista and its DirectX 10+), etc.

Thank you in advance.


What motherboard?

Probably a MSI P43 NEO3-F:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...eo3-F&class=mb ...

You probably can't go wrong with any of those CPU's. Since your board
supports 1033 fsb you might as well get one of those. I personally have
an E8400 so I would either get that or the E8500. Might as well get the
fastest clock speed since you aren't going to OC. Having said that I
bought a Gigabyte P45 board that supports 1600 fsb, and I'm running my
E8400 at 3.6Ghz easily.

On 11/25/2008 5:39 PM PT, jt typed:

Ant wrote:
On 11/24/2008 5:22 PM PT, jt typed:

I am planning to upgrade my computer again next month. I am at a
loss on which Intel Core 2 Duo CPU to get since there are so many
models:

E7300 (2.66 ghz 1066 fsb) = $135
E7400 (2.8 ghz 1066 fsb) = $155
E8200 (2.66 ghz 1333 fsb) = $175
E8400 (3.0ghz 1333 fsb) = $190
E8500 (3.16ghz 1333 fsb) - $205
Q6600 (2.4 ghz 1066 fsb) = $200
Q8200 (2.33 ghz 1333 fsb) = $210

I am planning to have 2 GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4850(most
likely)/4870 (all details cranked up at 1280x1024 resolution), use
Windows XP Pro. SP3 (screw Vista and its DirectX 10+), etc.

Thank you in advance.


What motherboard?

Probably a MSI P43 NEO3-F:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...eo3-F&class=mb
...

You probably can't go wrong with any of those CPU's. Since your board
supports 1033 fsb you might as well get one of those. I personally have

1033 FSB? Did you mean 1333?


an E8400 so I would either get that or the E8500. Might as well get the
fastest clock speed since you aren't going to OC. Having said that I
bought a Gigabyte P45 board that supports 1600 fsb, and I'm running my
E8400 at 3.6Ghz easily.


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Legion wrote:

I have a 8800GTX and watch vidieos and TV episodes on my pc at times.
Just this evening I watched 3 episodes of HERO in HD.

Yeah I have no idea what Ant is talking about. Overlay hasn't been
needed for years, The only reason that we had to have overlay was back
when CPU's where not powerful enough to do video. But even now overlay
is only used in DVD players like Cyberlinks PowerDVD. It has a check box
to use "hardware acceleration" which when turned on will make the screen
blank if you're using a Nvidia card, at lest I had that problem with my
8800GT, but when I unchecked the box the player worked great. As for
watching stuff streamed from my PC to my TV I had no problems at all
with my 8800GT using the S-Video out on the card. Just used swap display
and ran my 27" CRT at 800x600. Wireless mouse & KB and I'm set to watch
Hulu or hang out at Digg and watch the high rated videos. Hulu can look
as good as cable depending on the source material or at lest as good as
something taped on a VCR. JLC

On 11/25/2008 9:29 PM PT, Legion typed:

On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:08:43 -0800, Ant wrote:

On 11/24/2008 10:12 PM PT, Legion typed:

I am planning to upgrade my computer again next month. I am at a loss
on which Intel Core 2 Duo CPU to get since there are so many models:

E7300 (2.66 ghz 1066 fsb) = $135
E7400 (2.8 ghz 1066 fsb) = $155
E8200 (2.66 ghz 1333 fsb) = $175
E8400 (3.0ghz 1333 fsb) = $190
E8500 (3.16ghz 1333 fsb) - $205
Q6600 (2.4 ghz 1066 fsb) = $200
Q8200 (2.33 ghz 1333 fsb) = $210

I am planning to have 2 GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4850(most
likely)/4870 (all details cranked up at 1280x1024 resolution), use
Windows XP Pro. SP3 (screw Vista and its DirectX 10+), etc.

Thank you in advance.
What motherboard?
Probably a MSI P43 NEO3-F:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...eo3-F&class=mb ...
Only 4 USB ports and One PCI-E x16 slot.

Nvidia GPU better IMHO.
The only problem is that NVIDIA no longer does fullscreen overlays with
their latest card and models. I watch videos, TV (have a HDTV tuner
card), etc. on my old 21" CRT TV. That alone made me switch to ATI/AMD.

I have a 8800GTX and watch vidieos and TV episodes on my pc at times.
Just this evening I watched 3 episodes of HERO in HD.

Is that your secondary TV with normal non-computer video cable (no DVI
and no VGA)? Fullscreen overlay while using primary computer
(multitasking) and with correct aspect ratios (no squished screen)?

See http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=65266 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=49636 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=29212 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=78251 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=43756 , etc.
--
"What is it going to be like in eternity with God? Frankly, the capacity
of our brains cannot handle the wonder and greatness of heaven. It would
be like trying to describe the Internet to an ant." --Rick Warren's
book, The Purpose Driven Life
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On 11/25/2008 9:49 PM PT, JLC typed:

Legion wrote:

I have a 8800GTX and watch vidieos and TV episodes on my pc at times.
Just this evening I watched 3 episodes of HERO in HD.

Yeah I have no idea what Ant is talking about. Overlay hasn't been
needed for years, The only reason that we had to have overlay was back
when CPU's where not powerful enough to do video. But even now overlay
is only used in DVD players like Cyberlinks PowerDVD. It has a check box
to use "hardware acceleration" which when turned on will make the screen
blank if you're using a Nvidia card, at lest I had that problem with my
8800GT, but when I unchecked the box the player worked great. As for
watching stuff streamed from my PC to my TV I had no problems at all
with my 8800GT using the S-Video out on the card. Just used swap display
and ran my 27" CRT at 800x600. Wireless mouse & KB and I'm set to watch
Hulu or hang out at Digg and watch the high rated videos. Hulu can look
as good as cable depending on the source material or at lest as good as
something taped on a VCR. JLC

I usee fullscreen overlay for videos on my old 21" CRT TV (800x600
setting) with clone view. I use my primary display (1280x1024 LCD 19"
monitor) for computing and secondary display (TV) with fullscreen video.
However, the aspect ratios (no squished screen) are wrong on TV like HD
videos are shrunk to 4:3/5:4 ratio.

See http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=65266 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=49636 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=29212 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=78251 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=43756 , etc.
--
"We are closer to the ants than to butterflies. Very few people can
endure much leisure." --Gerald Brenan
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address: NT
( ) or
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

You probably can't go wrong with any of those CPU's. Since your board
supports 1033 fsb you might as well get one of those. I personally have

1033 FSB? Did you mean 1333?


an E8400 so I would either get that or the E8500. Might as well get
the fastest clock speed since you aren't going to OC. Having said that
I bought a Gigabyte P45 board that supports 1600 fsb, and I'm running
my E8400 at 3.6Ghz easily.



Yes 1333 FSB. Sorry, typo.

On 11/26/2008 2:04 PM PT, Legion typed:

On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:10:34 -0800, Ant wrote:

On 11/25/2008 9:29 PM PT, Legion typed:

On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:08:43 -0800, Ant wrote:

On 11/24/2008 10:12 PM PT, Legion typed:

I am planning to upgrade my computer again next month. I am at a loss
on which Intel Core 2 Duo CPU to get since there are so many models:

E7300 (2.66 ghz 1066 fsb) = $135
E7400 (2.8 ghz 1066 fsb) = $155
E8200 (2.66 ghz 1333 fsb) = $175
E8400 (3.0ghz 1333 fsb) = $190
E8500 (3.16ghz 1333 fsb) - $205
Q6600 (2.4 ghz 1066 fsb) = $200
Q8200 (2.33 ghz 1333 fsb) = $210

I am planning to have 2 GB of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4850(most
likely)/4870 (all details cranked up at 1280x1024 resolution), use
Windows XP Pro. SP3 (screw Vista and its DirectX 10+), etc.

Thank you in advance.
What motherboard?
Probably a MSI P43 NEO3-F:
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...eo3-F&class=mb ...
Only 4 USB ports and One PCI-E x16 slot.

Nvidia GPU better IMHO.
The only problem is that NVIDIA no longer does fullscreen overlays with
their latest card and models. I watch videos, TV (have a HDTV tuner
card), etc. on my old 21" CRT TV. That alone made me switch to ATI/AMD.
I have a 8800GTX and watch vidieos and TV episodes on my pc at times.
Just this evening I watched 3 episodes of HERO in HD.
Is that your secondary TV with normal non-computer video cable (no DVI
and no VGA)? Fullscreen overlay while using primary computer
(multitasking) and with correct aspect ratios (no squished screen)?

See http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=65266 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=49636 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=29212 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=78251 ,
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=43756 , etc.

No, as I stated above, I view them on my PC.

Yeah, on my PC's primary display, it is fine. Not for secondary display
as my old CRT TV. That's the part I am referring to. Do you have a
secondary display like a TV?


I do not have any problems with aspect ratio.
FYI,Nvidia includes "Pure Video" with most of its cards and drivers.

I have PureVideo.
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/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
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Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.