Best rig for Gaming/Future proofing?? Choice inside......

[enzed]

O.K so I have a choice of two rigs but am unsure which way to go, as it stands I do a lot of gaming, movies, poker, music not so much major apps like photoshop etc.
I am wondering whether to go Quad core now or go Dual Core for greater speed and upgrade to a Quad Core chip later, anyway two choices are below...

SPECIFICATIONS
*************
- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB L2 Cache Quad-Core Processor
- Transcend 4GB DDR2 800MHz Dual-Channel Memory
- Asus P5K/E WiFi Intel P35/ICH9 Chipset Motherboard
- Asus nVIDIA GeFORCE 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 PCI-E Display Adaptor(Factory OCed)
- Seagate or Western Digital 500GB 16MB Cache SATA2 Hard Disk Drive
- Asus QuieTrack SATA LightScribe Dual Layer DVDRW Drive
- iCute S901-5G ATX Mid Tower Chassis
- Thermaltake Toughpower 750W Power Supply Unit
- Front Audio Connectors (mic/headphones)
- 1 x 25cm / 1 x 8cm System Coolers
- 2 Front / 4 Rear USB 2.0 Connectors
- HDTV, SPDIF out & eSATA Connectivity

or.....

SPECIFICATIONS
*************
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0GHz 4MB L2 Dual-Core Processor
- Transcend 2GB DDR2 800MHz Dual-Channel Memory
- Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus nVIDIA Dual X16 SLI Chipset Motherboard
- XFX nVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB XXX PCI-E Display Adaptor x 2 in SLI Mode
- Western Digital 400GB 16MB Cache SATA2 Hard Disk Drive
- Asus QuieTrack SATA LightScribe Dual-Layer DVDRW Drive
- 8 Channel High Definition Audio
- Gigabit High Speed Ethernet
- iCute S901-5G ATX Mid Tower Chassis
- Thermaltake Toughpower 750W Modularised Cable Management PSU
- Front Audio Connectors (mic/headphones)
- 4 Front / 4 Rear USB 2.0 Connectors
- 1 x 25cm / 1 x 8cm System Coolers
- 1394a / eSATA Connectivity

either system will be running 64bit Vista Home premium.
Anyway any thoughts are more than welcome, thanks.

[ADBjester]

[ QUOTE ]
O.K so I have a choice of two rigs but am unsure which way to go, as it stands I do a lot of gaming, movies, poker, music not so much major apps like photoshop etc.
I am wondering whether to go Quad core now or go Dual Core for greater speed and upgrade to a Quad Core chip later, anyway two choices are below...


[/ QUOTE ]

Your two choices boil down to Quad Core with a single top of the line video card and 4 GB RAM, and Dual Core with less memory and double the video power.

This is a no-brainer. Go for the quad core and more RAM, with less video.

Unless you're a hard-core gamer playing Quake, Doom, FEAR, HalfLife2, etc, then you don't need that much video. Hell, for anything *but* hardcore gaming, even the single 8800 GTS is probably overkill for your needs.... but two of them? Almost nothing supports DX10 at all, anyway, and if you buy the right motherboard you have room to upgrade to SLI later if you want.

However, 4 cores versus two is future-proofing yourself -- that's where everything is headed. Also, 4 GB vs. 2 GB RAM is a no-brainer with Vista (but to use 4 GB, you definitely need Vista x64, so kudos on that choice).

Easy, easy choice, though, if it were me.

Jester

[Freakin]

I'm with Jester.

And I may also look for a cheaper harddrive now, then get a hybrid drive as soon as they are readily available (if they aren't already).... Vista likes hybrid drives...

[BeaucoupFish]

[ QUOTE ]

This is a no-brainer. Go for the quad core and more RAM, with less video.


[/ QUOTE ]

"Less" being a relative term!

Coincidentally, I just ordered components that are a hybrid of these two systems - the E6850 Dual Core CPU with EVGA's version of the 8800GTS 640MB Factory OC'd (AC3).

It does seem strange to put two fairly expensive cards in SLI, when you could perhaps just get a GTX instead.

I just looked up the two MoBo's, and from what I could tell, neither support DDR3, so as far as futureproofing, thats one -ve. I ordered the GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R, there may be others with DDR2/3 support.

[enzed]

O.K so how about this then

- Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz 8MB L2 Cache Quad-Core Processor
- Transcend 4GB DDR2 800MHz Dual-Channel Memory
- Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus nVIDIA Dual X16 SLI Chipset Motherboard
- Asus nVIDIA GeFORCE 8800GTS 640MB DDR3 PCI-E Display Adaptor(Factory OCed)
- Seagate or Western Digital 500GB 16MB Cache SATA2 Hard Disk Drive
- Asus QuieTrack SATA LightScribe Dual-Layer DVDRW Drive
- 8 Channel High Definition Audio
- Gigabit High Speed Ethernet
- iCute S901-5G ATX Mid Tower Chassis
- Thermaltake Toughpower 750W Modularised Cable Management PSU
- Front Audio Connectors (mic/headphones)
- 4 Front / 4 Rear USB 2.0 Connectors
- 1 x 25cm / 1 x 8cm System Coolers
- 1394a / eSATA Connectivity

So maybe i'll just get the sli MB and put another graphics card in when and if the need arises, the DDR3 Ram maybe a bridge to far as I've read it will be a while before you will really need it and the price is just too high atm, I see what you mean by having a DDR3 ready MB but unfortunately over here the difference in price between a good DDR2 and a low end DDR3 MB is $150+. I'm thinking i'll need more cooling for the Q6600 would that be correct?
I used to be a hardcore gamer before I found poker but I want something that I can still run new games on like Bioshock, Alan Wake, Call of duty 4 etc.

[Shoe Lace]

I'm not into new games much but maybe try reading hardware sites to see if you can use a 7900GS or 7900GTX instead of the 8800GTS and still have acceptable performance.

I see no point buying a first generation DX10 card for a hefty price when there's no DX10 games out. nVidia's next generation DX10 card is coming out pretty soon too. I imagine it'll be light years ahead of the 8800GTS but there's no guarantee of course.

The 7900gs seems reasonable for now. It'll run DX9 cames well as long as you don't get crazy with AA/AF and use monster resolutions.

[geo8o2]

how much does that system cost? i'm looking to buy something, and may just copy urs.

[funkyworms]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm thinking i'll need more cooling for the Q6600 would that be correct?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. I would put a Thermalright Ultra-120 heatsink on it.

[glockjs]

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/int...=3038&p=15

6850 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I'd wait for the 45nm to hit though :/

For memory I'd rather have higher quality memory rather that just more memory...Corsair, G.Skill, OCZ etc etc. And, as far as hdd's go the only reason to buy Western Digital is the raptor otherwise go with seagate [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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