Windows Vista Which Is Better....?

[gareth_mattey]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of upgrading my mobo and cpu, i currently have Asus M2n-Sli Deluxe mobo and a AMD Dual Core 6000+ 3.0Ghz, the cpu often gets very hot and causes my pc to bluescreen. I've moved my pc and it's cooler and not bluscreening but just fancy a intel processor as this AMD processor is ok but not the best.

Which mobo would you recommend?:
Asus P5W DH Deluxe £95
Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus £115

Which cpu would you recommend?:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz £146
Intel Pentium D 960 3.6Ghz £140

I've been tempted to go for the two pricier options, the sli mobo and i've heard the core 2 duo are better than pentium D even though the pentium D techincally should be quicker since it's 3.6Ghz.

Just wondering what everyone elses views are from own experience or technical advice?

Regards.

 

[kemical]

Hi, yup I'd go for the set-up your thinking of (the more expensive one) Although the E6850 is only about 15% faster than your AMD. Have you considered waiting a while and going for a Phenom? I wouldn't get one now as they still have teething problems but I plan to get one this time next year... Anyhow its your choice

 

[gareth_mattey]

Do you reckon the phenom ( spelling) will be as good as the core2duo?

 

[kemical]

The recent tests on the 2.2GHz Phenom showed it to be around 13-15% slower than the Q6600. The short answer is Intel chips will still be faster for the 65 nanometre design. Obviously you can still overclock and the latest AM2+ mobo's with the 790 AMD chipset look great for overclocking. I'm waiting until the Phenom production matures and the stepping improves, by then Intel will have probably gone over to 45 nanometre with the obvious benefits. AMD probably won't have chance to compete speed wise until 2009 when it goes over to 45 nanometre too. So AMD verses Intel? At the moment if you want the faster part then its Intel but if you want to go for the less expensive roadplan then its AMD.

I just read your original post again. Have you thought about just buying a new cooler? My chip is the 6400 Black Edition 3.2GHz. I use a Scythe Samurai cooler and get great temps although at the moment I don't overclock. Your CPU is still a good chip and you won't see that much of an improvement chip-wise unless you spend a lot of cash. As I said in a previous post your only gonna see around 15%. So why not buy a new cooler and overclock to around 3.3/3.4GHz? You would be getting great performance for very little cash spent.
Just to satisfy my curiosity, what temps are you getting at the moment?

 

[gareth_mattey]

1. i don't know how to overclock
2. my current cpu when converting videos for example goes up to 80+ degrees celsius.

 

[kemical]

Yup that is way too warm. Is it the stock cooler that came with the chip? Who fitted it? You definately need to upgrade that cooler and then you 'll be good to go..

Where do you live? Somewhere really hot or is the PC near a heat source?

 

[gareth_mattey]

probably my own fault, was a cpu fan from a AMD 4200+ Dual Core from when i bought the pc but when i bought the 6000+ it came without a fan so i just used that. At the time i didnt realise fans can only go up to certain ghz, so thats probably one reason it can't cope.

Recently had central heating fitted and it's made the room a lot warmer, i've turned the radiator off to stop it getting too hot. wasnt like i had the pc next to the radiator but since i've moved it theres been no bluescreens and the cpu temp has gone down 30-40 degrees at times to about 40-50.

I could quite happily keep the pc i've got, it's a good spec:

Asus M2n-Sli Deluxe Mobo, amd dual core 6000+, 4gb ddr2 667 ram, 320gb sata hdd, asus eax1550 graphics card, vista and so on.

I'm quite happy with it but i'm one of those people that when newer products come out i tend to buy them lol.

 

[kemical]

That pc is fine for at least another year, as you say its of a good spec. I couldn't make out the graphics card though, Asus eax 1550? As for your cooler, as you can tell, it really needs upgrading and like I said before the Scythe Samurai's are great, cheap and easy to install. My temps are 29c idle to 55c max load and thats a X2 3.2GHz.

 

[gareth_mattey]

Know one seems to of heard of my graphics card.

Here you go:

Link Removed

How Much did you pay for your cooler? What cpu do you have 6400+ or is it just overclocked?

 

[kemical]

Hi, yup its a 6400+ Black Edition which don't come supplied with a cooler so hence the purchase of the Scythe. I paid around £20 for mine but most decent coolers are between £20-£30. At the time of purchase I didn't have a very wide case so it had to be quite low profile and I'm more than happy with the power the chip supplies so I'm not bothered about overclocking yet.
I checked your graphics card and its based on the ATI X1550, the Asus name thru me for a while.


I couldn't find a Scythe Samurai for sale but here's the web site: Scythe "SAMURAI-Z Rev.B" 2Heat Pipes CPU Cooler

 

[gareth_mattey]

cheers for that, looks good.

I've never overclocked, how do you do it, what software? I've heard it can damage hardware components though.

 

[kemical]

You can use software to overclock but purists (myself included) consider it a no no. To achieve a stable overclock you go through the bios changing settings little by little until you find your fastest stable clock speed. I've found some info' on the subject if your interested here: Link Removed - Invalid URL
If you need any help let me know but please do read up first. Its true you can fry your hardware if your not carefull but if you take your time and read up on it you can't go far wrong.

Hi I'm off to bed but for more info check out this forum here:Link Removed Hope this helps...

 

[gareth_mattey]

thanks for the info, i've looked up on it and it only goes to 3.25ghz, not worth risking my hardware for that since im not experienced at it.

 

[kemical]

Ok thats cool but at least you checked it out. Are you going to upgrade the cooler?

 

[gareth_mattey]

i'm still 17 (hence lack of experience as you'll of realised) so still just about young enough to get money for xmas. Depends on how much i get, if i get enough i'll just upgrade or if i fancy keeping my money and buying a cheap cooler i could do that. I'll have to wait a couple more weeks to find out.