My P4 640 isn't as fast when i baught it two years ago, so, i am going to make a new computer here soon... but i am not sure what to build... I am probably going to go with 4 gigs of ram (i like to game too) but i am at a stand still on what CPU(s) i should get. I was thinking about the Q6600 (4 cores to do more work) or the E6850. But i don;t want to spend an arm and a leg on this thing, but i want to be able to do a lot of work, what do you guys think?

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Victory is the ONLY option!

My P4 640 isn't as fast when i baught it two years ago, so, i am going to make a new computer here soon... but i am not sure what to build... I am probably going to go with 4 gigs of ram (i like to game too) but i am at a stand still on what CPU(s) i should get. I was thinking about the Q6600 (4 cores to do more work) or the E6850. But i don;t want to spend an arm and a leg on this thing, but i want to be able to do a lot of work, what do you guys think?

Buy a Quadcore. If I was you, I would only buy 2gb of RAM.

http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3034

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Just recently picked up the Dell Dimension 9200 with the Intel Q6600 quadcore and 2GB RAM. No complaints.

IMHO, quadcore is where it's at. I'd go with the Q6600: the Core2 design and large L2 cache are Rosie friendly, and the current price is about 75% dicounted from what it was introduced at, barely a year or so ago.

I'm liking Dell's new Vostro PCs. I've bought several for our department and they're working well.

It looks like the really cheap deal is gone (core 2 1.6ghz, 1gb, 120, 19" lcd for 379). They now have a core 2 1.8ghz, 1gb, 160, 19" lcd for 499. Considering you can probably get 150 to 200 on ebay for the monitor (if you don't need it), you're looking at a pretty cheap machine that comes with a 1 year in home warranty.

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I am not going to buy a dell... I am going to build a desktop myself, so i can upgrade it later if i wish. The reason why i am considering 4 gigs of ram is so the i could play a game without turning off boinc

also, what about dual xeon setups, 2 quad core cpu's. where would you folks suggest i but one. is it worth the extra cash to get 2 2.66 xeon chips, or do you think the 1.86 xeons are the best bang for the buck

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Victory is the ONLY option!

I am not going to buy a dell... I am going to build a desktop myself, so i can upgrade it later if i wish. The reason why i am considering 4 gigs of ram is so the i could play a game without turning off boinc

also, what about dual xeon setups, 2 quad core cpu's. where would you folks suggest i but one. is it worth the extra cash to get 2 2.66 xeon chips, or do you think the 1.86 xeons are the best bang for the buck

In that situation, your best bet would be to build two seperate PC's.

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Team mauisun.org

I am not going to buy a dell... I am going to build a desktop myself, so i can upgrade it later if i wish. The reason why i am considering 4 gigs of ram is so the i could play a game without turning off boinc

also, what about dual xeon setups, 2 quad core cpu's. where would you folks suggest i but one. is it worth the extra cash to get 2 2.66 xeon chips, or do you think the 1.86 xeons are the best bang for the buck

I would go the q6600 and be sure to buy one with the g0 stepping. 4 gig is ok but you will be wasting abt 1/2 gig if your running a 32bit OS. I would get 3 gig (2x1gig) and 2 (2x512) to fully utilize the memory.

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e6600 quad @ 2.5ghz
2418 floating point
5227 integer

e6750 dual @ 3.71ghz
3598 floating point
7918 integer

I am not going to buy a dell... I am going to build a desktop myself, so i can upgrade it later if i wish. The reason why i am considering 4 gigs of ram is so the i could play a game without turning off boinc

also, what about dual xeon setups, 2 quad core cpu's. where would you folks suggest i but one. is it worth the extra cash to get 2 2.66 xeon chips, or do you think the 1.86 xeons are the best bang for the buck

I would go the q6600 and be sure to buy one with the g0 stepping. 4 gig is ok but you will be wasting abt 1/2 gig if your running a 32bit OS. I would get 3 gig (2x1gig) and 2 (2x512) to fully utilize the memory.

At the cost of memory today, it's really not worth worying about any loss of usable memory in 32bit OS's ;)

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Team mauisun.org

I am not going to buy a dell... I am going to build a desktop myself, so i can upgrade it later if i wish. The reason why i am considering 4 gigs of ram is so the i could play a game without turning off boinc

also, what about dual xeon setups, 2 quad core cpu's. where would you folks suggest i but one. is it worth the extra cash to get 2 2.66 xeon chips, or do you think the 1.86 xeons are the best bang for the buck

Just make sure you check the MOB forums to see if there are problems with a particular MOB. I was building the PC for RAH and I did not and the memory issue is a real problem. It actually slowed the PC down with more than 2.8 gig in it. (ASUS P5G965) In May they still did not have a bois fix for it. I ended up delaying starting RAH and had to buy a different MOB. Intel DP35DP witch can remap memory and use 4 gig. MS KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929605/en-us

Also I would make sure you use a super efficient PS I bought the 370903 Coolermaster RS-600-ASAA iGreen Power 600W which is efficient at low medium and high wattages. There are lots off other Power 80 PS's now so they are only $10.00 more than there inefficient brothers.

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Jmarks

Some of your best performance may come if make sure the processor speed and the memory speed alow for an even clock divider, otherwise your memory will not run at full speed. Here is an example. Using DDR 800mhz, the fsb of the memory is 400. Using a processor that is running at 2.8gzh, you divide 2800/400= 7. Even division and full use of memory. If you use a processor that is 3ghz, you have 3000mhz/400mhz=7.5. The memory, or so I've read, will only run at 750mhz. You may want to read up on it. Look for info on "even clock divider" as it applies to CPU's and memory speed.

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Pls let us know about your experience building the PC. I just replaced the CPU, MOBO and RAM in this one & I could not be happier. I am waiting on a really big cooler for the CPU as I want to overclock it a bit. My first attempts at overclocking were successful but the CPU was running at 78C - 81C and that is really hot. I also noticed that the standard CPU cooling fan blows hot air down toward the MOBO and that hot air then hits the RAM and any other components nearby. The new cooler will blow air toward the case exhaust fan and I expect to get better temps even at higher speeds.

Right now I am running everything at standard speeds and it is still 70C.

Make sure you have lots fans. Big fans with low RPM move lots of air and stay quiet. My next system will have all 120 mm fans.

best of luck!

BTW - does anyone have experience with Vista x64? With the memory limitations of 32 bit OSes, 64 bit sounds really good. Has anyone run into issues with drivers or a lack of support for devices with Vista x64? It looks like I can get a 64 bit BOINC Client and that is very important!!

thx

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Thx!

Paul

Pls let us know about your experience building the PC. I just replaced the CPU, MOBO and RAM in this one & I could not be happier. I am waiting on a really big cooler for the CPU as I want to overclock it a bit. My first attempts at overclocking were successful but the CPU was running at 78C - 81C and that is really hot. I also noticed that the standard CPU cooling fan blows hot air down toward the MOBO and that hot air then hits the RAM and any other components nearby. The new cooler will blow air toward the case exhaust fan and I expect to get better temps even at higher speeds.

Right now I am running everything at standard speeds and it is still 70C.

Make sure you have lots fans. Big fans with low RPM move lots of air and stay quiet. My next system will have all 120 mm fans.

best of luck!

BTW - does anyone have experience with Vista x64? With the memory limitations of 32 bit OSes, 64 bit sounds really good. Has anyone run into issues with drivers or a lack of support for devices with Vista x64? It looks like I can get a 64 bit BOINC Client and that is very important!!

thx

Vista 64 is not stable yet. Use XP 64 instead then upgrade later. It the hardware people saying their vista drivers are stable but they are not. I have 2 and they are hard to keep running.

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Jmarks