Advice on new mobo and processor

[Seaking]

Seeking advice.....

Just looking into upgrading my mobo and processor, I really like ASUS mobos and want to stick with them. At the moment I have the A5SLI deluxe with AMD 4800 dual core

I am looking at getting into a better mobo with quad processor, I was looking at a P5 Asus mobo and Q6600 quad 2.4Ghz with that I would add 4 gig or RAM.

Here is one I was looking at, I know the bigger the price is not always the best to get
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...322&CatId=1599

Any advice from all the HW gurus out there would be appreciated, I'm going to just buy the parts and upgrade as I already have just got a 8800GTS

Thanks

[DaveB]

Hi Seaking

No 'Guru's' available at the mo I'm afraid.. only me However.. I'd definately stick with an Asus mobo (I can't think of anything bad to say about any of the ones I've had).

I've yet to see how a Q performs over an E so can't really comment. I have seen a 3ghz Core2 dual core run and it goes like sh1t off a shovel and is probably a few quid cheaper. Depends on what OS you intend to run I suppose. I have a 2.24 E6600 and the 3ghz runs it ragged ;-) . I'd guess that the Q is only going to perform wildly better if the OS and program used support what the Q has to offer. In that case.. clock speed isn't everything

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Quixoticish]

Just my 2p but at the moment there is very little need to purchase a quad core processor. Unless you're doing a lot of number crunching or something that is very heavily dependent on CPU power you'll get more bang for your buck with a dual core, for general windows use and gaming the dual core seems to hit a "sweet spot" because you can pick up a far higher clock speed on a dual core than you can a quad core for the same price. Most applications can't even take advantage of two cores yet let alone four at the moment.

If you're getting 4GB of RAM you might want to consider a 64bit operating system so that Windows can actually use that amount of memory.

[DaveB]

Good point Chris.. I'd forgotten the 4gb suggestion

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Seaking]

Good info there Chris, I'm still running XPP but have been very wary of going to Vista given all the issues
people have been having with it. I have 3gig of ram at the moment, what I'm after is being able to run FSX
at an airport without being a slideshow. I've done all the tweaks that are out there, I can run it with about 25fps
and it looks great, but as soon as I get near somewhere like Gatwick.......slide show and I have no sliders to max
and most AI all closed off.

I know FSX accel and XP SP2 allows you to run more than 2 gig ram, I know any flightsim is not so much hungry
for the vid card but more on the GPU hence my looking to upgrade.

As always I know this is the right place to come to get great feedback and info.

[Seaking]

for the vid card but more on the GPU hence my looking to upgrade.

Should have read CPU not GPU.

[DaveB]

Seaking..

You can get away with AI at 100% on a 3gig DualCore (E).. with the card you've mentioned on 2gig of ram at LHR (LHR2008 from Aerosoft) and it'll slow to around 35-40fps if you turn toward the most populated part of the airport. I say slow.. it doesn't really That's using XPSP2 with FSX+ACC ;-)

Most new mobos should take up to and beyond the latest batch of Q's anyway so should you go to Vista or the next incarnation.. you'll be quids in with an easy upgrade. Don't forget.. you can probably overclock the 3gig chip too though I wouldn't try it with the standard heatsink ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Rick Piper]

Hi Guys

I can guarantee a quad core is far better for FSX than a dual core. (if you have sp2 installed or Acceleration)

I went from an E6600 to a Q6600 and got slightly better framerate but much much smoother experience with FSX

I run an ASUS P5B Deluxe with the Q6600 (watercooled now @3.58 ghz) but ran fine at 3.0 ghz on air

Regards
Rick

[Seaking]

Thanks for the feedback guys, helps a lot.