Intel Multicore Processors and GPU's?

Question

I was planning to get a Core 2 Duo E6600 by 2008. With Quad Core now, I just may get that, however, I really dont want to resort to that level. And THEN, knowing the Penryn processors are soon to come out, I dont know if I should get a processor from their group. Which processor(E6600,Quad,Penryn) would be best as of right now, and give decent "mileage"?
Also, what motherboards are compatible with the new gen Penryn?

My next question is concerning nVidia and their GPUs. Im content with getting the GeForce 8800GTX, but again, the 8900 series is on its way. I feel the 8800GTX may be best answer.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Answer 1

Personally, I think that you're too concerned about getting the latest and greatest. Maybe this is OK if money is no object, but being cash-limited myself, I can't help but consider these things.

Currently I know of no plans by Intel to produce a CPU requiring a new socket. I have been looking into such things recently because I am planning on purchasing a system for myself. You should be safe on *that* score. They *are* producing DDR3 motherboards for Intel now, but they use the same socket.

Remember that there is a constant CPU war on (as well as a GPU war). Today's $220 CPU (E6600) will be next-years $110 CPU, and the $110 CPU that you can buy *today* is nearly as fast as the $220 CPU. Compare the performance of the E4300 ($115) with the E6600 ($220): http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/core2duo_e4300/ . Without overclocking, the E4300 has about 80% of the speed of the E6600 at only half the cost. AMDs new line of CPUs is supposed to be in production by September, so Intel's will get quite a bit cheaper - especially if you wait until Feb, when the Christmas price hikes are over. My general advice: don't pay more than $100 for a CPU. If you want more, just remember: in the CPU world, you *don't* get a lot more when you *pay* a lot more.

The same is true of graphics cards. http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=740&model2=722&chart=318 Sure, the 8800GTX is awesome. So is its price (over $500). An 8800GTS, at less than $300 (60% of the cost), gives you more than 80% of the performance.

Let me assure you, any new top-ranked CPUs and GPUs that arrive by Jan are going to be as over-priced as these we've mentioned today. In the world of PC components, go ahead and settle for second class. Your wallet will thank you.

Where you *shouldn't* skimp:
1) Monitor visual quality (it's *your* eyes, after all)
2) RAM quantity (4GB at least for Vista, and leave room to upgrade)
3) Hard Drive speed. I put this third because, even though the hard drive is often the most limiting factor in PC speed, it also suffers from "the best is not really much better" syndrome. Settle for second-best in hard drive speed, but don't settle for anything less than second-best.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 2

Well first you need to decide if you need a quad core or a dual core. Quads will be beneficial if you do stuff that involves multithreaded applications, 3D rendering, video editing are some examples. Also if you do heavy multitasking, and by that I mean three or more processor intensive programs at once, then a quad core would be good. If you do gaming, or just basic computer stuff like typing, internet, email, etc, then dual core will be just fine.

Once you have that decided, then it comes to whether you buy now or wait. The new Penryn will have both dual core and quad core versions, and both will be faster than their current counterparts. Its pretty simple, if you need a computer now, then you will have to get what is available now, if you can wait until next year, then you will probably want to look at one of the Penryns. As for motherboards, the ones with the Bearlake chipset from Intel are guaranteed compatbible, the others are iffy, but I would suspect that the one with nVidia 600 series will be compatible.

As for the GPU, again the same idea applies. No matter when you buy, in a few months something better will be out. By 2008, not only will the 8900 be out, but the 9800 will be out as well. The best you can do is buy whatever fits your needs at the time of buying, and then upgrade later. Trying to spend a hugh amount of money now on a card in hopes of not having to upgrade for several years is not a good idea, better to spend a little less now with the intention of upgrading in the future.

Answer 3

Well, I've not heard of Penryn, but I am assuming it the manufacturer? If so, I don't see how we'd know if those are better than Conroes, until they actually come out. It's going to be atleast a few years before there's a real point to getting a quad-core system. They may become standard within a year or two, but just as dual-cores are standard now, almost nothing uses them.

I'd wait a little bit, to see hot the 8900s are. If the price difference isn't worth it, a month or two after the 8900s come out, the current 8K series will have a large drop in prices, espicially the 8800s because there will be a new "top dog" GPU. So if you don't have a problem waiting a few months, go ahead and wait.

Also, unless you really want Intel, in August or September (forgot which month) Barcelonas will come out, which might end up being worth getting.