i7 Or C2Q? Build me a new system.
 

So which one should I go for?
I haven't upgraded or bought a new comp since 04, and I'm really hurting for one since this one is ridiculously slow.

Full system. From Motherboard to Sound Card. Could care less about the case. As long as it looks decent and it works.

So should I go for Quad or i7?
Note that this will need to last me for the next 2+ years. I haven't played anything newer than WC3 : FT. Other than Left 4 Dead.

Needs to at least ready for SC2 or Diablo 3 when it comes out playing at the minimal level, but tons of room to go faster.

Not really a gamer, but I have aloooooot of music and videos. I mainly use it to catch up on missed episodes and music archiving. I'll need tonnnnnns of space.
Dont need : Monitor, Sound system, keyboard/mouse.

Keep it basic, but enough to be awesome for whatever the fuck new game you crazy kids play now.


Will spend upto $1500. maybe a little more.

I wouldn't even bother w/ the Core 2 Quads anymore. Either spend the extra dough to get the Core i7 or save some dough and build a Phenom II system.

anybody know when is the next round of price drops for the i7?

core i7 aren't even expensive when compared to Core 2 Quad.
its just DDR3 and the X58 boards that raise the price a lot

Exactly ...

ask yourself whether you game a lot or not.
If budget is tight and you want to wait until win7 to come out.

go buy yourself something cheap for now

to build a good i7 comp u need at least 2k without monitor and that will get u 1TB of space and a good 6gb of ram

SC2, Diablo 3.......these 2 games are easy for hardware. "I think"
If you play something like "Crysis" kind of game, then, go for i7

and how much of space you need ? 20 TB ? like me ?

I would put money into Raid to protect valuable files.

For the type of PC games you play, I'd save money and go for a C2D, and a decent video card to future proof it. Quad-core is pretty useless for gaming....All you need is a Dual-core with decent clock speds (>3GHz) and a good video card.

E8400 (overclock to 3.6-4GHz easily), GTX285/295/280/260/4870/4870x2

PS: Crysis is so poorly optimized, I would never use it as a "benchmark" to see how powerful of a system you need.

I just want something that I wouldn't need to bother upgrading in at least 3+ years. Other than maybe a video card. So really I guess Im looking for the best Mobo/processor for now. That's why I was looking at the quad/i7's. Future proof for at least a while.

Not big on gaming. Mainly archiving and the ability to play games without bullshit.

If you want a future proof system then definitely go with the i7. Although core2duo/quadcore would suffice for your needs all the same. It all depends on your budget and your ability to find good deals by price matching and finding sales online.

Nobody knows what things will be like in 3+ years, but the top of the line right now is i7....however, based on how you described your computer use, I still stand by my original recommendation and say a C2D (core2duo) is more than enough for you. If you really want quad-core, then go with i7, as the faster (extreme models) C2Q prices hardly make it worth considering. If going with C2D/C2Q I recommend going with >3GHz to future proof it, as a lower clock speed might bottle neck your video card.

Games these days are more dependent on GPU (video card) speed over CPU (to a certain extent, because the CPU still has to keep up with the GPU). In the past, a CPU can last through roughly 2-4 video card generations (unless there is a major technology change like AGP -> PCI-E).

By going the i7 route with a $1500 budget, you aren't leaving much room for a decent video card, and cheaping out on a video card with an i7 setup will gimp your gaming performance tremendously.
Don't worry about archiving data, because any computer with a big Hard drive can store data.

If you have $1500 to spend and want to spend it, then go with the i7 setup...but i just want to reiterate that I think the E8400 with a GTX295 will give you no bullshit gaming for a while.

Owning an E3110 (aka E8400) myself @ 3.87 GHz and having built many quad core systems, I would definitely disagree with this statement. Quad core is already superior in quite a few new titles (i.e. GTA IV) and the number of new games that will be quad core optimized in the future will only continue to grow. Given the relatively small price difference, I don't see much point in avoiding quad core and the Phenom IIs and Core 2 Quads overclock quite well.

so which motherboard would be the best for oc'ing the i7 in the long run? Asus, EVGA, or intel?

Lol false.
go get an XPS computer for less than 1.5k running i7

So i7 or ??

i7 my man.

I'm currently running i7
You cant go wrong with i7 other than paying the extra money over the Q series.

E8400 dual core, pretty stable, with good video card, can run SC2 and diablo.

Just built one in the summer for under 1000$ including 24in monitor. keep in mind the exchange rate was in my favor. Right now you wont be able to get a E8400 for 169$ CDN.

I have it overclocked to 3.6 GHZ. I think it will last at least 3+ yrs

thats a pretty good price. I wouldnt mind having that sorta built if I thought about it earlier.. Wasted too much money on my current setup.

lol fail. my graphic card is 4870x2.

Since your budget is around $1.5k, your decision is basically:
i7 + shitty video card = poor gaming performance
C2D/C2Q + good video card = good gaming performance.

Bump your budget up to $2K, and you'll get i7 + good video card.

The choice is yours.

As for Jmac's comment about Quad cores dominating in games:
I have a Q6600 @ 3GHz with 2x8800GT Sli, and my brother has E8400 @4GHz with 4870, and his PC dominates mine in gaming....why? It's because of the clock speed. Games will not take full advantage of a Quad core so long as there are still single and dual cores out there. Programming for multiple threads is not easy, and not necessary since CPU power is not the limiting factor with today's CPUs. A good graphics card paired with any CPU >E6600 will be able to play all the games well. But at the rate video card technology is advancing these days, most hardcore gamers are upgrading their video card atleast twice a year to stay on top.

in addition to having multi-threaded games, every game scales differently when you have multi-GPU cards.

since most stuff for the i7 is still expensive and new games arn't out yet mite as well get a c2d low end and use it for a while then make an upgrade when the prices fall and windows 7 comes out

it is really impossible to make the equipment future proof
computer tech always advancing really fast

get the i7
save up for ur video card later on, gives u an excuse to reinstall everything with w7 later on anyways