Gaming Getting a new motherboard question

[Harsky]

My current motherboard can't support more than 4gb RAM or the newer CPU. Which is why after Christmas, I am going to give it an overhaul So far, this one caught my eye:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167788

But the PCI-Express is only x16 but I see graphics card that require the PCI-Express 2.0. Will this cause any problem?

Also, how much more performance can I expect if I get Windows 7 64bit with 8gb RAM and is this CPU decent:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971

 

[Minox]

That motherboard's chipset only supports PCI-Express 1.1, however PCI-Express 2.0 GPUs will still function as they are backwards compatible with the older standards.

As for the CPU, it's a really good dual core CPU for overclocking and should work really well. Of course, there are better ones but it's a good one nonetheless.

 

[Elritha]

That motherboard has an integrated gpu. If you're getting a dedicated graphics card I would be more inclined to get another motherboard. There's little point in paying extra for a feature you won't be using. A micro atx while smaller, also normally has less features then a atx board. Something to keep in mind.

The e8400 is an excellent dual core cpu. I have it in my current rig.

You should see a sizeable difference when running windows 7 with a large amount of ram. Windows Vista and 7 tries to make use of all your available ram by caching files and programs to ram for more instant access.

 

[Harsky]

Bumping this thread with a new question.

I see a decent priced Core 2 Duo but then I see a Core 2 Quad for extra. Is there any real performance difference between Duo and Quad and is it worth the extra cost?

 

[Elritha]

Depends on the speed of each one in question. For gaming not many games actually make use of a Quad Core. For video encoding and other cpu intensive applications that are optimised for multi-core it'd be better.

Personally I would choose a faster Dual Core then a slower Quad Core.

 

[Harsky]

Well, the ones I'm thinking about is either between these core 2 duo:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139971
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/140428

Or these quad core:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148545
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/164520

 

[Elritha]

I'd avoid the Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 altogether. It only has 4MB L2 cache, for a Quad Core that isn't much at all.

For the Dual Core I don't think it's worth getting the 8500 over the 8400, for the price difference.

There isn't too much of a speed difference between the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400 compared to the 8400. It will be slower in almost every game, but will be more future proof when games utilize more then 2 cores. You could always overclock it to gain similar clock speeds to the 8400 also.

After looking at the prices and specs I would be more leaning towards the Quad if I had a little extra budget to spare. Both are good cpus anyway, in my opinion.

 

[Joe88]

Q9550 if you can spare it...