Dual Core vs Quad Core? Wood vs Coal? Petrol vs Diesel?

scotttnz wrote in post #4408043
One thing to be aware of. If you want to use it for HD DVD or Blu-Ray play back certain versions of the 8600 are better than the 8800. They have newer HD decoding circuitry on them to decode HD content in hardware, which takes load of the CPU. ...

That was true of the 8800GTS/GTX, but the 8800GT has the same HD decoding engine as the 8600. It really is the absolute best bang for the buck card on the market right now.

Moppie wrote in post #4407827
What about the Nvidia 8600 range?
The 8800 still seem to have a bit of a price premium on them here.

The 8600 is a decent chip for casual gaming...I wouldn't expect it to have much longevity as newer, more demanding games come out. If gaming is a serious hobby for you, the 8800GT is the budget card of choice. Heck, in most tests it beats the 640MB 8800GTS for about 1/2 the price.

prime80 wrote in post #4408830
If gaming is a serious hobby for you, the 8800GT is the budget card of choice. Heck, in most tests it beats the 640MB 8800GTS for about 1/2 the price.

Cheers mate, got to keep the girl friend happy

Well heres a pretty damning review of the new AMD Phenom: http://www.anandtech.c​om/showdoc.aspx?i=3153​&p=1

Its only one review, but its not the best.

And, to balance it out a different review of the Phenom: http://www.tomshardwar​e.com …weaves_its_web/​index.html

While its slower, its apprently more future proof as it's possible to buy into a more complete system, m/b, chipset, etc. (They call it "Spider").

The catch being I need a new PC by x-mass, and a lot of this stuff is not yet readialy avliable in NZ, and a lot won't be released at all untill next year.

Ok, any in put on the following:


2GB kit (1GBx2) 240-pin DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400 x2
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 80GB 7200 RPM
Seagate 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16MB
Seagate 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s 16MB
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU 2.4GHz 8Mb Quad Core
GeForce 8800GTS PCI-EX16
Intel BOXDP35DPM Dragontail Peak ATX P35 DDR2 800


The budgetary situation has changed, so I can spend a little more on the PC now.

Hence, the only thing I will save from the old one is a 250GB and a 40GB Drive and the DVD Writer.
I may, or may not save the case, that is open to speculation


The idea is to have a pair of 250gb drives for photo storage.
A 320gb drive for general use, games, software etc.
A 80gb drive for Vista
And use the 40Gb drive for XP.

The Dual boot as need to either play games under XP with friends, or make use of the quad core for PS etc, under Vista.

Sound good?

Looks good, but I honestly wouldn't spend the extra money on the 8800GTS. The 8800GT is equal to or better than the GTS in just about every benchmark, it's a single-slot card, it runs cooler, it has a better video decoding engine, and it's cheaper.

i was using the AMD Athlon 2500+ with 512MB of memory and when i started my photography work i decided to upgrade and i did it to
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 4GB DDR667 memory (800 are still so expensive in Egypt), 160 SATA2 WD drive and the gigabyte 2400HD Pro 256MB DDR2 Graphic card.
I am using my pc mainly for photo editing, internet and some need for speed and command and conquor gaming.
I find this combination very covering of all my needs, i run PSP X2 and CS3 and my internet stuff smoothly. i don't think i need anything more then this for my photo work.
I just love AMDs and i really don't think to change to Intel any time soon.

I do most of my batch processing in Lightroom these days. I've found that it can effectively use 4 cores in my system.

(click for fullsize version)

IMAGE LINK: http://www.psychogoat.​com/linked/lightroom-quad.jpg

prime80 wrote in post #4423377
Looks good, but I honestly wouldn't spend the extra money on the 8800GTS. The 8800GT is equal to or better than the GTS in just about every benchmark, it's a single-slot card, it runs cooler, it has a better video decoding engine, and it's cheaper.

Ahhh, cheers for that.
I was under the impression the GTS was much better card, I will go back to the GT then. Just hope there are some arriving in the country soon, they seem to be hard to find.

Mat Fitzsimmons wrote in post #4423590
I do most of my batch processing in Lightroom these days. I've found that it can effectively use 4 cores in my system.

Fantastic! That is exactly what i wanted to see, all 4 cores smoking along at once


I've just looked how many photos I have, 173GB worth!
I think I might have to buy two 320's for storage, and use my existing 250 for general data etc
Or, really spend big and get a pair of 500s........

Get the quad core, you know you want to. Once it arrives batch all your RAW files to DNG, just for the fun of it

tim wrote in post #4423926
Get the quad core, you know you want to. Once it arrives batch all your RAW files to DNG, just for the fun of it

ROFLOL!

Yip, I'm definitely getting the Quad Core.
Also definitely getting the Intel M/B simply because its $40 cheaper than anything comparable, and I can't imagine it having compatibility issues with the CPU

If I can find an 8800GT in the country, I will get one of those too, but there don't seem to be many retail stores left carrying brand name cards.

I'm checking PriceSpy too, it seems there are some online only retailers who can better the "wholesaler" but, they charge shipping, including on pick up orders.
However, I might be able to find a retail match for the "Wholesaler" if I'm clever with my bargaining since most places will price match now days, and some retailers listed on PriceSpy have very similar prices to the "Wholesaler".

Q6600 is the best bang for the money. Right now intel has the market wrapped around its finger. My next build will be with a Q6600, i currently run a amd64 X2 4800+. I was going to do the E660 but the price difference from the Q6600 is not that steep.

So, I did a little talking with a local retailer, and basicaly got staff prices from the sales guy.
So, I now have a:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Intel P35 Dragontail m/b
Apacer DDR2 800mhz 4x1GB
Seagate 80gb
WesterDigital 320gb (they were out of seagates)
Gigabyte 800W power supply.

They, like most of the shops at the moment have sold out of the 8800GT.
That should be in on Thursday.

I'm thinking I will also pick up a pair of 500gb drives, and a case with a couple of fans to fit it all into.
Current case only has 4 drive bays, I need at least 5.
Its also a bit bent, but I bought cheap because of that.

That will mean:
Vista on an 80gb SATA2 drive.
XP on a 40gb IDE drive (for LAN gaming).
320GB for general storage, movies, games, etc
2 x 500gb for photo storage ONLY. One as back up to the other.
1x 250gb Sata drive for, well, I sort of forgot I had it........
The m/b has an extranal SATA connector, so I might but the 250gb in a case, and use it for off site back up. Put my most important photos on it, with other documents etc, and keep it at work.

Looks pretty good to me
Are you going to run Vista x64?