weEvil

You know what's funny vegettoxp? You posted the exact same 3 posts like on this page over here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.as...hreadid=2073083 One topic. Three posts by the OP. Two different sites. Edit: NVM. Make that a third site also exactly the same. http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=136338

Which ram does an E6850 need? I'd like to match it up best I can. No bottleneck. Will DDR2-1066 be acceptable? What If I overclock it to DDR2-1333 Speeds? Any ram kits that can do that stable?

I'm looking through the list of Post SP2 hotfixes... but I can't download any of them. No link on the Microsoft site. Where do I get them? And do I need post SP1 hotfixes along too? Or will the Second Service pack take care of that? I heard service packs only include critical updates. Also, would nLite be an ok alternative for integration?

May you be happy with the encoding and transcoding performance it delivers. Good CPU. But I'd be careful and get some great cooling. It has a heat output of something like 120W vs 60W for a regular Duo.

Simple. You keep overclocking it until you reach the scores in the benchmarks that a Q6600 does. Either that or until you reach the highest stable core. Around 4.0 GHZ from what I heard. On Air. So you run 64-bit windows instead. Problem solved. Photoshop can take use of 4GB of ram on 64-bit. Not sure about CS3. Maybe it can use 8GB and up. It does on the Mac platform.

Photoshop... hell no. You would be much better off getting lots of ram than a faster processor. A fast processor only helps when applying heavy filters that require lots of math. But in general lots of RAM for Photoshop is priority number one. A fast scratch drive is priority two so swapping large chunks of memory is at a decent speed and lastly processor speed.

I wouldn't get a quad. No apps take full advantage of it. Its still being introduced into the market. Most apps can use a maximum of only 2 cores. So a quad would only be used to half of its potential. I would just get a dual and overclock it to "quad speed". At least that way, the apps can take full advantage of it. Here are some apps that use 4 cores: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=150429 E6850 vs Q6600 Common Apps: http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel...?i=3038&p=8 Notice how only rendering and transcoding take any advantage of the Q6600. Sometimes significant depending on the application. But then again, you can always overclock the E6850 since it has much more overclocking headroom than the Q6600 (stock) and blow it out of the water.

Take the dual core. It uses half the power. Way more room for overclocking when you need it. That and like the previous poster said... games are more optimized for dual core. So why not get a really fast (after overclock) dual core? But if you really want a quad... they are really good for heavy video transcoding, cad, and rendering. Not much else until games and other apps become optimized for quads. And that might take a couple of years until they become mainstream like dual core. By that time you will have a whole new PC. You're not future proofing by getting a quad. Just get the best dual core.

Maybe. Or maybe its like with processors. They still use alot when Idling (compared to full load).

60 Watts idling is still very much. Hopefully this new hybrid SLi will help cut this down significantly.

They already do that, so I wonder what the big deal here is... After wondering I agree with you... Really? Then why does something like an 8800GTX consume roughly 150Watts doing absolutely nothing? Just idling there?

I'm a fan of AMD and I really hope they get their A game back for the next year... but this round is Intel's all the way. I'd get one of their CPUs. Maybe slightly less bang for buck initially... but when you consider the fact that they require less cooling since they use less energy, draw less from your PSU so your room doesn't get as hot and the inside of your case... turns out the Intel is better bang for buck. Plus they regularly slash prices so if its too pricey, wait a month.

Aren't workstations built out of different components? Like something containing a quadro/firegl and ECC ram would be a workstation, while a similar PC containing non-ec and a Radeon/GeForce would be a desktop. That and mix it in with what you use it for.

2600XT GDDR4 version. $150. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...p;Tpk=2600%2bXT Can't wait for the XTX when it comes out, then I'll buy one of them. Or the XT so its dirt cheap. Unless of course nVidia takes their Hibrid SLi to the desktop in time then I'm moving up to the high end models. The nVidia electric toasters. aka 8800GTX.

No. Its basically using integrated and added on graphics chipsets. So when you use your computer you use just the integrated for e-mail and word processing and stuff, and when you want to play a game your 8800GTX kicks in and takes over. That way you don't hae to have an 8800 screaming in your ear and heating up your house when all you want is to write an e-mail. You use onboard video for that.

You forgot to add Samsung in there.

http://techreport.com/ja.zz?comments=12749 In its Financial Analyst Day presentation last December, AMD unveiled a notebook technology it called "hybrid graphics." The premise of hybrid graphics is to allow notebooks to feature both integrated graphics and a dedicated graphics module and to switch seamlessly between the two. Dedicated graphics can be switched off when the notebook is running off its battery and turn back on when the system is plugged in. AMD has yet to deliver products with hybrid graphics support, but HKEPC now has word that AMD isn't the only one working on the concept. According to the Hong Kong-based site, Nvidia is developing a similar implementation that it dubs Hybrid SLI. Unlike AMD's hybrid graphics, Hybrid SLI will allow integrated and discrete graphics processors to combine their processing capabilities—perhaps the IGP could be used to compute physics, for instance. The technology appears to be intended for both notebooks and desktop systems. A purported excerpt from an Nvidia e-mail quoted by HKEPC states the following: Depending on the processing demands of each application, the discrete GPU may be completely shut-down to save power. For the most powerful of systems, where the combined power of dual Geforce 8800 GTX SLI can reach 400W, both GPUs can be powered down when the user is just doing email, surfing the web, or watching a Blu-ray movie, keeping the system completely quiet and consuming the least possible energy. But when a game, or other demanding GPU application is launched, the dual 8800 GTX�s are powered up to deliver unrivaled performance. The excerpt concludes, "Hybrid SLI is our core PC ecosystem strategy for the coming year." I can't wait until this comes out. Then I can buy a high end card and not worry about the electric bill and the cooling in my house while the computer is on!

No you can´t. Well, that's pretty useless then. Just buy a motherboard and you can pick how much RAM to put in and then upgrade. Instead of buying a new one everytime you need more RAM.

Cool idea. But can you add more ram?

Maybe. Or maybe they used the wrong measurements.

Ok.... Then why does it say FPS instead of watts?

Give it another week or so. Its getting there. But its nice to see some real numbers on performance, and power consumption. Less performance then I was expecting (AMD slideshows and their 'benchmarks'), but the power consumption seems to be much better (than expected).

The 2600 XT looks like a really nice mainstream card. Its on par with an 8600GT roughly, but uses about 38Watts max. Benches: http://www.thetechlounge.com/article/421-1...+2600+XT+256MB/

How about the price after taxes and before shipping? People live in different places and thus shipping may be less or more. Huge variable. Equipment cost for the same component... not so much.

Core 2s also have lots of cache. Even if the original Pentium Ds have a faster core clock. Cache plays a huge role in performance. That and the new ones run cooler and overclock alot. So even if you buy one that is 1.6 GHz if you have the proper cooling and motherboard you can overclock them well beyond what is advertised on the box.