To the OP... Your linked article and your whole thread here is VERY misleading to say the least. You are comparing a super overclocked AMD to a stock Intel for starters. Then you also are talking about TWO games. TWO games that under the right circumstances suit the AMD cpu better. In almost every other application and game, the Intel i7 will blow away this AMD cpu, especially if you overclock the Intel to the same degree that the AMD is OC'd here.
I am not saying that you haven't found a system that would give you a great bang for your dollar.. you would be getting a great bang for your gaming dollar with your proposed set up.
However, almost every test, article, and rating chart I have seen prove that the Intel i7 cpu is easily one of the most powerful processors on the market right now. Not the best best value for your dollar, no. But overall, the i7 does not shy away from the AMD 940, and nor does it fall short power wise over fair testing.
You can also find support that shows us all that under the right circumstances - that a square peg fits through a round hole better then the round peg does.. but you are looking at the exception to the rule when you look at it it this way.
4G Ram @ 1066 stock (remember you basicially have 8M cache)
Amd 970gx chipset with 3300 HD graphics
Notes: Due to large cache, and amd 970gx graphics chipset, this rig will preform better than An i7 rig in games (More FPS). 970gx graphics chipset makes it very easy to OC and also creates the ability to OC 30% more than with BIOS.
_________
Cost: $499 without rebates
Oh and for you non believers, here are benchmarks: LINK
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
4G Ram @ 1066 stock (remember you basicially have 8M cache)
Amd 970gx chipset with 3300 HD graphics
Notes: Due to large cache, and amd 970gx graphics chipset, this rig will preform better than An i7 rig in games (More FPS). 970gx graphics chipset makes it very easy to OC and also creates the ability to OC 30% more than with BIOS.
_________
Cost: $499 without rebates
Oh and for you non believers, here are benchmarks: LINK
phenom 2s can be overclocked way past what an i7 can do, if youve got liquid cooling, or at least thats what ive read. phenom 2s can hit 6ghz-6.4ghz with liquid cooling, and there WAY cheaper. ATI graphics cards are pretty good too, a 4650 HD 1 GB is only $100 at microcenter, and i think a Nvidia that good was about $130-$150
To the OP... Your linked article and your whole thread here is VERY misleading to say the least. You are comparing a super overclocked AMD to a stock Intel for starters. Then you also are talking about TWO games. TWO games that under the right circumstances suit the AMD cpu better. In almost every other application and game, the Intel i7 will blow away this AMD cpu, especially if you overclock the Intel to the same degree that the AMD is OC'd here. I am not saying that you haven't found a system that would give you a great bang for your dollar.. you would be getting a great bang for your gaming dollar with your proposed set up. However, almost every test, article, and rating chart I have seen prove that the Intel i7 cpu is easily one of the most powerful processors on the market right now. Not the best best value for your dollar, no. But overall, the i7 does not shy away from the AMD 940, and nor does it fall short power wise over fair testing. You can also find support that shows us all that under the right circumstances - that a square peg fits through a round hole better then the round peg does.. but you are looking at the exception to the rule when you look at it it this way.
- Zaxx
3.8 ghz isnt superoverclocked for a phenom 2, they can hit 6 without blowing up...
phenom 2s can be overclocked way past what an i7 can do, if youve got liquid cooling, or at least thats what ive read. phenom 2s can hit 6ghz-6.4ghz with liquid cooling, and there WAY cheaper. ATI graphics cards are pretty good too, a 4650 HD 1 GB is only $100 at microcenter, and i think a Nvidia that good was about $130-$150
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
Word I'm running a quad core phenom 9950 with 4 SLI Nvidia 280 GTX cards with 16 gigs of 1066 ddr3 corsair technology memory if you add the graphics card memory that's 24 gigs total. and a 1t seagate baracuda SATA hard drive with 7.1 dolby digital surround sound with a zalman cooler with vista x64.
She is a BEAST. lol
mmorpg's flop faster then mcdonalds cheese burgers these days.
Word I'm running a quad core phenom 9950 with 4 SLI Nvidia 280 GTX cards with 16 gigs of 1066 ddr3 corsair technology memory if you add the graphics card memory that's 24 gigs total. and a 1t seagate baracuda SATA hard drive with 7.1 dolby digital surround sound with a zalman cooler with vista x64. She is a BEAST. lol
DAMN that is a beast!
Games played:Warhammer, Atlantica, Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, DDO, City of Heroes/Villians, Aion, and Global Agenda... Games playing: Age of Conan & EVE Games waiting for: SWTOR
From my personal experience, and I may be wrong, AMDs are generally good for gaming and Intels are good for applications which rely heavily on the CPU. That is not to say that Intel's i7 is bad for gaming, it's the best CPU family on the market right now and even the 920 will outperform most AMD and Intel CPUs. Plus it is extremely easy to overclock as well. They are both good CPU manufacturers though, and the Intel's i7 and AMD's Phenom II X4 are both very good processors. AMDs are also generally cheaper and buying an i7 brings with it additional costs of compatible motherboards and DDR3 ram, which are generally a bit pricey. That being said, I am extremely happy with my i7 system. It brings most games to their knees and allows me to play everything on max settings.
While I try staying on subject, i did purchase a gaming laptop from gateway with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo (The Gateway FX P-7811). While i play games exceptionally well (For a damn laptop) I am looking to upgrade the Processors and GFX Card (To a 1g+ GPU instead of the nasty 512MB) so i can get a better framerate from games like AoC. My question to you is when limited to 2 processors (instead of teh AMD 4 cores) is it better for me to get the Core 2 i7's when they become mainstream or go with a Core 2 AMD (monet is not a problem, my pc to me is a worthy investment seeing as I play on it ALOT, mmos mostly)? Now im not PC savvy but the i7 seems like its more packed in a smaller package (believe i read somewhere that i7 has multiple something per core or was it more units per core? dont remember.)
So when limited for gaming performance and only 2 cores which will give me a bigger bang? All in all unless someone draws me a picture, i prolly wont know how the feck to even overclock my amd's while Its "so easy a moron can do it apparently for intel 7's" which may be why i get a intel regardless.
One more random thought, to get Graphic card drivers I have to go on the gateway website, so what would happen if i swapped for a different GFX card? I am pretty damn sure it isnt intergrated, but what would happen if i got a new one when i had to update drivers?
phenom 2s can be overclocked way past what an i7 can do, if youve got liquid cooling, or at least thats what ive read. phenom 2s can hit 6ghz-6.4ghz with liquid cooling, and there WAY cheaper. ATI graphics cards are pretty good too, a 4650 HD 1 GB is only $100 at microcenter, and i think a Nvidia that good was about $130-$150
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
Also another thing I wanted to ask was what gives more for less heat? Now that you guys mention it seeing as i have laptop I cant get the thing to hot.
phenom 2s can be overclocked way past what an i7 can do, if youve got liquid cooling, or at least thats what ive read. phenom 2s can hit 6ghz-6.4ghz with liquid cooling, and there WAY cheaper. ATI graphics cards are pretty good too, a 4650 HD 1 GB is only $100 at microcenter, and i think a Nvidia that good was about $130-$150
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
You might want to search up on what liquid cooling is first buddy.
From my personal experience, and I may be wrong, AMDs are generally good for gaming and Intels are good for applications which rely heavily on the CPU. That is not to say that Intel's i7 is bad for gaming, it's the best CPU family on the market right now and even the 920 will outperform most AMD and Intel CPUs. Plus it is extremely easy to overclock as well. They are both good CPU manufacturers though, and the Intel's i7 and AMD's Phenom II X4 are both very good processors. AMDs are also generally cheaper and buying an i7 brings with it additional costs of compatible motherboards and DDR3 ram, which are generally a bit pricey. That being said, I am extremely happy with my i7 system. It brings most games to their knees and allows me to play everything on max settings.
While I try staying on subject, i did purchase a gaming laptop from gateway with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo (The Gateway FX P-7811). While i play games exceptionally well (For a damn laptop) I am looking to upgrade the Processors and GFX Card (To a 1g+ GPU instead of the nasty 512MB) so i can get a better framerate from games like AoC. My question to you is when limited to 2 processors (instead of teh AMD 4 cores) is it better for me to get the Core 2 i7's when they become mainstream or go with a Core 2 AMD (monet is not a problem, my pc to me is a worthy investment seeing as I play on it ALOT, mmos mostly)? Now im not PC savvy but the i7 seems like its more packed in a smaller package (believe i read somewhere that i7 has multiple something per core or was it more units per core? dont remember.)
So when limited for gaming performance and only 2 cores which will give me a bigger bang? All in all unless someone draws me a picture, i prolly wont know how the feck to even overclock my amd's while Its "so easy a moron can do it apparently for intel 7's" which may be why i get a intel regardless.
One more random thought, to get Graphic card drivers I have to go on the gateway website, so what would happen if i swapped for a different GFX card? I am pretty damn sure it isnt intergrated, but what would happen if i got a new one when i had to update drivers?
When upgrading the processor, you need to make sure that you have a compatible socket motherboard. Core 2 Duo is socket LGA 775, while an i7 is socket LGA 1366. The two processors are not interchangeable.
So in your case the i7 processor is not going to work. Neither is the AMD Phenom II, unless you purchase a brand new motherboard that is. Being that we're talking about a laptop though I'm not sure how well that's going to work out. Your best bet, short of buying a brand new PC is to see if you can upgrade the ram and the video card.
If you are going to be purchasing a new PC for gaming, both the Phenom II and the i7 are great processors. An average user will probably not notice any major differences between the two. One thing about the i7 processors is that while they are better than the latest AMD Phenom II's, the motherboards and the RAM required for the i7's are more expensive. It does tend to run a bit high so an aftermarket cooling solution is a good idea if you're planning to overclock it. A decent air cooler is enough though, no reason to bother with liquid. The stock cooler that comes with the i7 is good enough if you're not going to overclock. Overall, though, the i7 is a beast.
As far as your question about keeping your laptop cool, you might want to look into a decent laptop cooling pad. You can generally get a decent one from Newegg.com for about $30-$60. Laptops do get warm especially if you're using one for gaming.
phenom 2s can be overclocked way past what an i7 can do, if youve got liquid cooling, or at least thats what ive read. phenom 2s can hit 6ghz-6.4ghz with liquid cooling, and there WAY cheaper. ATI graphics cards are pretty good too, a 4650 HD 1 GB is only $100 at microcenter, and i think a Nvidia that good was about $130-$150
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
You might want to search up on what liquid cooling is first buddy.
Before making snide remarks, you might want to look up what sort of cooling was used to bring up the AMD in question to 6-7GHz, pal. It was done in an AMD lab with liquid nitrogen and liquid helium used as cooling agents.
From my personal experience, and I may be wrong, AMDs are generally good for gaming and Intels are good for applications which rely heavily on the CPU. That is not to say that Intel's i7 is bad for gaming, it's the best CPU family on the market right now and even the 920 will outperform most AMD and Intel CPUs. Plus it is extremely easy to overclock as well. They are both good CPU manufacturers though, and the Intel's i7 and AMD's Phenom II X4 are both very good processors. AMDs are also generally cheaper and buying an i7 brings with it additional costs of compatible motherboards and DDR3 ram, which are generally a bit pricey. That being said, I am extremely happy with my i7 system. It brings most games to their knees and allows me to play everything on max settings.
While I try staying on subject, i did purchase a gaming laptop from gateway with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo (The Gateway FX P-7811). While i play games exceptionally well (For a damn laptop) I am looking to upgrade the Processors and GFX Card (To a 1g+ GPU instead of the nasty 512MB) so i can get a better framerate from games like AoC. My question to you is when limited to 2 processors (instead of teh AMD 4 cores) is it better for me to get the Core 2 i7's when they become mainstream or go with a Core 2 AMD (monet is not a problem, my pc to me is a worthy investment seeing as I play on it ALOT, mmos mostly)? Now im not PC savvy but the i7 seems like its more packed in a smaller package (believe i read somewhere that i7 has multiple something per core or was it more units per core? dont remember.)
So when limited for gaming performance and only 2 cores which will give me a bigger bang? All in all unless someone draws me a picture, i prolly wont know how the feck to even overclock my amd's while Its "so easy a moron can do it apparently for intel 7's" which may be why i get a intel regardless.
One more random thought, to get Graphic card drivers I have to go on the gateway website, so what would happen if i swapped for a different GFX card? I am pretty damn sure it isnt intergrated, but what would happen if i got a new one when i had to update drivers?
When upgrading the processor, you need to make sure that you have a compatible socket motherboard. Core 2 Duo is socket LGA 775, while an i7 is socket LGA 1366. The two processors are not interchangeable.
So in your case the i7 processor is not going to work. Neither is the AMD Phenom II, unless you purchase a brand new motherboard that is. Being that we're talking about a laptop though I'm not sure how well that's going to work out. Your best bet, short of buying a brand new PC is to see if you can upgrade the ram and the video card.
If you are going to be purchasing a new PC for gaming, both the Phenom II and the i7 are great processors. An average user will probably not notice any major differences between the two. One thing about the i7 processors is that while they are better than the latest AMD Phenom II's, the motherboards and the RAM required for the i7's are more expensive. It does tend to run a bit high so an aftermarket cooling solution is a good idea if you're planning to overclock it. A decent air cooler is enough though, no reason to bother with liquid. The stock cooler that comes with the i7 is good enough if you're not going to overclock. Overall, though, the i7 is a beast.
As far as your question about keeping your laptop cool, you might want to look into a decent laptop cooling pad. You can generally get a decent one from Newegg.com for about $30-$60. Laptops do get warm especially if you're using one for gaming.
Anyway, hope that helped. Good luck!
So I need to get new sticks of ram to go with the Core i7s? Is there anywhere i can look at what kind of processors my laptop can support? And are those sockets for laptop or desktop for the i7's?
So I need to get new sticks of ram to go with the Core i7s? Is there anywhere i can look at what kind of processors my laptop can support? And are those sockets for laptop or desktop for the i7's?
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
It's decent, but it's not better than an i7 for gaming. Put together a Phenom @ ;the same $1000 price point of an i7 and the i7 drops a 500 pound boulder on the Phenom. Especially if you keep going higher in price, the i7 begins to obliterate the Phenom even more.
Other than that, excluding everything else, it's not a bad buy @ ;~$600 if someone wants to watch movies. However, you can easily cut out some dollars from that build with much better quality parts. I can build an i7 for $700 excluding everything you've mentioned that has an actual graphics card which means it will absolutely destroy your build hahaha. But that's because I know where to buy and don't only use one source.
But real world performance is all that matters as well as different variables like resolution and overclocking or not. Things aren't always cut out like you're putting it.
Plus, you're talking about a board made for an HTPC with its onboard graphics.
Yeah...
Nice try but anybody who knows anything about computers or even last years technology knows that this is not a build to do anything other than watch YouTube and Blu-Ray movies and you didn't even include a Blu-Ray drive hahaha. There's no way it can hang with the i7 in anything to be honest. It's simply inferior technology.
My favorite part is that you showed benchmarks using a GTX 280. That's a single card setup and everything being played is completely GPU limited. Throw in an SLI or Crossfire setup and the i7 will urinate all over the Phenom setup.
People, please just Google anything remotely smart and you'll find out that this guy just learned about computers yesterday or the day before and believes he knows everything needed.
So I need to get new sticks of ram to go with the Core i7s? Is there anywhere i can look at what kind of processors my laptop can support? And are those sockets for laptop or desktop for the i7's?
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
* Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
* Dimensions: 1.3-1.70 (H) x 15.75 (W) x 11.75 inches
* Weights: 9.2 lbs.
Now im not very smart when i comes to some aspects of upgrading CPU but it has been tested and proven that this laptop is in fact upgradeable from a P8400 to a P9500, using underfvolting as a means of maintaining the same cooling if not a more cooler laptop. The problem is 2 things, 1. i cant find what kind of motherboard specs the laptop has. 2. It isnt posted anywhere whether the i7 is doable with this computer (which prolly makes sense when you mentioned the i7's used in laptops now is desktop which is why i wrote "when they become mainstream for laptops). So what i am asking is if i just want a notable, maybe a small upgrade, maybe just increasing my PC game performance by 15-20% without OCing would just getting a P9500 be good enough? It seems i may be jumping the gun getting a i7 or more like overdoing it, but I like the whole idea of easy OCing, but i could always just slightly OC a weaker CPU....to make up for it >.<?
So I need to get new sticks of ram to go with the Core i7s? Is there anywhere i can look at what kind of processors my laptop can support? And are those sockets for laptop or desktop for the i7's?
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
* Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
* Dimensions: 1.3-1.70 (H) x 15.75 (W) x 11.75 inches
* Weights: 9.2 lbs.
Now im not very smart when i comes to some aspects of upgrading CPU but it has been tested and proven that this laptop is in fact upgradeable from a P8400 to a P9500, using underfvolting as a means of maintaining the same cooling if not a more cooler laptop. The problem is 2 things, 1. i cant find what kind of motherboard specs the laptop has. 2. It isnt posted anywhere whether the i7 is doable with this computer (which prolly makes sense when you mentioned the i7's used in laptops now is desktop which is why i wrote "when they become mainstream for laptops). So what i am asking is if i just want a notable, maybe a small upgrade, maybe just increasing my PC game performance by 15-20% without OCing would just getting a P9500 be good enough? It seems i may be jumping the gun getting a i7 or more like overdoing it, but I like the whole idea of easy OCing, but i could always just slightly OC a weaker CPU....to make up for it >.<?
Personally, I don't think it will make a big difference. The P8400 is at 2.26GHz and the P9500 is at 2.53GHz. Yes, the P9500 is slightly faster but it probably runs a bit hotter as well. It all depends on the price difference though. If it's negligible, going with the faster processor is a good way to go.
As for it being upgradable, both the P8400 and P9500 are part of the Core 2 family of processors. Thus, they are the same socket and will fit into the same motherboard. The i7, on the other hand, is a whole different family of processors and has it's own type of socket. As a matter of fact, the i7 is a lot different than the previous Intel processors and as such requires a special motherboard designed specifically for the i7.
About overclocking: depending on how your laptop is, your BIOS may be locked which will make it impossible to overclock that way. You'll probably have to use overclocking software which may or may not get the job done. I have no experience with it either way, so I wouldn't know. However, two major factors when dealing with laptops are heat and power usage.
Overclocking will require more power and will drain your battery much faster. Overclocking also causes your processor to run hotter which may, depending on how the cooling is set up, effect other components--like RAM and video card (which will generate it's own share of heat btw)--which may cause system instability and not to mention the fact that may burn out the processor as well.
Now you can obviously keep your laptop plugged in and sitting on a cooling pad but in that case you might as well get a regular desktop PC which will be cheaper and probably more powerful.
Also keep in mind that overclocking the CPU will probably void your warranty with Gateway so if you burn it out, it's on you.
Either way, you have a decent laptop there. It's not going to run Crysis at max settings but it should have very decent results in most games.
So I need to get new sticks of ram to go with the Core i7s? Is there anywhere i can look at what kind of processors my laptop can support? And are those sockets for laptop or desktop for the i7's?
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
* Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
* Dimensions: 1.3-1.70 (H) x 15.75 (W) x 11.75 inches
* Weights: 9.2 lbs.
Now im not very smart when i comes to some aspects of upgrading CPU but it has been tested and proven that this laptop is in fact upgradeable from a P8400 to a P9500, using underfvolting as a means of maintaining the same cooling if not a more cooler laptop. The problem is 2 things, 1. i cant find what kind of motherboard specs the laptop has. 2. It isnt posted anywhere whether the i7 is doable with this computer (which prolly makes sense when you mentioned the i7's used in laptops now is desktop which is why i wrote "when they become mainstream for laptops). So what i am asking is if i just want a notable, maybe a small upgrade, maybe just increasing my PC game performance by 15-20% without OCing would just getting a P9500 be good enough? It seems i may be jumping the gun getting a i7 or more like overdoing it, but I like the whole idea of easy OCing, but i could always just slightly OC a weaker CPU....to make up for it >.<?
Personally, I don't think it will make a big difference. The P8400 is at 2.26GHz and the P9500 is at 2.53GHz. Yes, the P9500 is slightly faster but it probably runs a bit hotter as well. It all depends on the price difference though. If it's negligible, going with the faster processor is a good way to go.
As for it being upgradable, both the P8400 and P9500 are part of the Core 2 family of processors. Thus, they are the same socket and will fit into the same motherboard. The i7, on the other hand, is a whole different family of processors and has it's own type of socket. As a matter of fact, the i7 is a lot different than the previous Intel processors and as such requires a special motherboard designed specifically for the i7.
About overclocking: depending on how your laptop is, your BIOS may be locked which will make it impossible to overclock that way. You'll probably have to use overclocking software which may or may not get the job done. I have no experience with it either way, so I wouldn't know. However, two major factors when dealing with laptops are heat and power usage.
Overclocking will require more power and will drain your battery much faster. Overclocking also causes your processor to run hotter which may, depending on how the cooling is set up, effect other components--like RAM and video card (which will generate it's own share of heat btw)--which may cause system instability and not to mention the fact that may burn out the processor as well.
Now you can obviously keep your laptop plugged in and sitting on a cooling pad but in that case you might as well get a regular desktop PC which will be cheaper and probably more powerful.
Also keep in mind that overclocking the CPU will probably void your warranty with Gateway so if you burn it out, it's on you.
Either way, you have a decent laptop there. It's not going to run Crysis at max settings but it should have very decent results in most games.
So what your saying is when the laptop i7's hit mainstream ill prolly not be able to use them on my laptop? Regardless its not too bad if i just get a slight upgrade. I know my laptop is very nice and yes i dont play games like crysis, its mostly used for mmos. I currently run WAR on high as well as Aion and decently on AoC but thanks to mmos like WAR my framerate does get a tad bit low when there is a lot of action on the screen (not necessarily my pcs fault, the game is very faulty and laggy at times too thanks to the horrible implentation of server stability and ui for a "massive pvp game"). Also, AoC just redid some of thier client side issues so i was able to increase my graphics and shadows when i re trialed the game but I could still use a boost for my current setings.
In case you are wondering I do play my lappy plugged in and with a nice 60 dollar cooling pad so if i consider this undervolting strategy Im sure a better CPU wont hurt the temp of my PC too much. I know its hard and pointless to lug around a 9 pound laptop but i live in AZ so during the summer the side of my house where my room is at gets VERY hot so i like to move it to my kitchen island. Moving a laptop with a cooling pad isnt a chore at all to me, plus my job requires for me to move from place to place. I dont currently have the need to spend money on a desktop for this reason so i want to make the most of this laptop.
As i said im just looking for some small boosts to make the games i run well to run a little smoother when times get rough (hence the 10-20% boost im speaking of) All im really considering is to possible knock out my current card and consider either a GTX card when they become mainstream for laptop, or maybe find a card that can give me more than 512mb GPU (hoping for a 1g or maybe prayin for a 1.5G) which has not been going well seeing as i cant really find a good selection of them atm. And as for my CPU, i know that a p8400 2.26 dual core is pretty, but why settle when you can go higher and faster.
So what your saying is when the laptop i7's hit mainstream ill prolly not be able to use them on my laptop? Regardless its not too bad if i just get a slight upgrade. I know my laptop is very nice and yes i dont play games like crysis, its mostly used for mmos. I currently run WAR on high as well as Aion and decently on AoC but thanks to mmos like WAR my framerate does get a tad bit low when there is a lot of action on the screen (not necessarily my pcs fault, the game is very faulty and laggy at times too thanks to the horrible implentation of server stability and ui for a "massive pvp game"). Also, AoC just redid some of thier client side issues so i was able to increase my graphics and shadows when i re trialed the game but I could still use a boost for my current setings. In case you are wondering I do play my lappy plugged in and with a nice 60 dollar cooling pad so if i consider this undervolting strategy Im sure a better CPU wont hurt the temp of my PC too much. I know its hard and pointless to lug around a 9 pound laptop but i live in AZ so during the summer the side of my house where my room is at gets VERY hot so i like to move it to my kitchen island. Moving a laptop with a cooling pad isnt a chore at all to me, plus my job requires for me to move from place to place. I dont currently have the need to spend money on a desktop for this reason so i want to make the most of this laptop. As i said im just looking for some small boosts to make the games i run well to run a little smoother when times get rough (hence the 10-20% boost im speaking of) All im really considering is to possible knock out my current card and consider either a GTX card when they become mainstream for laptop, or maybe find a card that can give me more than 512mb GPU (hoping for a 1g or maybe prayin for a 1.5G) which has not been going well seeing as i cant really find a good selection of them atm. And as for my CPU, i know that a p8400 2.26 dual core is pretty, but why settle when you can go higher and faster.
Judging by the i7's lack of compatibility with older motherboards, I highly doubt that a laptop i7 will be compatible as well. It's a totally different processor.
Upgrading the video card will be a good move and the faster processor will help out as well and as long as you're keeping the laptop cool, you should be OK. I still wouldn't recommend overclocking it though.
So what your saying is when the laptop i7's hit mainstream ill prolly not be able to use them on my laptop? Regardless its not too bad if i just get a slight upgrade. I know my laptop is very nice and yes i dont play games like crysis, its mostly used for mmos. I currently run WAR on high as well as Aion and decently on AoC but thanks to mmos like WAR my framerate does get a tad bit low when there is a lot of action on the screen (not necessarily my pcs fault, the game is very faulty and laggy at times too thanks to the horrible implentation of server stability and ui for a "massive pvp game"). Also, AoC just redid some of thier client side issues so i was able to increase my graphics and shadows when i re trialed the game but I could still use a boost for my current setings. In case you are wondering I do play my lappy plugged in and with a nice 60 dollar cooling pad so if i consider this undervolting strategy Im sure a better CPU wont hurt the temp of my PC too much. I know its hard and pointless to lug around a 9 pound laptop but i live in AZ so during the summer the side of my house where my room is at gets VERY hot so i like to move it to my kitchen island. Moving a laptop with a cooling pad isnt a chore at all to me, plus my job requires for me to move from place to place. I dont currently have the need to spend money on a desktop for this reason so i want to make the most of this laptop. As i said im just looking for some small boosts to make the games i run well to run a little smoother when times get rough (hence the 10-20% boost im speaking of) All im really considering is to possible knock out my current card and consider either a GTX card when they become mainstream for laptop, or maybe find a card that can give me more than 512mb GPU (hoping for a 1g or maybe prayin for a 1.5G) which has not been going well seeing as i cant really find a good selection of them atm. And as for my CPU, i know that a p8400 2.26 dual core is pretty, but why settle when you can go higher and faster.
Judging by the i7's lack of compatibility with older motherboards, I highly doubt that a laptop i7 will be compatible as well. It's a totally different processor.
Upgrading the video card will be a good move and the faster processor will help out as well and as long as you're keeping the laptop cool, you should be OK. I still wouldn't recommend overclocking it though.
Ive been looking at the + and - of OCing and in the end i would much prefer NOT to overclock. When you say older computer motherboards, how old do you mean? This computer is been out just maybe a little over a year.
So what your saying is when the laptop i7's hit mainstream ill prolly not be able to use them on my laptop? Regardless its not too bad if i just get a slight upgrade. I know my laptop is very nice and yes i dont play games like crysis, its mostly used for mmos. I currently run WAR on high as well as Aion and decently on AoC but thanks to mmos like WAR my framerate does get a tad bit low when there is a lot of action on the screen (not necessarily my pcs fault, the game is very faulty and laggy at times too thanks to the horrible implentation of server stability and ui for a "massive pvp game"). Also, AoC just redid some of thier client side issues so i was able to increase my graphics and shadows when i re trialed the game but I could still use a boost for my current setings. In case you are wondering I do play my lappy plugged in and with a nice 60 dollar cooling pad so if i consider this undervolting strategy Im sure a better CPU wont hurt the temp of my PC too much. I know its hard and pointless to lug around a 9 pound laptop but i live in AZ so during the summer the side of my house where my room is at gets VERY hot so i like to move it to my kitchen island. Moving a laptop with a cooling pad isnt a chore at all to me, plus my job requires for me to move from place to place. I dont currently have the need to spend money on a desktop for this reason so i want to make the most of this laptop. As i said im just looking for some small boosts to make the games i run well to run a little smoother when times get rough (hence the 10-20% boost im speaking of) All im really considering is to possible knock out my current card and consider either a GTX card when they become mainstream for laptop, or maybe find a card that can give me more than 512mb GPU (hoping for a 1g or maybe prayin for a 1.5G) which has not been going well seeing as i cant really find a good selection of them atm. And as for my CPU, i know that a p8400 2.26 dual core is pretty, but why settle when you can go higher and faster.
Judging by the i7's lack of compatibility with older motherboards, I highly doubt that a laptop i7 will be compatible as well. It's a totally different processor.
Upgrading the video card will be a good move and the faster processor will help out as well and as long as you're keeping the laptop cool, you should be OK. I still wouldn't recommend overclocking it though.
Ive been looking at the + and - of OCing and in the end i would much prefer NOT to overclock. When you say older computer motherboards, how old do you mean? This computer is been out just maybe a little over a year.
I mean motherboards compatible with previous generation CPUs. I'm not talking about time-wise.
to the OP, how long you estimate this setup to be good for? i see that the AMD is not a AM3 socket. i like the build and would consider using it, but i dont want to build a rig that i will have to upgrade in a year or so. BTW thanks for the effort in researching and posting this build.
Games played:Warhammer, Atlantica, Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, DDO, City of Heroes/Villians, Aion, and Global Agenda... Games playing: Age of Conan & EVE Games waiting for: SWTOR
Comments
To the OP... Your linked article and your whole thread here is VERY misleading to say the least. You are comparing a super overclocked AMD to a stock Intel for starters. Then you also are talking about TWO games. TWO games that under the right circumstances suit the AMD cpu better. In almost every other application and game, the Intel i7 will blow away this AMD cpu, especially if you overclock the Intel to the same degree that the AMD is OC'd here.
I am not saying that you haven't found a system that would give you a great bang for your dollar.. you would be getting a great bang for your gaming dollar with your proposed set up.
However, almost every test, article, and rating chart I have seen prove that the Intel i7 cpu is easily one of the most powerful processors on the market right now. Not the best best value for your dollar, no. But overall, the i7 does not shy away from the AMD 940, and nor does it fall short power wise over fair testing.
You can also find support that shows us all that under the right circumstances - that a square peg fits through a round hole better then the round peg does.. but you are looking at the exception to the rule when you look at it it this way.
- Zaxx
Re-formatted so this thread is useful.. *sigh*
Here you go, this is all under 600$ and is the best bang for your buck you can buy, all parts are quality and you wont have to worry about anything
(not included is thermal paste, optical drives, monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, external graphics card, OS, and case as ill leave this up to you)
Cost: $500 bucks!
Stats for above:
Notes: Due to large cache, and amd 970gx graphics chipset, this rig will preform better than An i7 rig in games (More FPS). 970gx graphics chipset makes it very easy to OC and also creates the ability to OC 30% more than with BIOS.
_________
Cost: $499 without rebates
Oh and for you non believers, here are benchmarks: LINK
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
-Nariusseldon
Re-formatted so this thread is useful.. *sigh*
Here you go, this is all under 600$ and is the best bang for your buck you can buy, all parts are quality and you wont have to worry about anything
(not included is thermal paste, optical drives, monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, external graphics card, OS, and case as ill leave this up to you)
Cost: $500 bucks!
Stats for above:
Notes: Due to large cache, and amd 970gx graphics chipset, this rig will preform better than An i7 rig in games (More FPS). 970gx graphics chipset makes it very easy to OC and also creates the ability to OC 30% more than with BIOS.
_________
Cost: $499 without rebates
Oh and for you non believers, here are benchmarks: LINK
Used it :] thanks, also added special thanks
How about these benchmarks?
phenom 2s can be overclocked way past what an i7 can do, if youve got liquid cooling, or at least thats what ive read. phenom 2s can hit 6ghz-6.4ghz with liquid cooling, and there WAY cheaper. ATI graphics cards are pretty good too, a 4650 HD 1 GB is only $100 at microcenter, and i think a Nvidia that good was about $130-$150
3.8 ghz isnt superoverclocked for a phenom 2, they can hit 6 without blowing up...
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
Word I'm running a quad core phenom 9950 with 4 SLI Nvidia 280 GTX cards with 16 gigs of 1066 ddr3 corsair technology memory if you add the graphics card memory that's 24 gigs total. and a 1t seagate baracuda SATA hard drive with 7.1 dolby digital surround sound with a zalman cooler with vista x64.
She is a BEAST. lol
mmorpg's flop faster then mcdonalds cheese burgers these days.
DAMN that is a beast!
Games played:Warhammer, Atlantica, Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, DDO, City of Heroes/Villians, Aion, and Global Agenda...
Games playing: Age of Conan & EVE
Games waiting for: SWTOR
While I try staying on subject, i did purchase a gaming laptop from gateway with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo (The Gateway FX P-7811). While i play games exceptionally well (For a damn laptop) I am looking to upgrade the Processors and GFX Card (To a 1g+ GPU instead of the nasty 512MB) so i can get a better framerate from games like AoC. My question to you is when limited to 2 processors (instead of teh AMD 4 cores) is it better for me to get the Core 2 i7's when they become mainstream or go with a Core 2 AMD (monet is not a problem, my pc to me is a worthy investment seeing as I play on it ALOT, mmos mostly)? Now im not PC savvy but the i7 seems like its more packed in a smaller package (believe i read somewhere that i7 has multiple something per core or was it more units per core? dont remember.)
So when limited for gaming performance and only 2 cores which will give me a bigger bang? All in all unless someone draws me a picture, i prolly wont know how the feck to even overclock my amd's while Its "so easy a moron can do it apparently for intel 7's" which may be why i get a intel regardless.
One more random thought, to get Graphic card drivers I have to go on the gateway website, so what would happen if i swapped for a different GFX card? I am pretty damn sure it isnt intergrated, but what would happen if i got a new one when i had to update drivers?
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
Also another thing I wanted to ask was what gives more for less heat? Now that you guys mention it seeing as i have laptop I cant get the thing to hot.
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
You might want to search up on what liquid cooling is first buddy.
While I try staying on subject, i did purchase a gaming laptop from gateway with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo (The Gateway FX P-7811). While i play games exceptionally well (For a damn laptop) I am looking to upgrade the Processors and GFX Card (To a 1g+ GPU instead of the nasty 512MB) so i can get a better framerate from games like AoC. My question to you is when limited to 2 processors (instead of teh AMD 4 cores) is it better for me to get the Core 2 i7's when they become mainstream or go with a Core 2 AMD (monet is not a problem, my pc to me is a worthy investment seeing as I play on it ALOT, mmos mostly)? Now im not PC savvy but the i7 seems like its more packed in a smaller package (believe i read somewhere that i7 has multiple something per core or was it more units per core? dont remember.)
So when limited for gaming performance and only 2 cores which will give me a bigger bang? All in all unless someone draws me a picture, i prolly wont know how the feck to even overclock my amd's while Its "so easy a moron can do it apparently for intel 7's" which may be why i get a intel regardless.
One more random thought, to get Graphic card drivers I have to go on the gateway website, so what would happen if i swapped for a different GFX card? I am pretty damn sure it isnt intergrated, but what would happen if i got a new one when i had to update drivers?
When upgrading the processor, you need to make sure that you have a compatible socket motherboard. Core 2 Duo is socket LGA 775, while an i7 is socket LGA 1366. The two processors are not interchangeable.
So in your case the i7 processor is not going to work. Neither is the AMD Phenom II, unless you purchase a brand new motherboard that is. Being that we're talking about a laptop though I'm not sure how well that's going to work out. Your best bet, short of buying a brand new PC is to see if you can upgrade the ram and the video card.
If you are going to be purchasing a new PC for gaming, both the Phenom II and the i7 are great processors. An average user will probably not notice any major differences between the two. One thing about the i7 processors is that while they are better than the latest AMD Phenom II's, the motherboards and the RAM required for the i7's are more expensive. It does tend to run a bit high so an aftermarket cooling solution is a good idea if you're planning to overclock it. A decent air cooler is enough though, no reason to bother with liquid. The stock cooler that comes with the i7 is good enough if you're not going to overclock. Overall, though, the i7 is a beast.
As far as your question about keeping your laptop cool, you might want to look into a decent laptop cooling pad. You can generally get a decent one from Newegg.com for about $30-$60. Laptops do get warm especially if you're using one for gaming.
Anyway, hope that helped. Good luck!
Yes, if by "liquid cooling" you mean liquid nitrogen or liquid helium. I highly doubt that your average PC enthusiast has access to that sort of cooling. Not to mention that it's sort of dangerous.
Would be nice if you could provide any tangible evidence to support your claims though.
You might want to search up on what liquid cooling is first buddy.
Before making snide remarks, you might want to look up what sort of cooling was used to bring up the AMD in question to 6-7GHz, pal. It was done in an AMD lab with liquid nitrogen and liquid helium used as cooling agents.
While I try staying on subject, i did purchase a gaming laptop from gateway with a 2.26 Core 2 Duo (The Gateway FX P-7811). While i play games exceptionally well (For a damn laptop) I am looking to upgrade the Processors and GFX Card (To a 1g+ GPU instead of the nasty 512MB) so i can get a better framerate from games like AoC. My question to you is when limited to 2 processors (instead of teh AMD 4 cores) is it better for me to get the Core 2 i7's when they become mainstream or go with a Core 2 AMD (monet is not a problem, my pc to me is a worthy investment seeing as I play on it ALOT, mmos mostly)? Now im not PC savvy but the i7 seems like its more packed in a smaller package (believe i read somewhere that i7 has multiple something per core or was it more units per core? dont remember.)
So when limited for gaming performance and only 2 cores which will give me a bigger bang? All in all unless someone draws me a picture, i prolly wont know how the feck to even overclock my amd's while Its "so easy a moron can do it apparently for intel 7's" which may be why i get a intel regardless.
One more random thought, to get Graphic card drivers I have to go on the gateway website, so what would happen if i swapped for a different GFX card? I am pretty damn sure it isnt intergrated, but what would happen if i got a new one when i had to update drivers?
When upgrading the processor, you need to make sure that you have a compatible socket motherboard. Core 2 Duo is socket LGA 775, while an i7 is socket LGA 1366. The two processors are not interchangeable.
So in your case the i7 processor is not going to work. Neither is the AMD Phenom II, unless you purchase a brand new motherboard that is. Being that we're talking about a laptop though I'm not sure how well that's going to work out. Your best bet, short of buying a brand new PC is to see if you can upgrade the ram and the video card.
If you are going to be purchasing a new PC for gaming, both the Phenom II and the i7 are great processors. An average user will probably not notice any major differences between the two. One thing about the i7 processors is that while they are better than the latest AMD Phenom II's, the motherboards and the RAM required for the i7's are more expensive. It does tend to run a bit high so an aftermarket cooling solution is a good idea if you're planning to overclock it. A decent air cooler is enough though, no reason to bother with liquid. The stock cooler that comes with the i7 is good enough if you're not going to overclock. Overall, though, the i7 is a beast.
As far as your question about keeping your laptop cool, you might want to look into a decent laptop cooling pad. You can generally get a decent one from Newegg.com for about $30-$60. Laptops do get warm especially if you're using one for gaming.
Anyway, hope that helped. Good luck!
So I need to get new sticks of ram to go with the Core i7s? Is there anywhere i can look at what kind of processors my laptop can support? And are those sockets for laptop or desktop for the i7's?
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
It's decent, but it's not better than an i7 for gaming. Put together a Phenom @ ;the same $1000 price point of an i7 and the i7 drops a 500 pound boulder on the Phenom. Especially if you keep going higher in price, the i7 begins to obliterate the Phenom even more.
Other than that, excluding everything else, it's not a bad buy @ ;~$600 if someone wants to watch movies. However, you can easily cut out some dollars from that build with much better quality parts. I can build an i7 for $700 excluding everything you've mentioned that has an actual graphics card which means it will absolutely destroy your build hahaha. But that's because I know where to buy and don't only use one source.
But real world performance is all that matters as well as different variables like resolution and overclocking or not. Things aren't always cut out like you're putting it.
Plus, you're talking about a board made for an HTPC with its onboard graphics.
Yeah...
Nice try but anybody who knows anything about computers or even last years technology knows that this is not a build to do anything other than watch YouTube and Blu-Ray movies and you didn't even include a Blu-Ray drive hahaha. There's no way it can hang with the i7 in anything to be honest. It's simply inferior technology.
My favorite part is that you showed benchmarks using a GTX 280. That's a single card setup and everything being played is completely GPU limited. Throw in an SLI or Crossfire setup and the i7 will urinate all over the Phenom setup.
People, please just Google anything remotely smart and you'll find out that this guy just learned about computers yesterday or the day before and believes he knows everything needed.
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
Here Is some of the laptop specs:
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
* Memory: 4GB (4096MB) DDR3 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 x 2048MB modules), max. 4GB
* Hard Drive: 200GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 16MB Cache
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
* Chipset: Intel PM45 Chipset
* Display: 17.0″ WUXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1920×1200)
* Audio: High-Def Audio, 2 Channel, Built-In speakers, microphone, headphone/SPDIF Audio Out
* Battery: Primary 9-cell Lithium Ion battery (7800mAH)
* Digital Media Manager: 5-in-1 Digital Media Manager Memory Stick, MS Pro, MMC, SD, xD
* External Ports: 3 USB 2.0, VGA, V1.2 HDMI Connector, IEEE 1394 Firewire Port, e-SATA and Kensington Lock, modem, ethernet
* Optical Drive: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash Technology
* Wireless Network: Intel 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking
* Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
* Dimensions: 1.3-1.70 (H) x 15.75 (W) x 11.75 inches
* Weights: 9.2 lbs.
Now im not very smart when i comes to some aspects of upgrading CPU but it has been tested and proven that this laptop is in fact upgradeable from a P8400 to a P9500, using underfvolting as a means of maintaining the same cooling if not a more cooler laptop. The problem is 2 things, 1. i cant find what kind of motherboard specs the laptop has. 2. It isnt posted anywhere whether the i7 is doable with this computer (which prolly makes sense when you mentioned the i7's used in laptops now is desktop which is why i wrote "when they become mainstream for laptops). So what i am asking is if i just want a notable, maybe a small upgrade, maybe just increasing my PC game performance by 15-20% without OCing would just getting a P9500 be good enough? It seems i may be jumping the gun getting a i7 or more like overdoing it, but I like the whole idea of easy OCing, but i could always just slightly OC a weaker CPU....to make up for it >.<?
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
Here Is some of the laptop specs:
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
* Memory: 4GB (4096MB) DDR3 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 x 2048MB modules), max. 4GB
* Hard Drive: 200GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 16MB Cache
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
* Chipset: Intel PM45 Chipset
* Display: 17.0″ WUXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1920×1200)
* Audio: High-Def Audio, 2 Channel, Built-In speakers, microphone, headphone/SPDIF Audio Out
* Battery: Primary 9-cell Lithium Ion battery (7800mAH)
* Digital Media Manager: 5-in-1 Digital Media Manager Memory Stick, MS Pro, MMC, SD, xD
* External Ports: 3 USB 2.0, VGA, V1.2 HDMI Connector, IEEE 1394 Firewire Port, e-SATA and Kensington Lock, modem, ethernet
* Optical Drive: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash Technology
* Wireless Network: Intel 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking
* Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
* Dimensions: 1.3-1.70 (H) x 15.75 (W) x 11.75 inches
* Weights: 9.2 lbs.
Now im not very smart when i comes to some aspects of upgrading CPU but it has been tested and proven that this laptop is in fact upgradeable from a P8400 to a P9500, using underfvolting as a means of maintaining the same cooling if not a more cooler laptop. The problem is 2 things, 1. i cant find what kind of motherboard specs the laptop has. 2. It isnt posted anywhere whether the i7 is doable with this computer (which prolly makes sense when you mentioned the i7's used in laptops now is desktop which is why i wrote "when they become mainstream for laptops). So what i am asking is if i just want a notable, maybe a small upgrade, maybe just increasing my PC game performance by 15-20% without OCing would just getting a P9500 be good enough? It seems i may be jumping the gun getting a i7 or more like overdoing it, but I like the whole idea of easy OCing, but i could always just slightly OC a weaker CPU....to make up for it >.<?
Personally, I don't think it will make a big difference. The P8400 is at 2.26GHz and the P9500 is at 2.53GHz. Yes, the P9500 is slightly faster but it probably runs a bit hotter as well. It all depends on the price difference though. If it's negligible, going with the faster processor is a good way to go.
As for it being upgradable, both the P8400 and P9500 are part of the Core 2 family of processors. Thus, they are the same socket and will fit into the same motherboard. The i7, on the other hand, is a whole different family of processors and has it's own type of socket. As a matter of fact, the i7 is a lot different than the previous Intel processors and as such requires a special motherboard designed specifically for the i7.
About overclocking: depending on how your laptop is, your BIOS may be locked which will make it impossible to overclock that way. You'll probably have to use overclocking software which may or may not get the job done. I have no experience with it either way, so I wouldn't know. However, two major factors when dealing with laptops are heat and power usage.
Overclocking will require more power and will drain your battery much faster. Overclocking also causes your processor to run hotter which may, depending on how the cooling is set up, effect other components--like RAM and video card (which will generate it's own share of heat btw)--which may cause system instability and not to mention the fact that may burn out the processor as well.
Now you can obviously keep your laptop plugged in and sitting on a cooling pad but in that case you might as well get a regular desktop PC which will be cheaper and probably more powerful.
Also keep in mind that overclocking the CPU will probably void your warranty with Gateway so if you burn it out, it's on you.
Either way, you have a decent laptop there. It's not going to run Crysis at max settings but it should have very decent results in most games.
You need to find out what motherboard your laptop has. However, I can tell you right now that an i7 is not socket compatible with any previous Intel CPU. You can try contacting Gateway or searching online for the laptop specs, some places may list the motherboard. But, again, I highly doubt that your motherboard is compatible with an i7 processor.
Besides that, I don't think that a mobile version of an i7 processor is currently available. There are some laptop manufacturers that do make i7 laptops but they are using the desktop version of the chip which uses more power and runs much hotter than what should be used in a laptop. Otherwise, you can find one for like $2,000-$3,000.
As for what you need to go with an i7, you need a socket LGA 1366 motherboard and DDR3 RAM.
Here Is some of the laptop specs:
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
* Memory: 4GB (4096MB) DDR3 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 x 2048MB modules), max. 4GB
* Hard Drive: 200GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 16MB Cache
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
* Chipset: Intel PM45 Chipset
* Display: 17.0″ WUXGA Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1920×1200)
* Audio: High-Def Audio, 2 Channel, Built-In speakers, microphone, headphone/SPDIF Audio Out
* Battery: Primary 9-cell Lithium Ion battery (7800mAH)
* Digital Media Manager: 5-in-1 Digital Media Manager Memory Stick, MS Pro, MMC, SD, xD
* External Ports: 3 USB 2.0, VGA, V1.2 HDMI Connector, IEEE 1394 Firewire Port, e-SATA and Kensington Lock, modem, ethernet
* Optical Drive: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash Technology
* Wireless Network: Intel 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking
* Operating System: Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) SP1
* Dimensions: 1.3-1.70 (H) x 15.75 (W) x 11.75 inches
* Weights: 9.2 lbs.
Now im not very smart when i comes to some aspects of upgrading CPU but it has been tested and proven that this laptop is in fact upgradeable from a P8400 to a P9500, using underfvolting as a means of maintaining the same cooling if not a more cooler laptop. The problem is 2 things, 1. i cant find what kind of motherboard specs the laptop has. 2. It isnt posted anywhere whether the i7 is doable with this computer (which prolly makes sense when you mentioned the i7's used in laptops now is desktop which is why i wrote "when they become mainstream for laptops). So what i am asking is if i just want a notable, maybe a small upgrade, maybe just increasing my PC game performance by 15-20% without OCing would just getting a P9500 be good enough? It seems i may be jumping the gun getting a i7 or more like overdoing it, but I like the whole idea of easy OCing, but i could always just slightly OC a weaker CPU....to make up for it >.<?
Personally, I don't think it will make a big difference. The P8400 is at 2.26GHz and the P9500 is at 2.53GHz. Yes, the P9500 is slightly faster but it probably runs a bit hotter as well. It all depends on the price difference though. If it's negligible, going with the faster processor is a good way to go.
As for it being upgradable, both the P8400 and P9500 are part of the Core 2 family of processors. Thus, they are the same socket and will fit into the same motherboard. The i7, on the other hand, is a whole different family of processors and has it's own type of socket. As a matter of fact, the i7 is a lot different than the previous Intel processors and as such requires a special motherboard designed specifically for the i7.
About overclocking: depending on how your laptop is, your BIOS may be locked which will make it impossible to overclock that way. You'll probably have to use overclocking software which may or may not get the job done. I have no experience with it either way, so I wouldn't know. However, two major factors when dealing with laptops are heat and power usage.
Overclocking will require more power and will drain your battery much faster. Overclocking also causes your processor to run hotter which may, depending on how the cooling is set up, effect other components--like RAM and video card (which will generate it's own share of heat btw)--which may cause system instability and not to mention the fact that may burn out the processor as well.
Now you can obviously keep your laptop plugged in and sitting on a cooling pad but in that case you might as well get a regular desktop PC which will be cheaper and probably more powerful.
Also keep in mind that overclocking the CPU will probably void your warranty with Gateway so if you burn it out, it's on you.
Either way, you have a decent laptop there. It's not going to run Crysis at max settings but it should have very decent results in most games.
So what your saying is when the laptop i7's hit mainstream ill prolly not be able to use them on my laptop? Regardless its not too bad if i just get a slight upgrade. I know my laptop is very nice and yes i dont play games like crysis, its mostly used for mmos. I currently run WAR on high as well as Aion and decently on AoC but thanks to mmos like WAR my framerate does get a tad bit low when there is a lot of action on the screen (not necessarily my pcs fault, the game is very faulty and laggy at times too thanks to the horrible implentation of server stability and ui for a "massive pvp game"). Also, AoC just redid some of thier client side issues so i was able to increase my graphics and shadows when i re trialed the game but I could still use a boost for my current setings.
In case you are wondering I do play my lappy plugged in and with a nice 60 dollar cooling pad so if i consider this undervolting strategy Im sure a better CPU wont hurt the temp of my PC too much. I know its hard and pointless to lug around a 9 pound laptop but i live in AZ so during the summer the side of my house where my room is at gets VERY hot so i like to move it to my kitchen island. Moving a laptop with a cooling pad isnt a chore at all to me, plus my job requires for me to move from place to place. I dont currently have the need to spend money on a desktop for this reason so i want to make the most of this laptop.
As i said im just looking for some small boosts to make the games i run well to run a little smoother when times get rough (hence the 10-20% boost im speaking of) All im really considering is to possible knock out my current card and consider either a GTX card when they become mainstream for laptop, or maybe find a card that can give me more than 512mb GPU (hoping for a 1g or maybe prayin for a 1.5G) which has not been going well seeing as i cant really find a good selection of them atm. And as for my CPU, i know that a p8400 2.26 dual core is pretty, but why settle when you can go higher and faster.
Judging by the i7's lack of compatibility with older motherboards, I highly doubt that a laptop i7 will be compatible as well. It's a totally different processor.
Upgrading the video card will be a good move and the faster processor will help out as well and as long as you're keeping the laptop cool, you should be OK. I still wouldn't recommend overclocking it though.
Judging by the i7's lack of compatibility with older motherboards, I highly doubt that a laptop i7 will be compatible as well. It's a totally different processor.
Upgrading the video card will be a good move and the faster processor will help out as well and as long as you're keeping the laptop cool, you should be OK. I still wouldn't recommend overclocking it though.
Ive been looking at the + and - of OCing and in the end i would much prefer NOT to overclock. When you say older computer motherboards, how old do you mean? This computer is been out just maybe a little over a year.
Judging by the i7's lack of compatibility with older motherboards, I highly doubt that a laptop i7 will be compatible as well. It's a totally different processor.
Upgrading the video card will be a good move and the faster processor will help out as well and as long as you're keeping the laptop cool, you should be OK. I still wouldn't recommend overclocking it though.
Ive been looking at the + and - of OCing and in the end i would much prefer NOT to overclock. When you say older computer motherboards, how old do you mean? This computer is been out just maybe a little over a year.
I mean motherboards compatible with previous generation CPUs. I'm not talking about time-wise.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/phenom-versus-i7,2360.html
This is a pretty good comparison between the i7 920 and the phenom II 955 if anyone is interested.
to the OP, how long you estimate this setup to be good for? i see that the AMD is not a AM3 socket. i like the build and would consider using it, but i dont want to build a rig that i will have to upgrade in a year or so. BTW thanks for the effort in researching and posting this build.
Games played:Warhammer, Atlantica, Vanguard, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, DDO, City of Heroes/Villians, Aion, and Global Agenda...
Games playing: Age of Conan & EVE
Games waiting for: SWTOR