P45 or P55 ?

[D.Clark]

Hey
One or two months back I got some advice on what build to buy.
Due to exams and some other stuff i was busy with I never bought the parts because i didn't have the time.So now I noticed that I still have 8 Gigs of DDR2 Ram lieing around that still should work, I thought why buy 4 Gigs of new DDR3 RAM when I can use the old RAM.I'd be saving more than 110 € / 130 $.
So now my question is what should I do ? Is it worth getting the i5 Build ? Is it easier to install Snow Leopard on a P55 board?

This would be both Configs:

1. P45

Mainboard : GA-Ep45-UD3RL (80-90€)
RAM : 8 GB of DDR2 800 RAM (already included)
CPU : Intel Q9550 (230€)
PSU : Superflower 700 W Modular Crown Edition (80-90€)

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Total of : 390-400€
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2. P55

Mainboard : GA-P55(A)-UD3 (110-140€)
RAM : 4 GB of DDR3 1333 RAM (90-100€)
CPU : Intel i5 750 (180-190€)
PSU: Same as P45 Build (80-90€)

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Total of : 500€-510€
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Thanx alot in advance.

 

[MacMan]

For compatibility going forward you would be better off investing in the Core i5 (current) hardware than Core 2 (previous generation).

 

[D.Clark]

Im really hard put letting go of 8 GB of RAM.Would 8 GB of DDR2 RAM beat 4 GB of DDR3 in Os X or does it not profit from a large amount of RAM as much?

 

[snorkelman]

Easier to add another 4 gig to the P55 rig later than add a new board CPU and RAM to the P45 set up

assuming the graphics card thats going into either box is a well supported 9 series or 2xx series Nvidia one and the drives are SATA, then you're trading out an easier 'eyes shut, by the numbers' build and a platform that's at least got a year or more life in it, for one thats reaching end of the line.

Course if the drives you're putting in it are IDE and/or graphics card is more off the beaten track, then it could be a pull your hair out build either way

Really depends on the apps and your useage style as to wether the 8Gb is neccessary or not - if you were running Final Cut Pro then it wouldnt make a lot of difference as it still tops out at 2.5 for the apps main memory and another gig or so for cached data, thats that applications limit regardless of the RAM that's in the box.

If you wanted to run FCP and colour and compressor and three or four other bits of software at the same time then it would certainly be more beneficial

two of our machines are running 8 gig but its more a case of why not than we really have to, the other two are sat with 4 gig and running quite happily on that.

 

[D.Clark]

Well the graphics card is a 4850 Radeon 512 MB and Id be using one 80 GB Raptor Sata I drive and a 500 GB WD SATA II Drive.
I'd be using it for Photoshop,After Effects,EveryDay use (Safari,Firefox,iPhoto,iTunes,Mail) and Wathing Movies.

There shouldn't be a problem with displaying 1920x1080 with OS X, should there?
Also I just got a Asus WL-138G v2 of eBay the other day for 7€, which from what I read should work out of the box.

But im probably tending towards the i5 750 System seen as theres alot of Support online and especialy in these forums.

Edit: Just saw nice RAM thats 20€ less than normal.Im just not sure if the board can run it ,it's not on the memory support list and in the information it says:Voltage : 1.65-1.8 V.
If someone could tell me if it is /should be supported that'd be great.
Heres a link : http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info. ... 8-Kit.html

 

[snorkelman]

aye unless you're in it for the challenge then online support is a major factor IMO - closer you match other folks specs the more likely you'll have someone else with a working config to brain pick if it doesnt go smoothly.

Going down the ATi 4850 route should be OK particlarly if all your other components are typical (though do check and ensure theres no particularly awkward versions from certain brands).

The problems tend to kick in when folks do a pick and mix of umpteen different parts. Instead of one variable they land themselves with three or four (graphics card and mobo and i3 or i5-6xx processor rather than an i5-750 or i7-860 and IDE drives rather than SATA)

That can rapidly turn from 'I could buy these locally/they were X quid cheaper' to an exercise in frustration.

1920*1080 isn't a problem on OSX (I run a pair of LG E2350s on each of our boxes to give us two 1920*1080 displays on each)

 

[D.Clark]

great thanx for your quick reply.Im not sure if my Graphics card is an akward version because its not branded its from an OEM pc.Altough it has the identical design as this card: http://www.legitreviews.com/images/revi ... _cards.jpg APART from the sapphire Logo.

I checked on the A-Data website about that RAM and it looks like the voltages should be ok seen as it says: 1.55-1.77 V and the max for a P55 Mobo is 1.65 V as far as i know(correct me if im wrong)

EDIT: Just looked for the card i linked to and found this german website : http://www.testberichte.de/r/datenblatt ... 512mb.html
If you search for Mac on the page you come down to a table where it says on the left
Mac Kompatibilität: and then a dismissing X.
Sounds like the card isn't supported but ill just have a look on google for another while and see if anyone has this card.Maybe they only tested the card ina Mac Pro

EDIT2:I could just borrow (and then maybe buy) a 9600gt of a mate if the 4850 doesn't work.