# Ok so im attempting my 2nd build.....



## omslemming (Aug 13, 2012)

My first build had a few issues mainly revolving around known issues with the asus motherboard p5ql pro and installed software/drivers with it and the audio used on the motherboard causing various bsods etc

So its a few years later now and I want to build a new system mainly for gaming not the highest of the high specs as I cant afford that but something that will be resonably future proof for a couple of years. 

Because of the issues ive had in the past(that I wish id known about at the time but due to lack of research I ended up being stuck with the parts) id just like to know if theres any known issues with any of the kit im choosing to use, any compatability issues etc and if theres any suggestions for a better option please feel free to advise me as I said this is only my 2nd build so im still pretty new to all this.

Ok so heres the components with links to there listing on ebuyer(mywebsite of choice for components) so you can see what im talking about.

Case-Antac dark fleet df85 (love the airflow of this case-along with the 7+ fans should more then give me enough cooling) Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case | Ebuyer.com

Powersupply-coolermaster gx650(would like some advice on this mainly as im going to run 2 graphics cards with crossfire, is this powerful enough? or should I go for an 850+w supply? Coolermaster GX 650W PSU | Ebuyer.com

Motherboard-Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard Gigabyte GA-970A-D3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio AT...

Processer-AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3....

Memory-Corsair 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz Vengeance Memory in a 4 times 4gb configuration Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 1....

Graphics-XFX HD 7850 2GB DDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPort PCI-E Graphics Card 
This is the XFX duel fan version of the 7850 and im going for 2 of these in a crossfire setup 
XFX HD 7850 2GB DDR5 DVI HDMI Dual Mini DisplayPor...

Processer cooler-Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Evo Socket 1366 1155 1156 7... Again this is another thing im unsure of, is an air cooler enough for this kind of build? or should I use a closed loop water cooled cpu cooler such as a Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80  Corsair CWCH80 Hydro Series H80 High Performance.....

Soundcard-Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com

SSD drive for os and programs/games used regualy OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drives | Ebu...

Backup regular harddrive for large storage- Seagate 2TB Barracuda Internal Hard Drive Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. |...

Card reader-Sweex internal card reader Sweex All-in-1 Internal Card Reader. USB | Ebuyer....

Optical drive-Pioneer 12xbdrw Multilayer 128gb Retail Pioneer 12xbdrw Multilayer 128gb Retail | Ebuyer.c...

So thats the plan! It will be running on windows 7 home premium 64bit edition and will being used as a gaming/media pc I might dabble in overclocking or though im a complete newbie there so anything I did try would be lightweight.

So any advice?


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## Norton (Aug 13, 2012)

If you're going with a Gigabyte board I would suggest the UD3 version over the D3:

Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio A...

UD3 versions use 8+2 phase power which gives you a much more stable board 

The rest of that setup should run fine.

*Note- Intel Core i5/i7 build suggestions are incoming....

**EDIT- sorry didn't notice you wee interested in Crossfire. Use the 990X board instead (does Crossfire and SLI):
Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 Socket AM3+ 7.1 Channel HD A...


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## omslemming (Aug 13, 2012)

Norton said:


> If you're going with a Gigabyte board I would suggest the UD3 version over the D3:
> 
> Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio A...
> 
> ...




Ill give that board a look, and haha yeah I knew id attract some flack here for going for an amd processer but considering price vs performence using the pc benchmark site as a guide I think amds offer better value, im not a hardcore overclocker anyway and the difference isnt massive so im not likly to see the difference between say an i5 and a bulldozer fx chip that much anyway.


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## Norton (Aug 13, 2012)

I prefer AMD... right or wrong to anyone else is fine- It was my choice to make and I made it 

I like Gigabyte boards but I got bit by compatibility issues with my last one so I went with an ASUS M5A99X Evo (990X) this time. We have some nice detailed reviews here of that one and the ASUS M5A97 Evo (970) 

Links:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A99X_EVO/

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/M5A97_EVO/

No regrets on my choice of board btw 

Main difference between the two is you get 8x/8x Crossfire AND SLI on the 990X board. If you end up going ASUS make sure you go with an Evo as non-Evo has a weaker power setup.


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## omslemming (Aug 13, 2012)

Im a little bit put off asus boards after the last experience with my first build(one which is still ongoing part of the reason im just building a new one haha) got a p5qlpro board and had no end of issues with bsods motherboard software issues, general instability, memory issues etc etc thats why ive deicded to go something else in this case gigabyte this time.


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## Norton (Aug 14, 2012)

omslemming said:


> Im a little bit put off asus boards after the last experience with my first build(one which is still ongoing part of the reason im just building a new one haha) got a p5qlpro board and had no end of issues with bsods motherboard software issues, general instability, memory issues etc etc thats why ive deicded to go something else in this case gigabyte this time.



If Gigabyte wrote a BIOS with FX support for the GA-890XA-UD3 I would still be running it... that was a great board  A lot of the board makers have really stepped up and improved the quaility of the products lately.... even Biostar and AsRock are making decent quality boards now!


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 14, 2012)

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=167562&highlight=980+vs+4170

http://www.techspot.com/review/452-amd-bulldozer-fx-cpus/page10.html

read those threads for performance deltas

Seems Only 8150/8120 have a chance against the Phenom II line for performance


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## Jstn7477 (Aug 14, 2012)

Windows 7 Home Premium will leave you no room to upgrade your RAM, as Microsoft's "limit" for Home Premium is 16GB. It's debatable whether you will even still have Windows 7 HP or even the computer if you upgrade, but it's something to consider.


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## omslemming (Aug 14, 2012)

Jstn7477 said:


> Windows 7 Home Premium will leave you no room to upgrade your RAM, as Microsoft's "limit" for Home Premium is 16GB. It's debatable whether you will even still have Windows 7 HP or even the computer if you upgrade, but it's something to consider.




Hmm may go for the ultimate edition then, thats why I wanted to post on a forum like this, I knew about the 32bit windows 4gb limit however until you said that I had no idea it was also limited memory by version. I may want to upgrade to 32gb in the future so will be going for a different edition cheers for the info.

So can anyone tell me 1.will my 650w power supply be enough to support a crossfire setup with 2 cards and 2.Should I go for watercooling for the cpu rather then air cooling?(closed loop of course im not messing around with coolent and reseviours etc)

Kind of like the stats on that link posted enough comparing the processers performence, it seems to me the amd bulldozer chips perform well at 1920x1200 res and I do intend to upgrade to a monitor which can support high res like this (hence why im going for a crossfire graphics setup-want hd to be a breeze for it) so I may be going down the ideal road there.


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 14, 2012)

I honestly wouldnt waste cash on Ultimate- Professional Id spend money on


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## omslemming (Aug 14, 2012)

eidairaman1 said:


> I honestly wouldnt waste cash on Ultimate- Professional Id spend money on



Does professional support more then 16gb then?


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 14, 2012)

omslemming said:


> does professional support more then 16gb then?



192 GB 64 bit

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...=vs.85).aspx#physical_memory_limits_windows_7


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## omslemming (Aug 14, 2012)

Biostar TA990FXE Socket AM3+ 8 Channel HD Audio AT...

This is the board im considering instead of the one in my original plan, anyone got this one who could give me any feedback on it? I like the fact it has a usb3 header which can be connected to the front usb3 port of the case Im getting, also it has space for a crossfire setup.

Changed my mind re the power supply as well, the 7850s im getting need 2  PCIe 6+2 pin connectors each and the coolermaster power supply only came with 2 connectors which would bne 2 less then id need for my setup, thinkin instead of the OCZ ZX Series 850W OCZ ZX Series 850W 80+ GOLD PSU Fully Modular PSU ... as that has 4 PCIe 6+2 pin connectors and has a bit more power which im thinking I might need with a crossfire setup.

I do have one last question though for you guys, Ive never used a soundcard before my current setup runs off the installed board sound chip, now im thinking of getting a Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com my question is does that also need a PCIe 6+2 pin connector or does a soundcard like this run off the motherboards power supply? Hoping if its the latter if its the former I will have to rethink my power supply again.


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 14, 2012)

use the search bar in your favorite web browser to get reviews. Newegg has user ratings as well


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## omslemming (Aug 14, 2012)

eidairaman1 said:


> use the search bar in your favorite web browser to get reviews. Newegg has user ratings as well



done all that was hoping to get the opinions of experienced system builders though for a bit more detail hence posting in the system builders advice thread


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 14, 2012)

system builders can only vouch for the current board they are using, most here use an Intel Core i5/7 2*00K with P67, Z68, Z77 Motherboard from Asus, Gigabyte, AsRock


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## omslemming (Aug 28, 2012)

well thanks for the info guys, helped a lot in my decision making process, ive tottaly changed my mind on some parts and researched more into others, itll be a while before its built as im by no means rich and have to buy the parts as and when I can afford but this is gonna be my final choice now I think, if anyone sees any glaring compatability issues with any of these please let me know asap as im in the process of ordering some of this stuff heh heh.

Case-Coolermaster storm trooper CM Storm Trooper Case | Ebuyer.com Im going to also fit this with 4 optional 120mm fans set to intake, 2 on the side panel increasing the air flow over the graphics card and 2 on the bottom fitting for extra air over the entire motherboard going for silverstone 120mm`s Silverstone 12cm transparent Red Led Case Fan | Eb...

Motherboard- Asus sabertooth 990fx ASUS Sabertooth 990FX Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio ...

Processer- amd fx 8120 AMD Bulldozer FX-8 8120 3.1Ghz Socket AM3+ 8MB L3....

Processer cooler/heatsink- noctua nh-u12p Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Intel LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155...

Ram- G skill 1600mhz 16gb kit G.Skill 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1866MHz RipjawsX Memory ...

Power supply- ocx 850w modular zx series OCZ ZX Series 850W 80+ GOLD PSU Fully Modular PSU ...

Storage- ocx 240gb agility ssd for os and essential programs OCZ 240GB Agility 3 SSD - Solid State Drives | Ebu... with seagate barracuda 2tb regular drive for storage Seagate 2TB BARRACUDA 3.5" SATA-III Hard Drive.. |...

Graphics card my only indescison, either going for 2 7950s in crossfire http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-148-MS

1 hd 7970 http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-HS or 1 gtx 670 Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2GB GDDR5 Dual DVI H... 

Undecided yet as of this I need to look into it, the 7950 is cheap and therefore more chance of me being able to afford 2 for a crossfire setup but the 7970 and the gtx 670 are better cards.

Decided to go for a new monitor as well as my current one cannot go to 1920 1080, going for the 24 inch led Asus VK248 Asus VK248H 24" LED LCD HDMI Monitor with Built.. ...

And I need a new keyboard so im going to try the world of mechanical keys with the cosair vengence model Corsair Vengeance K90 Performance, MMO Mechanical....

Soundcard Asus xonar d2x Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard Asus Xonar D2X Soundcard | Ebuyer.com

and finnaly an lg blu ray rw drive LG BH10LS38 10x BD-RW with DVD±RW DL & RAM.. | Ebu...

So thats my setup, any feedback from the experienced users here on anything that just might not work together or?


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## Norton (Aug 28, 2012)

omslemming said:


> well thanks for the info guys, helped a lot in my decision making process, ive tottaly changed my mind on some parts and researched more into others, itll be a while before its built as im by no means rich and have to buy the parts as and when I can afford but this is gonna be my final choice now I think, if anyone sees any glaring compatability issues with any of these please let me know asap as im in the process of ordering some of this stuff heh heh.
> 
> Case-Coolermaster storm trooper CM Storm Trooper Case | Ebuyer.com Im going to also fit this with 4 optional 120mm fans set to intake, 2 on the side panel increasing the air flow over the graphics card and 2 on the bottom fitting for extra air over the entire motherboard going for silverstone 120mm`s Silverstone 12cm transparent Red Led Case Fan | Eb...
> 
> ...



I just have a few comments (mostly to save you some money):

Motherboard- Go with 990X (much better prices). These boards do Crossfire and SLI and there is little difference in x8/x8 PCIE bandwidth vs 16x/16x and it sounds like you won't go over 2 cards for Crossfire or SLI (Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 or ASUS M5A99X is what I would recommend)

CPU- just go with an FX-8150 (only a small premium over an 8120 atm) or pick up a Phenom II 965BE and wait to see what Piledriver delivers in a few months 

PSU- check prices on a Corsair HX-850 (the older version- 80plus Silver) these are great units and carry a 7 yr warranty. Currently priced to move in the new model so you can save some money on it.

GPU- up to you and your budget but anything from AMD 7850/NVidia 660 on up you should be perfectly happy with. If you want more power later you can always get a 2nd card for Crossfire/SLI and get a good boost in performance. AMD 7850/7870's are dropping in price atm- both are pretty good cards and a good value.

My $0.02


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## Durvelle27 (Aug 28, 2012)

omslemming said:


> well thanks for the info guys, helped a lot in my decision making process, ive tottaly changed my mind on some parts and researched more into others, itll be a while before its built as im by no means rich and have to buy the parts as and when I can afford but this is gonna be my final choice now I think, if anyone sees any glaring compatability issues with any of these please let me know asap as im in the process of ordering some of this stuff heh heh.
> 
> Case-Coolermaster storm trooper CM Storm Trooper Case | Ebuyer.com Im going to also fit this with 4 optional 120mm fans set to intake, 2 on the side panel increasing the air flow over the graphics card and 2 on the bottom fitting for extra air over the entire motherboard going for silverstone 120mm`s Silverstone 12cm transparent Red Led Case Fan | Eb...
> 
> ...



- i think you should go for an Crucial M4 SSD as i had a lot of OCZ SSD's to fail on me and crucial has been more reliable

- this would be a great cooler to 
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo AMD Socket AM2 AM2+ AM3...

- and to oced HD 7950's would be on par with 2 HD 7970's non GHz also a HD 7950 would be a better buy than a GTX 670
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/08/23/galaxy_gtx_660_ti_gc_oc_vs_670_hd_7950

great build


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## omslemming (Aug 28, 2012)

well as of so far ive already got the processer, case and cooler so theyre settled with

As far as the motherboard goes I like the sabertooth as its basically built for overclocking with heavy duty components(military grade as they say lol) etc and with the unlocked bulldozer I intend to dabble in that as well as with the gpu(s)


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## ShiBDiB (Aug 28, 2012)

Norton said:


> If you're going with a Gigabyte board I would suggest the UD3 version over the D3:
> 
> Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 Socket AM3+ 8 Channel Audio A...
> 
> ...



Obligated... theirs 00000000 reason not to go intel besides fanboyism (not a horrible reason i suppose). AMD has no answer for intel cpu's right now


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## Durvelle27 (Aug 28, 2012)

are you going to do some overclocking like for 4.8GHz ?


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## Jimmy2k9 (Aug 28, 2012)

I don't know nearly as much as most people on this site, but I do know you can save money on your ram. For gaming you will not need more than 8gb, I would give my 2 cents and say get a 2x4gb kit of 1600Mhz. 

Also it seems like bad timing to buy Bulldozer (if there was ever a good time) as there is already leaked info on Piledriver, which seems to be what AMD failed to provide with Bulldozer. http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171151


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## omslemming (Aug 28, 2012)

ShiBDiB said:


> Obligated... theirs 00000000 reason not to go intel besides fanboyism (not a horrible reason i suppose). AMD has no answer for intel cpu's right now



Cheapness and ideal for what I need, I doubt id even notice the difference anyway esp since im gonna be running my build with ssd and a powerful graphics card anyway. ive also seen some benchmarks that suggest the amd chips fare not as badly as you think esp with gaming which will be the main use for my desktop, indeed in the benchmarks ive seen the amd chips beat the i5 framerate wise on a variety of games and the 8150 of the bulldozer variety even beat the i7 on a test running dirt 3.

They also have to potential to overclock higher then anything you could achieve with an i5 which attracted me as thats something I want to get into(may upgrade my cooler to a water cooling block if I decide to run with it)

Im wary of any advice on processers, not to offend anyone but I know the intel/amd rivalry is almost like android/apple in terms of fanboyism so I try not to pay much attention to either side, ive had grief before when talking about builds with an amd base, seems some intel heads dont like compeition heh heh


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## cdawall (Aug 28, 2012)

Make sure you take a look at AMD's business line of processors (B93/B97) and take a good long time thinking about piledriver. AS for the Biostar mobo I have been very impressed with all of their boards. I am currently toying with the idea of ditching my long loved choice of Asus and finally moving all the way over to them. The past 4 or so rigs I have built for people have all been Biostar based. All are very stable well written Bios's with good strong designs.


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## omslemming (Aug 28, 2012)

cdawall said:


> Make sure you take a look at AMD's business line of processors (B93/B97) and take a good long time thinking about piledriver. AS for the Biostar mobo I have been very impressed with all of their boards. I am currently toying with the idea of ditching my long loved choice of Asus and finally moving all the way over to them. The past 4 or so rigs I have built for people have all been Biostar based. All are very stable well written Bios's with good strong designs.



When is piledriver expected to be released then? and is there any news on expected cost? thing is I want to have my build finished within a month or so as getting fed up of my current desktops problems and want it ready for a few new games coming out in the next month or so, so if piledriver isnt going to be along for a while then id rather stick with the bulldozer.


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## Aquinus (Aug 28, 2012)

omslemming said:


> When is piledriver expected to be released then? and is there any news on expected cost? thing is I want to have my build finished within a month or so as getting fed up of my current desktops problems and want it ready for a few new games coming out in the next month or so, so if piledriver isnt going to be along for a while then id rather stick with the bulldozer.



What is your current desktop?


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## omslemming (Aug 28, 2012)

Aquinus said:


> What is your current desktop?



Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz

ASUS P5QL PRO iP43 Socket 775 8 channel audio ATX Motherboard

Arctic Power 700W PSU

Sapphire HD 5750 Vapor-X Edition

Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800MHz/PC2-6400 XMS2 Memory Kit

Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive

Processer doesnt run at even 2.5ghz half the time according to cpu z(running it at the mo and its jumping between 1.997 and 2.497 ghz-adding to that when I tried to overclock it using the asus ai suit utlity and putting it on oc performence setting the ghz didnt even increase lol), graphics card ive had driver issues since day 1, ram ive had to replace due to faulty sticks, motherboard dont even get me started, had no end of issues caused by asus`s software, the realtek audio driver and others.

Yeah id say im looking forward to ditching this and getting a new build on the go haha.


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## omslemming (Aug 28, 2012)

when you look at the cpu benchmarks the 8120 doesnt seem all that bad anyway 

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+FX-8120+Eight-Core

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-8120+Eight-Core


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## Durvelle27 (Aug 28, 2012)

http://hothardware.com/News/AMD-Bags-New-FX4130-Chip-Cuts-Processing-Pricing-Across-the-Board/


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## xenocide (Aug 29, 2012)

omslemming said:


> Cheapness and ideal for what I need, I doubt id even notice the difference anyway esp since im gonna be running my build with ssd and a powerful graphics card anyway. ive also seen some benchmarks that suggest the amd chips fare not as badly as you think esp with gaming which will be the main use for my desktop, indeed in the benchmarks ive seen the amd chips beat the i5 framerate wise on a variety of games and the 8150 of the bulldozer variety even beat the i7 on a test running dirt 3.



I'm going to echo the opinion that since you're spending what, $1500?  The idea of cheapness is wayyyyy behind you.  AMD CPU's aren't terrible, but if you want the best performance for you money, Intel seems to be the way to go until we get a good look at Piledriver.

As for Gaming Performance, Intel CPU's tend to edge AMD out due to the fact that most Game's only run on 1-4 Threads, so having 8 "Cores" is of minimal benefit, and Intel's per-thread performance is hugely better.  Dirt 3 tends to be a game that AMD tests and recommends testing a lot with, they even ship copies of it with their GPU's, so I'm pretty certain it's very much AMD-optimized.



omslemming said:


> They also have to potential to overclock higher then anything you could achieve with an i5 which attracted me as thats something I want to get into(may upgrade my cooler to a water cooling block if I decide to run with it)



Higher != Better.  Yes, Bulldozer can run at a higher frequency than SB\IB, it can also eat substantially more power than those two and require freakishly high clocks to reach an equivalent level of performance.



omslemming said:


> Im wary of any advice on processers, not to offend anyone but I know the intel/amd rivalry is almost like android/apple in terms of fanboyism so I try not to pay much attention to either side, ive had grief before when talking about builds with an amd base, seems some intel heads dont like compeition heh heh



For me it comes down to objectively picking the highest performing parts, which at this point tend to be Intel.  I wanted Bulldozer to be on par for SB, but it just wasn't, and plugging your ears and screaming isn't going to change that fact.  You can either spend more money in the long run on power and extra parts and overclock the crap out of a BD CPU, wait for PD which looks to be viable competition for Intel, or go Intel and just enjoy the high level of performance they currently offer.

It has nothing to do with Intel getting competition, if anything they are experiencing a lack of it from AMD.  It took AMD what, like 3-5 years to get BD out after Phenom II launched?  And it was met with really harsh criticism.  When it comes to APU's and to a degree Server CPU's AMD is on the right course.  I hope PD is better so Intel actually does have some competition, but BD is far from it.


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## omslemming (Aug 29, 2012)

Ok well ive done a bit more research and ive been swung a little, luckly Ive only got the processer so far not the motherboard, and considering I got that for 90 quid off ebuyer on special and theyre going for about 110-120 quid on ebay I should be even able to swing a profit on it if I sell it.

So my next question, What is the best for gaming? ivybridge or sandybridge? I know they each have there benefits for different kinds of systems, and is it worth paying a bit more for i7? does the performence difference between that and i5 make it worth it or not? Also as far as overclocking goes, id like to buy the unlocked version of whatever I get as I know one of the downsides of intel is the stupid restrictions they place on there locked processers to force people to upgrade earlier(thats one reason I went amd) ive seen processers advertised as say Intel Core i7 3770  but then ive seen Intel Core i7 3770s and Intel Core i7 3770k is the s and k versions the unlocked ones or am I looking at something completly different?


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## nikko (Aug 29, 2012)

2nd and 3rd gen I5/I7 are indistinguishable performance-wise. There is no question about it.

I would take the i7-3770K and Z77 Extreme3 very soon and use it for about 3-5 years with 1-2 video card upgrades. Other I5/I7 non-K combined with Z77 are partially unlocked default+600Mhz.The 3570 for example is in fact 4.0Ghz (not sure about this. it should have +400Mhz partial unlock +200 turbo +default 3400Mhz). not a record breaking frequency still pretty strong performance +-10% apart from decent 4.4 overclock. nobody is being forced to upgrade sooner, the improvement since the first gen core i7 is mostly lower power consumption. Don't expect anything new. Don't expect 6Ghz 6 core mainstream anytime soon.


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## xenocide (Aug 29, 2012)

Ivy-Bridge is slightly better performance-wise, but don't overclock as well.  If you're planning on Overclocking they are largely identical.  As for i5 vs. i7 it's really a matter of opinion and budget.  Very few games benefit from the extra threads of an i7, so if you want to trim some cost the i5 is a more than viable alternative.  If you have the money I recommend the i7 so in the long run you are prepared if Game Developers get off their ass and start optimizing games for more than 1-4 threads.

For motherboard I suggest Z77 Extreme3 or Pro3 if you want to save some money.


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## Aquinus (Aug 29, 2012)

xenocide said:


> if Game Developers get off their ass and start optimizing games for more than 1-4 threads.



edit: Greetings, fellow New Englander. 

You make it sound like multi-threading is easy. Also, I'm willing to bet that a lot of the games you play right now are running with more than 4 threads. It's a matter of being able to offload certain parts that are more demanding than others. I'm going to defend game developers on this one since I'm a developer myself and I understand that there are a lot of difficulties to make a quad-core run at 100% on all cores for a complicated task such as a game.

As for i5 vs i7, it's really preference. An i5 will do just as well as an i7 for gaming. For single-threaded tasks, the i7 has a very slight advantage by having a larger L3 cache, which means the CPU will hit the cache more often giving it more time to compute and less time waiting on system memory (since on-die static ram is a lot faster than dynamic memory, it is also closer to the rest of the CPU which has a better latency as well).

To use my i7 3820 as an example (keep in mind that it might be a little bit slower than SB's 8Mb or 6Mb since I have 10Mb and it takes a little longer to address.):





Cache is definitely a selective performance boost though. It really depends on how often memory is accessed, how much, and how often so it varies from application to application.


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