# New Build, Initial planning



## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

Ok, I'm starting my initial planning for a new system. I haven't upgraded in a while (still on a Q6600 based system) so I'm not really an expert on newer parts.

Right now I want to chose my _platform_, not individual parts. I want to decide on which CPU/chipset I want to go with and what graphics config to go with.

One thing to note is that I value silent computing very greatly. So I like to pick parts that are more efficient. That said, I love a 4GHz+ quad core overclocked multi-gpu rig just as much as the next guy.

My budget is around $1200 for everything, including a LCD, so keep that in mind. I can go over this if need be, but every dollar saved is... well... a dollar saved. Again, I'm not looking for exact parts right now.


My initial thoughts were to get an i5 750, P55 board and a single 5870.

Should I  go i7 9x0/X58 instead?
GTX 460 SLI? Cooling and noise worry me.

Thanks.


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## Mussels (Aug 8, 2010)

so you've already decided for Intel over AMD?


while the intel fanboys will come in saying performance is everything in just a few nanoseconds, AMD do have chips that are more power efficient, with better idling tech (cool n quiet works a lot better than speedstep, imo) - my system uses about 120W at idle, FYI,


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

Oh, I think I may have already sub-conciously made that choice.

I don't mean to be a fanboy. But from what I've read, I've found that Intel seems to have an edge in almost everything. At stock speeds both the Ci5 750 and Ci7 920 are faster than an Phemom II 965. To make matters worse, the 965 has a 400MHz+ clock speed advantage. At stock speeds, idle and load power consumption both favor Intel. Cost wise, the 965 definately has an advantage over the Ci7 9x0 series, but is pretty much equal the the  i5 750, which is superior in performance and in power consumption, as previously mentioned. I'm getting most of this info from these two articles.

Intel seems the way to go from what I've read. Any more reasons why I should go AMD?


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2010)

To save money, AMD would be fine for gaming and such. Intel if you want that I7 feel but its totally your decision. I came from a Phenom II 965BE  C3 chip to this I7 920 and i love every bit of it but thats just my opinion.

I have a Phenom II in my HTPC and it preforms great for games and such. Paired with a 8800GT G92 it will play a wide variety of games in 1080P


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

If going the i5 route, I would recommend the 655 0r 670. They clock like the devil with less heat even on air. The 670 is what I use for my 24/7/gamer.

(Splave has a proven 655 available in the FS section for $150...maximum trust with him and his hardware. )


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2010)

JrRacinFan has a nice I3 setup hes selling CHEAP! you should PM him about it. you could always turn around and sell the I3 and get a I7 875


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> If going the i5 route, I would recommend the 655 0r 670. They clock like the devil with less heat even on air. The 670 is what I use for my 24/7/gamer.


Wayyy to expensive. The quad core i5 750 costs $194. The dual core 655K costs $209 and the 670 costs $300.  Can't do that.

Don't mean to come off as harsh.


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## Cja123 (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm also looking to build a new rig for my apartment. I was thinking of going P55 like yourself, I'm going to follow this thread. Subscribed.


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Wayyy to expensive. The quad core i5 750 costs $194. The dual core 655K costs $209 and the 670 costs $300.  Can't do that.
> 
> Don't mean to come off as harsh.



If thats expensive, then how do you plan on going X58? a used I7-920 is around 175 and up and a X58 board is over 150$


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Wayyy to expensive. The quad core i5 750 costs $194. The dual core 655K costs $209 and the 670 costs $300.  Can't do that.
> 
> Don't mean to come off as harsh.



Check back at post #5....


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> If thats expensive, then how do you plan on going X58? a used I7-920 is around 175 and up and a X58 board is over 150$


I mean it's to expensive for what you get. I'm not going to buy a $200 dual core CPU when I can get a quad core CPU for $200. It's not worth it. Get what I'm saying?




rickss69 said:


> Check back at post #5....


Looked at it. Looks like a good deal but:
1) I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet. (Need like a week)
2) Purely out of e-peen size, I don't see myself having a dual core CPU. There I said it.


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> I mean it's to expensive for what you get. I'm not going to buy a $200 dual core CPU when I can get a quad core CPU for $200. It's not worth it. Get what I'm saying?



Oh ok, Well if i were you i would just get a used high clocking 920 from the FS threads and build around it.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

Speaking of "epeen"...try this with a 920 on air or water....


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> Oh ok, Well if i were you i would just get a used high clocking 920 from the FS threads and build around it.


But then that goes back to my original concerns... How does the i7 920 compare to the i5 750? Especially in terms of power consumption and performance. 

I mean, I know the 750 uses noticeably less power and is like right under the 920 in performance. This is a good trade off to me. Why get the 920 over the 750?


It should be noted that I plan to get everything used. But that shouldn't change much, since all the prices will be proportionally less.




rickss69 said:


> Speaking of "epeen"...try this with a 920 on air or water....
> 
> http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq69/rickss69/ScreenHunter_03Mar061334.jpg


Uggh. You're making me want that *REALLY BADLY!!* Could I do that on good air cooling? (link pls )

Ok, so I could do a dual core, but has to clock like a motherfcker.


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2010)

The main notes on getting a X58 over a P55 is probably the Tripple channel ram, 16x16x8x crossfire and SLI or like with my board it will do 16x16 SLI and crossfire. i think P55 will only do 8x8x or 16x8x?


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> The main notes on getting a X58 over a P55 is probably the Tripple channel ram, 16x16x8x crossfire and SLI or like with my board it will do 16x16 SLI and crossfire. i think P55 will only do 8x8x or 16x8x?


But do those things really matter? I know I'll never have three graphics cards. I also know that I'll take a performance hit in a 2 card setup. But PCI-E 2.0 8x should be within 10% worst case of PCI-E 2.0 16x. Does tri-channel RAM help anything?

While I understand the advantages of the X58/920 route, I don't see how they would help _me specifically_.


My head is spinning right now. Thought this would be easier. If I'm being difficult and illogical, please tell me. (seriously)


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

Not trying to sway you one way or another...just providing examples. I have every cpu known to man at my disposal from the 980X on down and I choose to use the i5 for my 24/7/gamer. Yes, you will be able to clock the i5 higher with less heat compared to a 920 regardless of cooling methods. If you require something that the i7 provides in your everyday use, then by all means go for it.


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 8, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> Not trying to sway you one way or another...just providing examples. I have every cpu known to man at my disposal from the 980X on down and I choose to use the i5 for my 24/7/gamer. Yes, you will be able to clock the i5 higher with less heat compared to a 920 regardless of cooling methods. If you require something that the i7 provides in your everyday use, then by all means go for it.



Rick is right. the I5 is a great deal! 

This is my 3dmark06, This is with my ATI settings on max in CCC


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## JATownes (Aug 8, 2010)

IMHO for what it is worth, get the i5 if you are gaming.  If you are benching and wanting high bench scores, go with the i7, as the triple channel and dual x16 will net higher scores.  If you are just gaming, you won't notice any difference between i5 and i7.  Just my 2 cents for what it is worth.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

^ Agreed...I left a 920 on my previous gamer and never looked back.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

Something else to mull over...For not too much money you can get a Silverstone HDDBoost and a small ssd for this build. You will like it for sure. Check out the results here... http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=127722.


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## overclocking101 (Aug 8, 2010)

with the cost from the 750 and 655k i suggest the 655. the 750 is a decnt chip but it will never oc as high as a clarkdale thats just a fact. a decent P55 board and some nice 1600mhz or higher ram and you looking at 4.5ghz 24/7 use and higher for benching most clarkdales will do 5ghz, mine has done 4.8 without even pushing it.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 8, 2010)

Weeeeee!  http://hwbot.org/community/submission/942469_rickss69_wprime_1024m_core_i5_670_5min_15sec_400ms


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## erixx (Aug 8, 2010)

believe me or not, but my computer guru (computer security consultant of a major bank) has always said: intel chipsets FTW. I never listened. I have been on AMD and Nvidia chipsets for the last 10 years. I  can only say one thing: there was always something broken, be it Bios, be it Raid, be it features...

Now finally I have a intel based board and I have not a single issue.... I will never go back unless something weird happens in the universe...


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## Broom2455 (Aug 8, 2010)

This will be interesting for me too. I'm considering going P55 i5 750 as well from the PC in my specs. 
I eagerly await the results.
For information - sorry but AMD will not be considered


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm surprised at the number of  Ci5 6xx recomendations. I thought everybody would be trying to push me to the 1055T or something.

I just don't feel comfortable buying a dual core CPU. Sure, it would be fun to clock one up to 5GHz, but I really feel like I should have a quad. I tend to do a lot of video encoding also, and that's definately faster on 4 real cores. Plus for less than $50 more than a dual core costs, I can have a quad core. For ~30% more money, I can get 50% more cores. I can't turn that down. So for those reasons, I have to eliminate a dual core CPU. Sorry guys.

So i5 750 or i7 920? I'll never have more than 2 GPUs, and even if I had 2, they would be midrange models, which is why I think the 8x 8x CF/SLI so I don't see how the 920 would really be beneficial. Plus the 750 draws less power.


I feel like I'm going against everyone's advice. I'm so bad at making decisions.


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## JATownes (Aug 8, 2010)

Video encoding = i7


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## Dent1 (Aug 8, 2010)

Angelkiller, it seems like you knows what you wants. 

IMO if encoding is your agenda the Phenom II X6 is the better investment presuming that your software supports 6 threads/cores.

How much encoding will you be doing exactly, what other tasks need to be done and how long does this rig have to last.

BTW what is your current full specification so we have a better idea of what you're coming from.


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## BarbaricSoul (Aug 8, 2010)

video encoding? go for the 4 cores/8 threads of the 920 or 930


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## angelkiller (Aug 8, 2010)

I'm currently typing on my Mac G5 conversion. Q6600, P35-DS3L, 4GB DDR2 800, 9600 GSO, etc.

The new computer will be used for regular stuff like web browsing, music, etc, gaming and video editing/encoding.

This isn't solely for video editing/encoding, but I will be doing those things on this computer. (That's probably not very helpful.)


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## Dent1 (Aug 8, 2010)

It really comes down to the optimisation in the software. When the software truely supports multithreading the X6 can sometimes come near the i7 975 extreme with 12 threads which demonstrates that more cores outweigh less cores with more threads.

Just looking at encoding here:

DivX 6.8.5 with Xmpeg 5.0.3, Phenom II X6 1090T beats out the i7 920 - (strangely enough the i7 860 beats both?)  and in x264 HD the Phenom II X6 beats out the i7 920, i7 860 and i5 750!
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3674/amds-sixcore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-1055t-reviewed/6

After the Phenom X6 1090T slayed the i7 930, 920 & 860 in 7-zip, Wprime, and image processing, all the i7s (except the $1,000+ EE) get man handled in x264 HD encoding 1 pass and 2 pass.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=24332&page=7

It really comes down to, is the encoding software heavily multi-treaded? On balance though, if you will be gaming the i7s might yeild better performance for a couple of years (in exception to a select few multi threaded games) atleast until the games developers stop being lazy and optimise for multiple cores.


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## overclocking101 (Aug 8, 2010)

well in that case man, get the i7 860 or i7 875K really the i7-920 is getting like the Q6600 was towards its EOL you more than likely would get one with high VID and crappy overcocker and the 930 are the crappy binned 920's so intel slapped a higher multi on it to sell more of them. but the i7-860's usually run about 1.16/1.18V standard and overclock quite well. the only reall benefit X58 has imo is its off die NB the 1156 cpu's generate a little bit more heat due to the pci-e controller being onboard.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 9, 2010)

Between the 860 and 875...the 875 has shown me little gain for the added price. 860 hands down for the savings.

The best thing about the 1156 platform is that I have seen few mb's that didnt perform flawless with these chips. I'm a big Evga enthusiast, but for i3/i5 Gigabyte has shown me nothing but win so far.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 9, 2010)

Coming from a q6600, go with an x6 1055t or i7 9x0. Will give you what I call a "proper" upgrade.

@rickss69

I dont know about that one, I am in LOVE with this Asus.

@brandon

No longer for sale.


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## joeyck (Aug 9, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> I mean it's to expensive for what you get. I'm not going to buy a $200 dual core CPU when I can get a quad core CPU for $200. It's not worth it. Get what I'm saying?



for 200$ u can get x6... (yea i'm a AMD Fan boy lol)

which i think *dont hold me to it lol* could beat out any intel dual core for 200$ -_-


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 9, 2010)

joeyck said:


> which i think *dont hold me to it lol* could beat out any intel dual core for 200$ -_-



Depends on the application

Sorry but I would take the x6 over an intel dual core with HT anyday. Now as far as the i5 750 goes it's a toss up but the extra 2 cores comes in handy and thats where I favor the x6 more. 

The i7 8x0 chips are rather expensive and not better than the i7 9x0 chips, which are a tad faster due to triple channel.


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## Mussels (Aug 9, 2010)

JATownes said:


> Video encoding = i7





Dent1 said:


> Angelkiller, it seems like you knows what you wants.
> 
> IMO if encoding is your agenda the Phenom II X6 is the better investment presuming that your software supports 6 threads/cores.
> 
> ...





BarbaricSoul said:


> video encoding? go for the 4 cores/8 threads of the 920 or 930




for video encoding, get the AMD.

i7 systems do NOT benefit from hyperthreading in this kind of heavy number crunching, HT tends to make things slower, not faster.... the extra physical cores definitely helps here.


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## angelkiller (Aug 9, 2010)

I think yall are getting hung up on the video encoding thing. It's just one of the things I'll be doing. Not the rig's primary purpose. I'd say 40% of the time will be spent web browsing, 40% of the time gaming, and 20% of the time video editing/encoding. Something along those lines.


I'm not gonna lie. I was pretty set on the Ci5 750. But I wanted your opinions on whether or not there were better options. The dual core option seems too expensive for what you get, the 920 offers me nothing except for higher power consumption and the X6 is only better some of the time. Am I oversimplifing this?

I feel like I'm being difficult.


Tell me this:

Why _shouldn't_ I get an Ci5 750?


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## Mussels (Aug 9, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> I think yall are getting hung up on the video encoding thing. It's just one of the things I'll be doing. Not the rig's primary purpose. I'd say 40% of the time will be spent web browsing, 40% of the time gaming, and 20% of the time video editing/encoding. Something along those lines.
> 
> 
> I'm not gonna lie. I was pretty set on the Ci5 750. But I wanted your opinions on whether or not there were better options. The dual core option seems too expensive for what you get, the 920 offers me nothing except for higher power consumption and the X6 is only better some of the time. Am I oversimplifing this?
> ...



i'm opposed to the P55 platform entirely, since its mostly on PCI-E 1.1 slots and not 2.0, but thats just personal opinion since i'm an expansion whore and want every slot at max bandwidth.


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## angelkiller (Aug 9, 2010)

Two PCI-E 2.0 8x slots is plenty for me. That can handle pretty much any multi-gpu setup except for the high end stuff, which I'll never be getting anyway. Outside of that, I don't see myself needing any other PCI-E slots  except for a sound card maybe. A valid concern, but not an issue for me.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 9, 2010)

What motherboard you considering for the i5 750?


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## Mussels (Aug 9, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Two PCI-E 2.0 8x slots is plenty for me. That can handle pretty much any multi-gpu setup except for the high end stuff, which I'll never be getting anyway. Outside of that, I don't see myself needing any other PCI-E slots  except for a sound card maybe. A valid concern, but not an issue for me.



its more like getting a USB 3.0 card or SATA II/III card, where you dont have enough bandwidth.

1x 1.1 = 250MB/s, and a single USB 3.0 port/sata II port can use that.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 9, 2010)

Pretty good deal here with the rebate... EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX ...


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## angelkiller (Aug 9, 2010)

For the 750 I had been thinking about the EVGA P55 SLI FTW or the MSI GD80. Maybe the GD85 if I can find a deal. I was leaning on the EVGA board because it's cheaper and appears to OC just as well.


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## brandonwh64 (Aug 9, 2010)

hey angel! talk to JrRacinFan, He has a Asus P55 Supercomputer board he is about to sale!


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 9, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> hey angel! talk to JrRacinFan, He has a Asus P55 Supercomputer board he is about to sale!



P7P55D WS Supercomputer  That's a  P55 board that likes the P55 Classified 200 from EVGA


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 9, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> For the 750 I had been thinking about the EVGA P55 SLI FTW or the MSI GD80. Maybe the GD85 if I can find a deal. I was leaning on the EVGA board because it's cheaper and appears to OC just as well.



The FTW is a great mb, but unless you intend to do some extreme overclocking I would opt for a lesser one. They all clock just the same on air/water.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 9, 2010)

brandonwh64 said:


> JrRacinFan has a nice I3 setup hes selling CHEAP! you should PM him about it. you could always turn around and sell the I3 and get a I7 875





brandonwh64 said:


> hey angel! talk to JrRacinFan, He has a Asus P55 Supercomputer board he is about to sale!





JrRacinFan said:


> @brandon
> 
> No longer for sale.



Yah, unfortunately it's no longer for sale. Was contemplating it about a week ago.

@Angelkiller

Don't even bother with the i5 750. It's not going to be much of a difference coming from your q6600 to spend the money. Like I said previously, x6 1055T or i7 9x0.


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## joeyck (Aug 9, 2010)

AMD x6 over any shitty intel dual core / some of the quads lol


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## angelkiller (Aug 10, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> @Angelkiller
> 
> Don't even bother with the i5 750. It's not going to be much of a difference coming from your q6600 to spend the money. Like I said previously, x6 1055T or i7 9x0.


I'm not convinced that the X6 can compete with Intel CPUs for what I'm doing. Sure, they definitely have an edge in heavily threaded applications. But the things I will be doing aren't heavily threaded. So the X6 will have the advantage well under 20% of the time in my situation.

I also worry about the heat output of the 9x0 series. Watercooling is a possibility in the future, and you need a triple rad _just_ for the i7. Even more for a graphics card (or two). Even with air cooling that extra heat means faster fans and such, and I'm a real prude about noise.

Jeez. I'm even second guessing the i7 750. It's a limited platform for sure. It's slower than the 9x0, has limited PCI-E lanes and limited future upgradability. The only upgrade I can ever get is an i7 8xx series, and in a year or so, that won't be  much of an upgrade.

Ci7 8x0 is simply too expensive. For the same price, I can get a 9x0. Same goes for the 6x0 series, for the same price, I can get a i5 750.

Phenom X4 is just outclassed by everything.


Well shit.


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## angelkiller (Aug 10, 2010)

Alright. I had to step back and re-look at everything.


I'm thinking AMD 1055T now. Performance is equal to or  a bit greater than the 750 and power is in between Lynnfield and Bloomsfield, but closer to Bloomsfield. (maybe I should get the i7 9x0... small increase in power consumption, big increase in performance)

As a motherboard, I'm looking at these four:

GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H
GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5
MSI 890FXA-GD70
ASUS Crosshair IV Formula
I have a strong preference for the two Gigabyte boards because they both can clock but cost lots less than the other two.


New qestion: *1055T or i7 9x0?*

Thanks for  the help here people.  Obviously, I'm confused and indecisive, but  I'm trying to work through all this.


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## Chicken Patty (Aug 10, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Alright. I had to step back and re-look at everything.
> 
> 
> I'm thinking AMD 1055T now. Performance is equal to or  a bit greater than the 750 and power is in between Lynnfield and Bloomsfield, but closer to Bloomsfield. (maybe I should get the i7 9x0... small increase in power consumption, big increase in performance)
> ...


So to answer your questions:

Motherboard:
I had a UD5 but 790FX chipset.  Actually I still do, sorry.  Great board but I also own a CH IV and it in my opinion does not come close.  Not sure how much better the 890FX version of the UD5 is over the 790FX one, but I can personally vouch for the CH IV, awesome board.

However, please note they tend to run hot on the NB.  I fixed mine easily but to some people it's a hassle.

As far as CPU's, I can speak from experience with both platforms.  Personally I'd go with a AMD setup.  Cheaper, very fast, can do just about anything as good or better as the i7.  Where the i7 really shines is on very CPU intensive apps or in benching.  Other than that I don't think there is any real world difference.  Just my two cents of course.   Good luck.


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## WarEagleAU (Aug 10, 2010)

Yes Angel, you are making this overly complicated. Being an AMD fanboy and having used them for most of my computing life (minus the Intel Inside DX266 MHZ on my Zenith Data Systems Computer) I like the price performance. For gaming, video editing, and web browsing the 1055t or 1090T would be well (Id go with 1055T for you as it is cheaper) plus with the new Turbo Core, you can boost up to three cores I think up to 800mhz. So it will still help with the three cores. I do like the Core i5s though as I have played with those in the stores and they are snappy. 

Personally go 1055t with that Crosshair Iv Formula or MSI's 890FX board.


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

X6 1055T + Crosshair IV Formula. I love Republic of Gamers by Asus, they looks awesome and deadly
Btw you can choose the 890FX-GD70 from MSI, pretty decent board outta there but not so much expensive


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

Odd, but I had better overclocking with the 790...


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

Thumbs up. Great job dude. BTW AMD 790FX chipset is still a nice choice if you don't want to have USB3 or SATA3. Use it later by using expansion card


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## angelkiller (Aug 10, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> Odd, but I had better overclocking with the 790...
> 
> http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq69/rickss69/ScreenHunter_01Jan011006-2.jpg


Holy crap! How have you owned like every CPU ever? And what was cooling that X6?


No love for the Gigabyte boards? Looking on HWbot, they seem to be popular choices and cost noticeably less than the Formula IV. But if the Formula is the way to go, than so be it.


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## Mussels (Aug 10, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Alright. I had to step back and re-look at everything.
> 
> 
> I'm thinking AMD 1055T now. Performance is equal to or  a bit greater than the 750 and power is in between Lynnfield and Bloomsfield, but closer to Bloomsfield. (maybe I should get the i7 9x0... small increase in power consumption, big increase in performance)
> ...




GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5

^ i have this one. very solid board. just make sure to update the BIOS first thing, and you'll be problem free.


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

Mussels said:


> GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5
> 
> ^ i have this one. very solid board. just make sure to update the BIOS first thing, and you'll be problem free.



That board looks nice. Agreed with that  Mine will still be the Crosshair IV


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

I have the 890 as well but there seemed to be just a little something lacking that made me go back to the 790. Any of their boards will be great in reality...just decide what features you really need and how much you want to spend.


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## angelkiller (Aug 10, 2010)

Mussels said:


> GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5
> 
> ^ i have this one. very solid board. just make sure to update the BIOS first thing, and you'll be problem free.


Actually, your setup is very similar to what I had in mind. (1055T & 5870) How is that combo? Obviously it's nice and all, but if you had to do it again, would you pick the same stuff?


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## Mussels (Aug 10, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Actually, your setup is very similar to what I had in mind. (1055T & 5870) How is that combo? Obviously it's nice and all, but if you had to do it again, would you pick the same stuff?



definitely, it craps all over my old 4.2GHz wolfdale setup. (which also had the 5870, dual 4870 before that)


its fast, its silent, its easy on power consumption.


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Holy crap! How have you owned like every CPU ever? And what was cooling that X6?




I prefer benching cpu's vs gpu's lol. Yeah, I have too many in my collection. Cooling for that run was LN2 of course.

The proper way to game online...


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## Mussels (Aug 10, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> I prefer benching cpu's vs gpu's lol. Yeah, I have too many in my collection. Cooling for that run was LN2 of course.



so why not sell off your collection here on TPU....


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

Everytime I sell something I always regret it and wish I had it back.


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> I prefer benching cpu's vs gpu's lol. Yeah, I have too many in my collection. Cooling for that run was LN2 of course.
> 
> The proper way to game online...
> 
> http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq69/rickss69/DSC00429.jpg



That red Dominator GT from Corsair


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## Mussels (Aug 10, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> Everytime I sell something I always regret it and wish I had it back.



so use the money and buy something new to assuage your guilt


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

Faith[ROG].Anarchy said:


> That red Dominator GT from Corsair



Those are two sticks out of a three stick set...I seldom buy dual channel memory. I just use two out of a set if that is what the mb requires.


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

rickss69 said:


> Those are two sticks out of a three stick set...I seldom buy dual channel memory. I just use two out of a set if that is what the mb requires.



So you bought a Triple Channel kit for X58 / Core i7 LGA1366 
What is the speed of that memory kit? Can u tell me, plus why don't you get an AirFlow cooler


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

https://shop.corsair.com/store/item_view.aspx?id=766411

I bought these over a year ago. Had to rma one time...no hassle with Corsair. Never use the fanset as I usually have fans running on the torture rack anyway. When using LN2 they stay pretty frosty as well just from the proximity.


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

2000 MHz at 7-8-7-20, yeah pretty nice for Core i7 gotta say
Forgot that you OC your system by Liquid Nitrogen so cooling the memory is not a problem


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

Testing these for a change of pace... Patriot Viper II 'Sector 5' Edition 4GB (2... ...inconclusive atm, but I have barely scratched them yet. Will see how they perform maybe this w-end.


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## Anarchy0110 (Aug 10, 2010)

Guess this kit is great for P55  Still can be used for AMD Platform nonetheless


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## Deleted member 74752 (Aug 10, 2010)

I have used the Corsairs on everything imaginable...I would think the Patriots will be no different. Really a limitation of the mb/cpu combo I suspect. (If I knew anything about what I was doing I would be dangerous. )


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## angelkiller (Aug 10, 2010)

Is this a deal? Seems pricey to me. I'd give that guy $400 tops for the board + CPU. Also found this UD3H. Really cheap.

Do I need really fast RAM? Or will these do?

I'm not going to buy unless yall say I should jump on one of those.



*Now let's talk about graphics.* (Assume I'll be getting the 1055T)

I was thinking about a single 5870. Very fast, no multi-gpu issues, and uses less power than Fermi. Decent choice? I'm much up to date here, and I can't think of anything better. Still, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks again people. I feel like we're making progress.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 10, 2010)

imo bump down to gtx460 or 5850.


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## Mussels (Aug 11, 2010)

that board you linked uses a different chipset, so you lose the extra PCI-E lanes of the 890FX

fast ram aint that neccesary, but 1600Mhz stuff will be a help if you're OCing (unless you get a BE chip, in which case multi OC ftw)


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## angelkiller (Aug 11, 2010)

If I get the 1090T, you say I don't need DDR3-1600, then how slow can I go?

The UD3H that I mentined in my last post always had the 890GX chipset. (First mentioned in post 51) It has a decent accomplishment list at HWBot. My logic is that if people are using this board when submitting to HWBot, then it's got to be a decent board.

I really want the Gigabyte UD5 or the MSI GD70 because they're cheaper. But I'll see if I can find the Forumula. If I can find a deal, I'll consider it. Can I go wrong with the Gigabyte or MSI board?


More thoughts about graphics? I was thinking 5870. JrRacinFan says 5850. Noise is really important to me so I'd like to stay away from Fermi. 5770 CF could also be an option. That seems to perform about equal to a 5870.


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## Mussels (Aug 11, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> If I get the 1090T, you say I don't need DDR3-1600, then how slow can I go?
> 
> The UD3H that I mentined in my last post always had the 890GX chipset. (First mentioned in post 51) It has a decent accomplishment list at HWBot. My logic is that if people are using this board when submitting to HWBot, then it's got to be a decent board.
> 
> ...



my advice is 1333Mhz for the slowest, aim for CL6 or 7 if possible.

while 5770 performs similar to 5870, remember that ram doesnt add, nor does memory bandwidth - so it caps out earlier at high res/high settings.


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## angelkiller (Aug 11, 2010)

Good points. No more 5770 CF. The  performance difference is small anyway. So I guess the question now is 5870 or 5850. I was thinking about the 5870 so it'll last longer and be worth more when I sell it.


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## Mussels (Aug 11, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Good points. No more 5770 CF. The  performance difference is small anyway. So I guess the question now is 5870 or 5850. I was thinking about the 5870 so it'll last longer and be worth more when I sell it.



i went with the same reasoning when i got a 5870


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## BarbaricSoul (Aug 11, 2010)

I'm very happy with my single 5870 while gaming at 1920*1200 resolution. I can't tell a difference between this 5870 and the pair of GTX280 cards it replaced except for less heat and fan noise.


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## angelkiller (Aug 12, 2010)

Alright my final config will look similar to this:

*CPU -* AMD 1090T or 1055T
*Mobo -* Asus Crosshair IV Formula
*RAM -* 4GB of DDR3-1600 RAM (advice/suggestions please)
*GPU -* 5870 reference

I worry about the cost of the Crosshair. If I can't find one for a good price, then my fallback is the MSI 890FXA-GD70 or the Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD5 in that order.

I also need advice on what RAM kit to get. First, what kind of timings should I be looking for? Second, is there one brand that's just awesome or is pretty much every brand is good if you get the right specs. 

Thanks. I hope to start buying next week.


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## JrRacinFan (Aug 12, 2010)

First off stay away from ocz. The reaper kits are ok but everything else is meh.

Look for 1600 cl7. Up to u if u want to pay xtra for the ch4 but personally id go with whatever is least expensive of those choices.


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## CDdude55 (Aug 12, 2010)

JrRacinFan said:


> First off stay away from ocz. The reaper kits are ok but everything else is meh.



I had a tri channel kit of OCZ Platinum's and they were awesome imo.

But i agree the Reapers are in fact awesome to.


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## angelkiller (Aug 18, 2010)

Alright.

I'm having an extremely hard time finding a used X6. They seem to be in high demmand and when I do find one, it's never more than 20% off. Guess that's the best I'm gonna do.

But I see lots of X58/9x0 boards/cpus out there. I was thinking that what if I built X58 based system then traded it for a X6? That will let me try out both CPUs and ultimately get the X6 that I want. Couple of questions though:

1) Good strategy? Or terriable idea? If it matters, I love getting new parts and don't mind swapping out things.

2) Is that a fair trade? I would have a X58 board and a Ci7 920 and I would get one of the X6's and a 890FX board. I'm primarily concerned about *cost/value*, not performance.

3) So let's talk about X58 parts. Ci7 920 or 930? Which motherboard? Really keep in mind resale value as this will be traded within a couple of months.


Thanks again people.


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## CDdude55 (Aug 18, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> Alright.
> 
> I'm having an extremely hard time finding a used X6. They seem to be in high demmand and when I do find one, it's never more than 20% off. Guess that's the best I'm gonna do.
> 
> ...




1.If you built an X58 system, that in it self should be good enough for pretty much anything. the i7's are on par and most of the time exceed the performance of the AMD x6 CPU's.(but for a bit of a higher cost.). If your goal is to just swap parts, then have at it, but just keep in mind you won't be doing a massive overhaul moving to an X6, and if anything, you'll be losing performance in some situations moving away form an i7.

2. AMD's Phenom II X6 CPU's are great chips and yes you will see some great value in those actual parts themselves. On the other end though, you are sacrificing performance to an extent. But if performance isn't the priority as you said, then i say go for it.

3. Go with a i7 930 and a good mobo with some great features on it, like USB3, SATA III, etc the more future proof the better, then again, if you're selling it to someone who doesn't know much about hardware, you could possible pick up a lower end X58 board and chip and possibly get around the same cash as you would selling it to someone who is more informed(but that would be ripping them off to an extent). You'll be able to sell those parts for a boat load. BUT, i really have a feeling you're getting ripped off, i mean you're willing to buy parts that exceed an X6 platform to an extent and yet you know your going to just sell it anyways in a couple months to go with something that isn't as beefy. I understand you want the X6 badly, but really, why lose if you can gain by going with the X58?

Really, if you have enough cash to go X58, then why not just go X58?. The AMD X6 CPU's are utterly fantastic, but that's something i would recommend for people who: A. can't afford the X58 platform. B. just want to play games and maybe the occasional video encoding, benchmarks etc. C. loves the company AMD so they feel as though they have to support them even if they lose performance. D. already own a mobo that when updated can support the X6 CPU's.

But this is just IMO, i sure many others will offer just the opposite insight as to why it would be a great move.


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## angelkiller (Aug 18, 2010)

I totally understand where you're coming from. I'm not stuck on the X6.. I just needed to make a decision and go with it.

My main issue with X58 is the heat, but more specifically, the noise that comes with that. And I'm not your typical user when it comes to noise.

Water cooling is a strong possibility in the future and you need a 120x3 rad just for the i7. If you add the GPU in, you might need another triple rad and then you have to factor in space requirements and such.

I do like swapping parts though, so maybe do the i7 thing and and trade it for an X6 + cash? Then I could sell the X6 stuff because they're so popular and get an i7 setup again.

There are sooo many X58 boards out there. I don't have any need for more than 2 GPUs and I really like color schemes. MSI's blue and black boards and EVGA's all black boards look amazing. I can settle for one of Gigabyte's blue theme too, but preferably one of the former.

Thanks!


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## CDdude55 (Aug 18, 2010)

angelkiller said:


> I totally understand where you're coming from. I'm not stuck on the X6.. I just needed to make a decision and go with it.
> 
> My main issue with X58 is the heat, but more specifically, the noise that comes with that. And I'm not your typical user when it comes to noise.
> 
> ...



I see where you're coming from.

At the end of the day it's up to you and what you think is best for the money. And if you like swapping parts and thats mainly what you want to satisfy, then i say go for it. Just make sure you get what you need and you don't waste a bunch of money trying to get there.


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