Considering upgrade, input on specs appreciated

1dmf

1dmf

1dmf

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30 Nov 2006
Posts
468
hi,

I was looking to replace my old Q6600 Asus workstation, it's served me well but I think it's time to replace it!

I was considering the following setup and would appreciate your input.

Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Intel Core i7 960 3.20Ghz (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366) - Retail

Corsair Vengeance 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 PC3-16000C10 2000MHz Triple Channel Kit (CMZ12GX3M3A2000C10)

Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 (Socket 1366) DDR3 Motherboard

Seagate Barracuda Green 2TB SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (ST2000DL003)
Click to expand...

I have a corsair 620w PSU which I assume will still do the job!

Is it worth getting the i7 960? or with the 950 do?

I do plan to OC and currently run my Q6600 2.4ghz @ 3.39ghz and DDR2 @ 1200mhz.

I also have a GT260OCX which again served me well, but is getting tired, is the 580 a decent upgrade?

Your thoughts and input is much appreciated.
 
Sandybridge, cheaper and faster.

Example - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/100?vs=288


Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £164.99
(£137.49) £164.99
(£137.49)
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £144.98
(£120.82) £144.98
(£120.82)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
Sub Total : £308.30
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £8.00
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £63.26
Total : £379.56

PSU is still ok if running the one GTX580 and is a massive boost in power over a GTX260
 
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Not sure where you are looking but the Nehalem, is definately cheaper than the sandybridge here on OCUK!

Also isn't socket 1366 better than 1155/6 ?
 
sorry I'm a little confused, you have shown an i5, that's a dual core isn't it, i want a quad core i7.
 
go for sandy bridge , newer tech, runs cooler, can overclock it easily to boost performance.

do you really need 12gb ram?

If you are gonna overclock grab a cpu cooler, if you want top of line go for silver arrow

if ya wanna go budget go for hyper 212 plus or arctic freezer 13

if ye wanna go self containted water we got those aswell like h60.
 
I have a 100% copper zalman cooler!

My bad, did a bit of research, but although it might be 4 cores it can only handle 4 threads!

Also the AsRock Mobo only support dual channel DDR3 not Tri channel.

Why is everyone wanting me to downgrade all the specs? I assume there is a reason other than money , as I never said I was looking for a budget machine!
 
downgrade all the specs?
Click to expand...

Sandybridge is much much faster, Dual/Tri channel memory doesn't matter as Sandybridge is still faster.

4cores vs 4cores with Hyperthreading, doesnt matter as i5 2500k Sandybridge is still faster.

Want Hyperthreading?
i7 2600K vs a £700 i7 980X - http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/287?vs=142



Plus socket1155 isnt a dead end like socket 1366 is.
 
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Thanks, really appreciate the explanation. It's been a while since i built my last machine and so am glad to be pointed in the right direction.

Why is 1366 a dead end? what's the purpose of it if it isn't the next generation over the 1155?
 
Socket 1366 use to be the superior of socket 1156, you wont see any more CPU releases for any of these platforms.

But the newer socket 1155 is just faster, newer and intels Ivybridge is also 1155, its faster because its a whole new architecture that can do more work per clock cycle.

The next platform is socket2011 with quad channel ram and Sandybridge-E chips due in early 2011.


1dmf said:
I have a 100% copper zalman cooler!
Click to expand...

If it only fits lga775 then you can re-use it on Asrock motherboards such as the Z68 extreme4 as they have mounting holes for lga775 coolers also;)
 
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Excellent, thanks for the great info, yes it is lga775, but i might get a new one anyway.

The guy at work always buys my old rig, it still kicks ass over anything he has previous (currently my old P4 2.8ghz with GT8800 VGA) - he doesn't play games!

Is there any particular reason you would go for the ASRock vs ASUS ?..

I have put together a new spec based on your recommendations.... any further thoughts..
Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £359.99
(£299.99) £359.99
(£299.99)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM £159.98
(£133.32) £159.98
(£133.32)
Asus P8Z68-V Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £139.94
(£116.62) £139.94
(£116.62)
Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD7502AAEX) £59.99
(£49.99) £59.99
(£49.99)
G.Skill RipJawsX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-17000C9 2133MHz Dual Channel Kit (F3-17000CL9D-4GBXL) £54.98
(£45.82) £109.96
(£91.64)
Click to expand...
 
The Asrock has a front 3.5" drive bay box that provides additional USB3.0 ports at the front, it can also be converted to fit into a spare rear PCI slot,

IMG_0603.jpg


It also reviews rather well;)
http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4074/asrock_z68_extreme4_intel_z68_motherboard_review/index.html
http://www.techspot.com/review/395-asrock-z68-extreme4/
http://www.kitguru.net/components/m...k-z68-extreme-4-intel-z68-motherboard-review/
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...s-p8z68-v-pro-gigabyte-z68x-ud3h-b3,2939.html


And there s a great support thread here,
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...d.-Share-your-experiences-OCs-amp-tech-issues!
 
I'd also get the retail 2500k for the 2 years longer warranty (3 years total) as it's only £5 more expensive on this weeks offer. It's a no brainer.
 
Well the 750GB is @ £15.00 cheaper than 1TB plus i noticed these are 7200rpm not 5900rpm! and to be honest i just bought a WD USB3.0 2TB external drive which is great and there is no point in having a system drive too big, otherwise I wouldn't be able to back it up!

It seems from Tom's that the ASUS is 1% better at gaming than the ASRock.

Is it really not worth getting faster ram when OC'ing?
 
I could get this spec else wher for slightly less money...
Intel Core i5 2500K 3.3GHz Socket 1155 6MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor 251596 245 in stock £162.48 £135.40 £162.48 £135.40
PNY GTX 580 1536MB GDDR5 DVI HDMI PCI-E Graphics Card 246956 161 in stock £353.04 £294.20 £353.04 £294.20
Asus P8Z68-V Socket 1155 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard 268480 22 in stock £132.84 £110.70 £132.84 £110.70
Hitachi 1.5TB 3.5" SATA-III Deskstar Hard Drive - 7200RPM 64MB Cache - 7K3000 247270 8 in stock £64.95 £54.12 £64.95 £54.12
G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz RipjawsX Memory Kit CL9 (9-9-9-24) 1.5V 264750 15 in stock £55.82 £46.51 £55.82 £46.51
Click to expand...
 
Seems good, the Ripjaw RAM is taller than most so can interfere with the fitment of large aftermarket coolers.

All in one watercooling units such as Corsair H60/70/80 and Antec Kuhler 620/920 wont be an issue.
 
1dmf said:
Well the 750GB is @ £15.00 cheaper than 1TB plus i noticed these are 7200rpm not 5900rpm! and to be honest i just bought a WD USB3.0 2TB external drive which is great and there is no point in having a system drive too big, otherwise I wouldn't be able to back it up!

It seems from Tom's that the ASUS is 1% better at gaming than the ASRock.

Is it really not worth getting faster ram when OC'ing?
Click to expand...

if its just for the os get cheaper 500gb hard drive will cost you even less.
OC'ing is overclocking the cpu,

have quick look on this forum most people pair sandybridge with 1600mhz or even 1333mhz,
there no noticeable performance inrease from fast ram,
if you want to get high memory benchmarks scores and tell everyone about them :P then go ahead with fast ram.

I dont know a lot but if you ask a question and several people answer with the same asnwer.. that answer might be worth considering.. a little bit
 
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